Barrier Reef great in Whirlaway, but how great?

For about 18 hours, I thought Barrier Reef might be a fringe Kentucky Derby contender following his game win in Saturday’s Whirlaway Stakes at Aqueduct. He earned a solid 94 Beyer Speed Figure for the victory, higher than the 93 later recorded by Robert B. Lewis Stakes winner Crown of Thorns at Santa Anita.

But when I woke up this morning, I discovered that Barrier Reef isn’t among the 448 early nominees to the Triple Crown. Apparently, Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Stable decided not to ante up the 600 bucks. Maybe they don’t think so highly of him. Of course, Barrier Reef can still be nominated late for $6,000 by March 29. I still think Sheikh Mohammed can afford that! (This also means that if you’re a Barrier Reef fan, you can’t use him in your Road to the Roses stable.)

Barrier Reef, a gray son of Mizzen Mast, rebounded from a disappointing effort in the Count Fleet to defeat Roman Emperor by a half-length despite racing on the wrong lead in the stretch. He paid a generous 5-1. Trainer Tom Albertrani indicated he’ll go next to the March 8 Gotham Stakes.

Roman Emperor dug in gamely while also on his wrong lead in the stretch under Jeremy Rose. He’ll also likely head to the Gotham.

Texas Wildcatter, my pick, finished 2 ½ lengths back in third after an un-aggressive ride by Norberto Arroyo Jr. It looked like the colt wanted to run around the far turn and was in perfect position, but Arroyo let the leaders get too far away before asking the horse for his best. I’ll keep an eye on Texas Wildcatter in the Gotham.

Cave’s Valley, the 2-1 favorite, never got involved and finished sixth.