Talk to Me Jimmy wires Withers Stakes by 11 lengths

Feb 06, 2026 J. Keeler Johnson/TwinSpires.com

Talk to Me Jimmy wins the Withers Stakes at Aqueduct. (Photo by Coglianese Photos)

The outcome of Friday’s $200,000 Withers S. at Aqueduct was never seriously in doubt as Talk to Me Jimmy led all the way to trounce six rivals by 11 lengths.

The 1 1/8-mile Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifier was postponed from last Saturday due to winter weather in New York.

Entering off a 5 1/2-length maiden special weight win against New York-breds at Aqueduct, Talk to Me Jimmy started as a 12-1 longshot in his first try outside the state-bred ranks. The step up in class didn’t bother him in the slightest. Breaking from post 6, the son of Modernist outsprinted Schoolyardsuperman for the early lead, setting fractions of :23.96, :48.18, and 1:12.47 while widening his advantage to three lengths with three furlongs remaining.

Schoolyardsuperman, the 3-2 favorite, was the only runner who attempted to stay with Talk to Me Jimmy as the latter pulled away around the far turn. It proved to be a fruitless pursuit. Talk to Me Jimmy was always in command and powered away under jockey Ruben Silvera to hit the finish line in 1:51.68.

It was all TALK TO ME JIMMY at 12/1 in the Withers S. on the Road to the @KentuckyDerby! 🤩🌹

Ruben Silvera was in the irons for trainer Rudy Rodriguez. pic.twitter.com/g1qM9DO4qe

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) February 6, 2026

'I told Ruben, 'we got the inside horse [Schoolyardsuperman] that has a lot of speed, but we’ve got speed, too,'' said winning trainer Rudy Rodriguez. 'I told Ruben to take it from there, but don’t let him slow it down. Let’s see what we’ve got. Today was a test to find out what we’ve got, and I think he passed the test.'

Grittiness, coming off a fifth-place finish in the Remsen (G2) on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, closed resolutely to snatch second place by half a length over Ottinho. Schoolyardsuperman faded in the final furlong to finish fourth, followed distantly by Star Sweeper, Fourth and One, and Mailata.

Bred by Majestic View Farms, Talk to Me Jimmy is owned by Rodriguez and SEI Thoroughbreds. With two wins and a third from three starts, he’s accumulated earnings of $163,600.

The Withers awarded Kentucky Derby (G1) qualification points on a 20-10-6-4-2 basis to the top five finishers. Talk to Me Jimmy ends Friday ranked fourth on the leaderboard behind Southwest (G3) winner Silent Tactic, Holy Bull (G3) conqueror Nearly, and Lecomte (G3) winner Golden Tempo.