Irad Ortiz Jr. and Firenze Fire after winning the Grade 1 Champagne. Susie Raisher/NYRA photo

Aqueduct: The $150,000 Jerome at 1-mile (Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 10-4-2-1)

The Jerome may have come up light, but it does mark the return of GI Champagne winner #7 FIRENZE FIRE (3-5), who didn’t fire in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile but has found a very soft group for his 3yo debut for Servis, and the son of Poseidon’s Warrior figures to be the king of the hill in New York this winter, or at least until the big guns come in April for the GII Wood Memorial. The main danger appears to be #2 SEVEN TRUMPETS (3-1), who won 2 of 3 in Kentucky for Romans and, as a son of Morning Line, is bred to like the added distance, though he clearly gets a class test today. It’s unlikely #1 COLTANDMISSISSIPPI (6-1) was as bad as he showed in a sloppy Smooth Air last time at Gulfstream Park, but it’s just as likely he’s not one of Pletcher’s top 3yos, as this son of Pioneerof the Nile has middling form and has been slow on paper, though dismissing anything from this barn is always a dicey proposition at this time of the year.

Selections:

#7 Firenze Fire

#2 Seven Trumpets

#1 Coltandmississippi