OZONE PARK, N.Y. - He skimmed the rail in upper stretch and got passed by almost a length by another horse in midstretch. None of that mattered to Dornoch, who battled back along the inside to win Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen Stakes by a nose over Sierra Leone at Aqueduct. The performances of the top two finishers made them worthy of being considered legitimate prospects for next May’s Kentucky Derby. Yes, Dornoch - a full brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage - took advantage of a speed-favoring, sealed muddy surface. But horses don’t usually hit the rail and then get passed like he did and show the fortitude to come back and win. “When he hit the rail, I said he’s going to pull himself up, most horses do,” winning trainer Danny Gargan said. “He’s just a little green switching leads. To dig in and run like, it’s impressive because he ran fast early. They were flying.” :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Dornoch, under Luis Saez, ran a quarter in 23.09 seconds, a half-mile in 46.97 and six furlongs in 1:11.56 with a headstrong Private Desire and then Billal pressing him. Straightening away for home, Dornoch was able to run away from Billal but with Saez trying to get him to switch leads inside the three-sixteenths pole, Dornoch hit the rail. Meanwhile, Sierra Leone, who was last under Jose Ortiz, 8 1/2 lengths off the pace at the three-eighths pole, was coming with a furious run. Sierra Leone, who was lugging in during the stretch, got maybe three-quarters of a length in front at the sixteenth pole, but Dornoch was reinvigorated and came back to nail him at the wire. Of hitting the rail, Saez said “I feel like he did that when he switched leads. He feels a little bit green still. When the other horse came and passed him, when he saw him, he come back and flew back at him.” Sierra Leone finished 4 3/4 lengths ahead of Drum Roll Please, who was 2 1/2 lengths clear of Moonlight. Where’s Chris, Copper Tax, Domestic Product, Billal, Le Dom Bro and Private Desire completed the order of finish. Dornoch, owned by West Paces Racings, Randy Hill, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Two Eight Racing and Pine Racing Stables, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.30 and returned $5.40 as the favorite. “He just gutted it out, he’s a racehorse, he wants to be a racehorse,” said Gargan, who won last year’s Remsen with Dubyuhnell. Dornoch, who is now 2 for 4, earned 10 qualifying points toward next May’s Kentucky Derby. Gargan said the horse would ship to Palm Meadows on Monday and he would come up with a two- to three-race plan to get to the Derby. Sierra Leone gets credit for closing as much ground as he did on a track that was heavily tilted toward front-runners. He was coming off a maiden win going a mile in which he lugged in and he lugged in more severe on Saturday. “He did it a little bit in his debut and then Manny [Franco] got him corrected,” said Chad Brown, trainer of Sierra Leone. “This time, Jose didn’t want to stop his momentum, he was getting him to move forward. He was leaning in, being a bit green and it cost him.” For Brown, the result was reminiscent of the 2021 Remsen when Zandon was narrowly beaten by Mo Donegal after making a brief lead in midstretch. “It’s very frustrating to lose this race again in a similar situation,” Brown said. “It is exciting to have a horse that’s this talented, this well-bred for a group of owners heading into next year’s Derby trail.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.