Independence Hall drew post 3 in a field of 7 entered Sunday for Wednesday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, the first race for 3-year-olds in 2020 that offers qualifying points to the May 2 Kentucky Derby. Points are awarded on a 10-4-2-1 basis to the Jerome’s top four finishers.

Independence Hall wowed observers with a 12 1-4-length victory in the Grade 3 Nashua Stakes at Aqueduct on Nov. 3. He ran a mile in 1:34.66 and earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest number attained by a 2-year-old in 2019.

Mindful of how fast he ran, his connections opted to skip the Remsen Stakes on Dec. 7 and point to the Jerome, which, like the Nashua, is run as a one-turn-mile over Aqueduct’s main track.

“Regardless of how [easy] it may have looked, he still ran very fast so they thought the safest thing to do was point to the first of the year and be on a surface that he’s run on and at a distance that he’s run at,” said Michael Trombetta, who trains Independence Hall for a partnership that includes Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Twin Creeks Racing and Robert and Kathleen Verratti.

Jose Ortiz will be up from Florida to ride Independence Hall, who is 2 for 2 with a maiden victory at Park on Sept. 21 in his debut.

Independence Hall will be heavily favored in this seven-horse field which lost a significant player when Laddie Liam, the Maryland Juvenile Futurity, was held out of the Jerome due to a foot injury coming out of a Saturday morning workout, according to trainer Gary Contessa.

The two main threats appear to be New York-bred maiden winners Prince of Pharoahs, who won a one-mile maiden race at Belmont on Oct. 13 for Linda Rice, and Bourbon Bay, who won a six-furlong maiden race at Aqueduct on Dec. 5 for trainer Mark Hennig.

The field, in post order with riders, is: Price of Pharoahs (Kendrick Carmouche), Inside Risk (Reylu Gutierrez), Independence Hall (Jose Ortiz), Dubai Bobby (Luis Rodriguez Castro), Polar Bear Pete (Dylan Davis), Celtic Striker (Manny Franco) and Bourbon Bay (Jose Lezcano).

The Jerome will go as race 7 on an 8-race New  Year’s Day card that begins at 12:30 p.m.