Pleuven proves best in Wise Dan
Lightly raced Pleuven may not have faced the starter much in his career, but he has improved with each start. Utilizing a stalk and pounce type trip, the gelding edged past the pace-setter in the stretch to record a 3/4-length victory in the newly renamed Grade 2 Wise Dan Stakes at Churchill Downs. Formerly called the Firecracker, the 1 1/16 mile turf event was renamed in honor of two time winner and Horse of the Year Wise Dan.
Breaking from gate 9, Kasaqui broke well, crossed over the field, and took the early lead. Za Approval made it a gray leading pair with Potomac River and Pleuven right there with them. The Pizza Man was away last, 10 lengths behind the leader.
With no one forcing the issue, Kasaqui set moderate splits of :23.81, :48.31, and 1:11.96. Potomac River and Za Approval continued to sit right off the leader with Pleuven down on the rail in fourth.
As the field exited the far turn, Potomac River and Za Approval began to lose ground after being up on the pace. Moving off the rail and to the outside of Kasaqui at the top of the stretch, jockey Channing Hill set Pleuven down for the push to the wire. While Kasaqui still had something left in the tank after getting away with reasonable fractions, Pleuven was able to draw even with him with a furlong left to run, wear him down, and then inch away in late.
From the back of the field, Florent Geroux shifted The Pizza Man to the center of the track for his run, and though he was able to make up some ground, he did not have enough kick to carry him to victory. The race favorite instead had to settle for fourth, 3/4-length behind Thatcher Street. Pleuven stopped the clock in 1:40.96 over a firm course.
Conquest Typhoon, Flatlined, Behesht, Za Approval, R. Great Adventure, and Potomac River completed the order of finish.
Geroux, who was aboard favored The Pizza Man, stated post race, “I think he ran a great race, you know. He was far back ... like he usually does. There was not much pace in the front of the race. So he came running.”
“It was a pretty uneventful trip,” said winning rider Channing Hill. “The 10-horse (Kasaqui) broke super well and we were kind of hoping that he would and I just wanted to get real cover for him today obviously with him being from overseas and he responded terrifically. When I asked him, he was there and when I needed him to tap on the brakes, he was there. He’s just pure class. He really improved on his last race.”
Sent off at 7-1, Pleuven paid $17.20/$7.20/$6.40 for the win. Kasaqui, off 10-1 odds, returned $8.60/$6.40 for the place, and 5-1 shot Thatcher Street returned $3.80 for the show. The $2 exacta paid $210.20, the $2 trifecta returned $809.20, and the $1 superfecta was worth $1,030.00.
Transferred to Phillip Sims from Chad Brown since last year, Pleuven was making just his third start for Sims. “He likes the distance, he tries hard. We didn’t really know what we had until we started training him,” Sims said. “He’s really on it all the time. He loves to train and loves to run. He’s very competitive. We knew that it would be tough but we were kind of like, ‘Hey this horse deserves a shot.’ (Jockey) Channing (Hill) gets him to relax real well.”
By Turtle Bowl (IRE) and out of the Singspiel (IRE) mare Under Estimated (FR), Pleuven began his career across the pond. Brought to the United States in 2013, the now 5-year old gelding ran thirdin his stateside debut for owner Nelson McMakin. He then made just one start in 2014, a fourth in the G3 Palm Beach, and two starts in 2015, both wins in optional claimers. After more than a year off, Pleuven returned in April of this year and has improved with each start. The Wise Dan was his first graded stakes victory and fifth overall win in 11 career starts.
Sims did not indicate where Pleuven's next race would be. However, Ignacio Correas, trainer of runner-up Kasaqui, stated that his runner would probably go next in the Arlington Handicap.