Pletcher updates early pair of 2018 Kentucky Derby hopefuls
In 2017, trainer Todd Pletcher had three horses start in the Kentucky Derby headed by Always Dreaming, who earned him his second victory in the Run for the Roses. As the page turns to 2018, Pletcher’s Derby contingent is starting to take shape.
In Friday's second race at Aqueduct, Pletcher sent Marconi to the gate for a debut at 1 1/8 miles. This big grey son of Tapit is a half brother to 2013 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Mucho Macho Man. The partnership of Bridlewood Farm the Coolmore team brought the colt for $2 million at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Expectations were high for Marconi, who had been training steadily at Belmont Park since August. He was the only horse in the field of six who had not run in a prior race. Breaking slowly, Marconi showed his inexperience, falling more than nine lengths behind the early leader. He then swung seven-wide and rallied to finish second, beaten only 1 3/4 lengths by his stablemate, Biblical, another son of Tapit.
When asked about the tough task that his first-time starter faced, Pletcher said, “We knew him pretty well from the mornings and felt like that’s what he’s going to want to do. So, I felt like we’d put him in at a distance that we know he can handle. I thought we had him fit enough and I thought he ran very well for what we asked him to do.”
Is Marconi going to end up as Kentucky Derby starter for Pletcher?
“It was a promising debut," the trainer said. "I’m not sure what we’ll do. We’ll see how he comes out of it. I’d like to keep him at a mile and an eighth, so we’ll play it by ear.”
Right now, the top Derby prospect for Pletcher is Montauk, who broke his maiden by more than 11 lengths back in October while receiving an 87 Beyer Speed Figure. Connections decided to skip the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to give him more time to mature.
“Doing well. He’s in Florida,” Pletcher said of a colt already at 22-1 in Derby odds listed by the Wynn Las Vegas. “We haven’t mapped out exactly what he’s going to do, but hopefully there will be an allowance race soon to start his winter campaign.”