Tommy Macho Gets a Graded Win in the Discovery

Trainer Todd Pletcher entered a trio of three-year-olds in the Discovery Handicap (G3) on Veterans’ Day at Aqueduct and ended up taking the top two places when Tommy Macho got the win and Madefromlucky finished second.

The Aqueduct main track was sloppy after heavy rains during the previous night and the sealed surface was playing kindly to frontrunners all day long. With that in mind, Pletcher made it clear to jockey Javier Castellano that they did not want to let the favorite Ocean Knight get loose on the lead.

"We felt like Ocean Knight was the horse to beat and was the main pace in the race, and we didn't want to allow him to walk the dog up front,” said Pletcher. “So we felt like Tommy Macho's running style would hopefully, if he broke well, put him in a position to keep some pressure on the favorite.”

That is exactly how the race played out. Ocean Knight went right to the lead after the start and took position on the inside of the track. Tommy Macho sat close just to the outside of the leader. The two of them set the slow early fractions of 24.25, 49.45, and 1:14.63, while basically maintaining their positions.

Turning for home, Ocean Knight began to fade and Tommy Macho drew off to a 4 ¼ length victory.  His stablemate, Madefromlucky, was also able to pass Ocean Knight, as they neared the wire.

Castellano was impressed with his mount’s performance,"Beautiful Trip. My only concern was getting a good break out of the gate. Sometimes he misses the break, but today he felt sharp. I give all the credit to Mr. Pletcher. He did all the right things with this horse, schooling him in the mornings and it showed here this afternoon. He broke out of the gate perfect and I knew I had enough horse in the stretch coming home."

This summer, the son of Macho Uno had battled the top three-year-olds and earned two third place finishes. "[Tommy Macho] ran a sneaky good race in the West Virginia Derby,” said Pletcher. “The inside was very dead that day and he got stuck on the rail the whole way. Then I thought he ran an incredible third in the Pennsylvania Derby. He tends to run well fresh and I don't think he minded the off track.”

For Pletcher, this was his sixth victory in the Discovery Handicap and his second in a row having won the race last year with Protonico. Tommy Macho was sent off as the 3.45-1 third betting choice and paid $9.30, $4.50, $2.80. The $2 exacta with his stablemate paid $29.

The win in the Discovery Handicap made Tommy Macho’s first stakes victory a graded one. The late developing sophomore added $90,000 to his earnings and upped his career stats to 7: 3-0-3 for $363,050.