Pletcher Pleased With Itsaknockout, Outlash

While some of his more accomplished 3-year-olds remain on hold for their season debuts, trainer Todd Pletcher showed off a pair of late-developing sophomores on Sunday at Gulfstream Park.

A professional winner in his unveiling on December 6, Itsaknockout returned to Gulfstream with an even more impressive 5 ¼-length score in the fourth race, a $48,000 optional claiming allowance at one mile on the main track.

Three races later, 8-5 favorite Outlash came from off the pace to nail 40-1 long shot Face of Winner near the wire for a head victory in his debut, a $45,000 seven-furlong sprint for maidens on dirt.

Itsaknockout ($7.40), owned by Starlight Racing, who paid $350,000 for the Lemon Drop Kid colt at Fasig-Tipton’s Saratoga Selected Yearling Sale in August 2013, rated behind pacesetting Global Positioning until taking over at the top of the stretch and drawing away to win in 1:35.04.

The final time was .79 seconds faster than Bluegrass Singer ran in winning the $100,000 Mucho Macho Man, formerly the Gulfstream Park Derby, on Saturday.

“He’s a horse that’s always impressed us in his training from the beginning,” Pletcher said. “We were optimistic in his first race that he’d run well and were fortunate enough to get the job done. With the step up in distance and up in class, it was a very promising effort today.”

Pletcher indicated the performance put Itsaknockout among his many Triple Crown hopefuls with a stakes race in his immediate plans, though the $400,000 Holy Bull (G2) at 1 1/16 miles on January 24 is unlikely.

“I think after you’ve won your first two starts and you have a pedigree that suggests you want to stretch out, you’re going to be looking for a Derby prep of some sort; it just depends on which one,” he said. “It’ll be all about the timing and really how he bounces out of this race. The Holy Bull comes back in 20 days which is probably a little soon, so we’ll look for something else.”

Repole Stable’s Outlash ($5.40), by Unbridled’s Song, sat third as Face of Winner and The Son Wind dueled through fractions of 22.39 seconds, 45.27 and 1:10.18 before swinging outside under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez and gradually wearing down Face of Winner to hit the wire in 1:23.39.

“He’s a colt that’s been training well and we were looking forward to getting started, so we’re happy to see him do it,” Pletcher said. “We felt like seven furlongs was a good distance to start out, and it looked like he needed every inch of that. It was an encouraging effort.”

Who’s Hot: Jockey Luis Saez registered his sixth multi-win day of the Championship Meet with five victories, aboard Dreaming of Joey ($8) in the first, Itsaknockout ($7.40) in the fourth, Very Few Details ($8.80) in the sixth, Season Ticket ($17.40) in the eighth and Senorita Divina ($8.20) in the 11th. Javier Castellano picked up two wins with Smarts ($6.80) in the third and Franklin ($3.80) in the fifth. Trainers Todd Pletcher and Jorge Navarro also registered two-win days; Pletcher with Itsaknockout and Outlash ($5.40) in the seventh, and Navarro with Smarts and El Botas ($10.60) in the ninth.

 Rainbow 6 Guaranteed Pool: $50,000