Pletcher makes the right call again at Gulfstream
HALLANDALE BEACH — Todd Pletcher knows he has an outstanding grass horse in Mshawish, a winner of three turf stakes at Gulfstream last winter. Pletcher, who doesn’t make many mistakes, was convinced Mshawish also could be a star on the main track.
Pletcher stuck to his guns even after Mshawish ran fourth in his first attempt on dirt. Mshawish could have been one of the favorites in the $200,000 Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale on turf. Pletcher opted instead for the $150,000 Grade 3 Hal’s Hope on dirt.
Mshawish, the 2-1 third choice in the five-horse field, made Pletcher look like the genius horsemen he is, coming from off the pace and out-dueling 9-5 favorite Valid in a stretch-long battle to win the flat mile stakes by a neck under Javier Castellano, who teamed with Pletcher to win three races on the card. Grande Shores, the longest shot in the race, held third, more than three lengths back, after vying for the lead most of the way.
A decision by Castellano might have been crucial.
“I like to ride the horse like a European turf horse,” Castellano said, “cover up a little bit and make a big strong move. In the Cigar Mile, when he first ran on the dirt, I think I may have moved too soon. I learned something from my mistake. Today I rode more patient. It paid off.”
Pletcher didn’t feel confident until they hit the wire.
“I have a lot of respect for Valid from running against him,” Pletcher said. “He’s a tough horse to get by.”
The fact that Mshawish, who completed a mile in 1:34.61, vindicated Pletcher’s assessment of him affords the 12-time Gulfstream training champion enviable options. “The immediate ones are on Feb. 6, the [$500,000] Donn [on dirt] and the [$350,000] Gulfstream Turf Handicap, which he won last year,” Pletcher said.
Beyond that, Pletcher is looking at three multimillion-dollar races in March in Dubai; two on turf and the $10 million World Cup, the world’s richest race, on dirt.
Sandiva got the big day for Pletcher and Castellano off to a great start, on the pace all the way to capture the $150,000 Grade 3 Marshua’s River. Breaking from post one, Castellano held his position on the hedge as Devine Aida and Quiet Kitten pushed the pace outside him down the backstretch. When those two had had enough, Castellano opened a quick couple of lengths heading for home. They were never threatened from there, coasting under the wire by a length and a half in 1:42.04 for a mile and a sixteenth on turf. A Little Bit Sassy got up in the closing strides to beat out Tuttipaesi for the place.
It’s probably a good thing horses are unaware of what people are saying about them. If Sandiva had not run well, Pletcher said, she would have been retired to a life of leisure making babies.
“The plan was to bring her back, and if she showed us she still had the desire to run, to run her this year. So far, I’d say that is the case.”
Front-running tactics also proved successful in the Fort Lauderdale. In spite of being hindered by the outside 11 post, Julien Leparoux managed to get Heart to Heart over to the fence and on the lead by the first turn and the race was essentially over.
Heart to Heart, off at 3-1, went unchallenged down the backstretch and around the far turn and had plenty left for the drive to the wire. Luke’s Alley, who stalked in second or third most of the way, made a late rally to cut the margin to a half-length at the finish but it never appeared he had enough to run down the winner. All Included was third as Heart to Heart completed a mile and a sixteenth in 1:41.71.
Winning trainer Brian Lynch hedged when asked if Heart to Heart would run back in the Gulfstream Turf Handicap.
“We’ll take a look at it, but he’s not a big horse so I like to give him more time between races,” Lynch said.