A number of Todd Pletcher's top 3-year-old worked at Palm Beach Downs over the weekend. Both GI Champagne S. winner Daredevil (More Than Ready) and GI Breeders' Futurity victor Carpe Diem (Giant's Causeway) fired bullets with Daredvil completing five panls in :59.64 on Sunday and Carpe Diem going that same distance in :59.42 Saturday. “They're both training exceptionally well,” Pletcher said. “Carpe Diem's breeze yesterday was very impressive. He came out of it well, and we're planning to go in the [GII] Tampa Bay Derby [Mar. 7] with him. I thought Daredevil worked extremely well this morning also. We're planning to go in the [GII] Swale [S. Feb. 28] with him.”
Starlight Racing's Itsaknockout (Lemon Drop Kid), who was successful in his unveiling Dec. 7 and annexed an optional claimer Jan. 4, will be aiming for the GI Fountain of Youth S. Feb. 21. He worked five furlongs in 1:00.22 Sunday. “I thought he breezed really well this morning,” Pletcher said of Itsaknockout. “He's on schedule for the Fountain of Youth.”
J S Bach (Tale of the Cat), an 8 1/2-length maiden winner Dec. 19, covered five panels in 1:00.94. “I was very happy with him this morning. He's either going to go to the [GIII] Southwest [S. at Oaklawn Feb. 16] or the [GII] Risen Star [S. at the Fair Grounds Feb. 21].”
Khozan (Distorted Humor), who was tabbed a “TDN Rising Star” in his debut Jan. 24 worked four furlongs in :49 flat. “I think he's on a similar program to what Constitution (Tapit) was on last year,” the conditioner explained. “He broke his maiden, won an allowance, and then won the Florida Derby. But we have a lot of options.”
GI Hopeful S. victor Competitive Edge (Super Saver) breezed five furlongs in 1:00.22. “[Competitive Edge] is doing well,” Pletcher offered. “We haven't decided on a first start [of 2015] yet.”
With 32 sophomores Triple Crown nominated, Pletcher acknowledged that there will be races on the Dery trail when stablemates will face each other. “There's going to be certain cases where we're going to have to run more than one [horse in a prep],” he explained. “A lot of it is about timing. A good thing about this time of year is that there are preps pretty much every weekend, either here or in Tampa or Oaklawn or Louisiana, so we have some options to move them around. Then it's just about timing–when they ran last and what kind of schedule they're on.”
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