Impressive GI Xpressbet.com Florida Derby winner Audible (Into Mischief) exited his fourth-straight victory Saturday in good order as his connections eye next month's GI Kentucky Derby.
“Excellent,” Pletcher said. “He seemed to come out of it very well. We're always anxious to see how they come out of it, but we could tell back at the barn after the race, it seemed like his energy level was very good, he cooled out quickly and was pretty enthusiastic as he was walking around the barn. We felt pretty confident that he took the race well. You love to see them recover quickly and he certainly did that, so that's an encouraging sign.”
Pletcher, who took last year's “Run for the Roses” with Florida Derby winner Always Dreaming (Bodemeister), holds another strong hand for this year's renewal, including GII Louisiana Derby winner Noble Indy (Take Charge Indy) and unbeaten GII Rebel S. hero Magnum Moon (Malibu Moon), who is expected to contest the Apr. 14 GI Arkansas Derby.
Asked when he might ship to Kentucky from his Palm Beach Downs base, Pletcher said, “I haven't decided for sure. I'd like to have at least one breeze over the Churchill track, possibly two. We'll just kind of play it by ear. Last year I was planning on going three weeks out and, looking at the forecast, it looked like they had a week full of rain so we postponed it a week and that worked out well for Always Dreaming. We'll just see how things are going.”
Pletcher also took Saturday's GII Pan American S. with accomplished Argentinian import Hi Happy (Arg) (Pure Prize). That runner will likely return in the GI Man o' War S. at Belmont May 12.
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