By Alan Carasso
A three-time winner of the race, trainer Todd Pletcher fields four of the seven entrants for Saturday's $500,000 Gulfstream Park H., the meet's championship race over the one-turn mile.
Itsaknockout (Lemon Drop Kid) made a favorable impression at this meeting last year, scoring by 5 1/4 lengths over this course and distance last January before being awarded the win in the GII Fountain of Youth S. in a controversial decision the following month. Sidelined after splitting the field in the GI Kentucky Derby, the bay took his record over the local strip to four wins from six tries with a wide-trip victory going a mile Dec. 31 and exits a solid fourth to stablemate and G1 Dubai World Cup-bound Mshawish (Medaglia d'Oro) in the GI Donn H. Feb. 6. He cuts back to what might be his optimal distance for this.
“The Donn was a little disappointing because I thought he trained brilliantly for that race,” said Pletcher, who has saddled two of the three most recent winners of the GP H. “He ran well, but he didn't fire his best shot, so maybe backing up to the mile might suit him. [Jockey] Luis [Saez] said he was a little bit flat. I think if Luis could have done it over maybe he would have been a little bit more aggressive early and put him into the race a little more. It kind of unfolded as a relatively slow pace for that caliber of horse, so he struggled to close ground on them.”
The hard-knocking Valid (Medaglia d'Oro) was beaten a length into third by Honor Code (A.P. Indy) in this race last year, some 12 starts ago, and bounced back from a fifth in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile to land this track's Harlan's Holiday S. Dec. 12. Second by a game neck behind Mshawish in the GIII Hal's Hope S. Jan. 9, he most recently completed the exacta for his sire in the Donn.
The least-accomplished of the four Pletchers may also be the most intriguing. Alto Racing's Anchor Down (Tapit) visited the winner's circle after three of his first five starts, but has been in the top three just once in his five most recent appearances. Fourth with blinkers added in a pair of Belmont allowance tests in September and October, respectively, the gray raced with blinkers off in a six-furlong allowance Jan. 27 and sat a wide trip when third behind subsequent GSP Candip (Candy Ride {Arg}) and GSW Trouble Kid (Harlan's Holiday). He looms the controlling speed from the outside post and will take them as far as he can.
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