Via TD Thornton
Getting a 3-year-old to the top exactly on the first Saturday in May is an outsized goal in our sport. But even for the pony’s upper coat, a brush with a GI Kentucky Derby aspiration is ultimately just an early diversion on a much longer growing arc.
It’s fascinating to watch how Derby’s one-off hopes progress over months and even years, and two of them from Todd Pletcher’s stable signaled Saturday that they could be the ranking factor. A in the second half of this season.
During the 15-minute period on June 4, ‘Rising star TDN’ Emmanuel (More than ready) and Move one (Union Rags) each posted long-time wins, respectively, in the GII Pennine Ridge S. at Belmont Park and in the List Blame S. at Churchill Downs.
Emmanuel was taken to the top of this year’s Derby, but after running a third without impact in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. on a dry track he might not be interested in, Pletcher said the dark horse The $350,000 KEESEP will be made fresh for nearly two months and then float up in the grass at Pennine Ridge against the sophomores.
The transformation offers immediate gratifying results and Emmanuel may now be targeting a bigger lawn party, the July 9 GI Belmont Derby Invitational S.
Debuting last December 11, Emmanuel won his first two starts at Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs by a total of 10 1/4 while in the front finish at every call. In Youth S.’s GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain, this powerful pacemaker was favored until the last minute, then was dropped from its game due to failing to reach the lead and suffered an excursion pulled him four and five wide on the turns.
After that, Pletcher is in the fence between running back to the GI Florida Derby or transporting for Blue Grass. Since he already has fellow ‘Rising Star’ Charge It (Tapit) preparing for the Gulfstream location, Emmanuel had to do his gig on the way to Keeneland.
Charge It finished second in a chaotic three-way Florida Derby, while Emmanuel was no match for the blunt force closer to Zandon (Start up), who would end up as second favorite and third in the Derby.
Pletcher, who also trained Emmanuel’s stallions in the early 2000s, said around January that Emmanuel was “a bigger, scarier pony” than most. More than readyoffspring. He likens Emmanuel to his student Verrazano, “a big, physical, and powerful pony” who won the 2013 GI Haskell Invitational S.
Emmanuel kicked off his Pennine Ridge foe as a controlling 19-10 favorite who liked to take the lead, practically going through six of the first nine stretches, but burning up when stimulated to run in both the upper and deeper sections. Like we saw in his first two warm-ups, Emmanuel was never fully stretched.
And while his 88 Beyer Speed Figure looks a bit soft at first glance (matching his Blue Grass number on dirt), it’s also an artifact of amazingly small internals, and is offset by an eye-catchingly predefined final long time: 11.89 for the “interval” distance.
Better late than never…
Dynamic One took a little longer to figure things out. Now four, he ran the worst of four Pletcher players in the 2021 Derby, hit the ball at the break and tested hard for the first time past the sixteenth column. He never managed to win that match, coming home last at pole 1/4 and only winning a spot when he overcame a slower participant.
After a 0-3 start in winter of 2020-21, Pletcher hasn’t denied that he expected better out of this $725,000 KEESEP colt. But he also explains how the Dynamic One is hampered by shorter distances and outer gate pulls before snapping his daughter 5 1/4 of the length at the top of four when stretched to nine feather. In a bid to amass last-chance Derby qualifying points, Dynamic One earned respect with efforts on both turns at GII Wood Memorial S. at 15-1 odds, losing only the race. at the last turn.
Despite a pinnacle pedigree anchored by GI winner Belmont S. He recovered by winning the List Curlin S. in Saratoga last summer, ranked seventh in HOLD Runhappy Travers S., was then folded until this spring, when he finished third in GIII Challenger S. in Tampa and second in GII Ben Ali S. in Keeneland.
But Dynamic One’s troubled ride in Ben Ali is much better than it appears on paper. Committed to the rails, he was rated at “pause” for a good portion of the bareback run, then shuffled to the end to regroup. He dashed through a wall of traffic at the turn with his head toward the stands, and headed for the weary repeat winner, Scalding (Nyquist), in the final stage.
On Saturday of the nine feathers BlameDynamic One bets go up to 6-1 after Scalding’s second favorite and another Pletcher contender, Americanrevolution 11-10 chalk (Structure). A five-way speed scenario broke out on the first turn, then all the way down to the back, playing right into Dynamic One’s off-beat strategy.
Struggling to get through three-eighths quickly, he methodically picked out fast-paced leads, and was turned onto the sixth street to turn home without having to worry about the slightly heady Dynamic. One built over the course of his 1/4 mile run. Bidding.
Despite its name, this is not the kind of pony that will wow you with a spectacular flourish. But slow and steady still won a few North American races with a focus on speed here, and when the five horses lined up in the eighth column all had a chance to win, it was clear that Dynamic One made a difference. Get the best motivation.
In addition to the career-best 99 Beyer, Dynamic One is a contender for either the GII Stephen Foster S. at Churchill on July 2 or the GII Suburban S. in Belmont on July 9.
That second option could set up both Emmanuel and Dynamic One for all-important 10-lane tries on the same afternoon in two different races.
Not quite the 1/4 mile test that Pletcher’s steady friends initially aim for earlier in their careers – but not bad consolation either.
