Aqueduct notes: Pletcher sends his 2-year-olds south

Though he didn’t win the Remsen, trainer Todd Pletcher did win three races restricted to 2-year-olds on Saturday at Aqueduct, including the Grade 2 Demoiselle with Stopchargingmaria.

Pletcher also won with a pair of good-looking maidens who overcame troubled starts to win. The filly Dame Dorothy broke slowly, spotted the rest of the field several lengths, but managed to rally from last to win a seven-furlong maiden race by a half-length. Three races later, the colt Surfing U S A overcame a bad start to win his maiden by 2 1/4 lengths, also at seven furlongs.

All three of those horses – along with Demoiselle runner-up Got Lucky – were scheduled to ship Tuesday to Palm Meadows, where they will prepare for their 3-year-old campaigns.

Stopchargingmaria, who earned a 77 Beyer Speed Figure for her narrow victory over Got Lucky, will point for a stakes at Gulfstream or Fair Grounds, said Pletcher, who won his third straight Demoiselle and fifth overall.

Dame Dorothy, who earned a 71 Beyer for her win, will likely be given the chance to stretch out as well. She is owned by celebrity chef Bobby Flay.

Pletcher was quite impressed with Surfing U S A, who stumbled leaving the starting gate but worked his way quickly to a stalking position before drawing clear. He covered seven furlongs in 1:23.63 and earned an 83 Beyer.

“Seemed to me like he won with a little something left,” Pletcher said. “He idled a little bit when he made the lead. Promising effort, looks like he’ll stretch out.”

Gyarmati regrouping

Trainer Leah Gyarmati had to scratch Noble Moon from Saturday’s Grade 2 Remsen Stakes after the horse broke out in hives Friday night and needed to be treated medically. While the horse quickly recovered, he was placed on the vet’s list, meaning he can’t run for 10 days, leaving Gyarmati stuck with what to do with the horse.

Had Noble Moon not been placed on the vet’s list, Gyarmati said Sunday morning she would have entered him back for a seven-furlong allowance race here on Friday (the race that did not fill). Still, Gyarmati was upset that the horse was put on the vet’s list for hives. She would like to run him in the Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct on Jan. 4, but doesn’t want him to have two months without a race. He most recently finished third in the Nashua Stakes on Nov. 3.

“Automatically, because it’s a vet scratch it’s 10 days,” Gyarmati said. “It doesn’t matter what the reason is. It’s absolutely ridiculous. My options are I can either do nothing because I got 10 days and can’t run next week or I could go to Florida and run on the 15th in an allowance race and then run on [Jan. 25] in the Holy Bull.”

Gyarmati’s frustrations may have subsided by Sunday afternoon when her 2-year-old colt Street Gent went gate to wire to win a 1 1/8-mile maiden race, perhaps putting himself into contention for the Jerome.