Aqueduct: Vegas No Show battles Pletcher trio in Discovery

A well-matched group will line up for Saturday’s $200,000 Discovery Handicap, the last graded stakes of the season for 3-year-old males in New York.

The Grade 3 Discovery is the sixth of eight races; first post is 12:25 p.m. Eastern.

A mere four pounds separates the entire field, collectively winless from 21 chances in graded stakes. Starting highweight Vegas No Show comes off hard-fought victories in two minor stakes for Kelly Breen, and he carries 119 pounds; low-weighted Bad Hombre is in with 115 pounds.

Todd Pletcher will be represented by a trio of off-the-pace runners in decent form. In addition to the Mike Repole-owned entry of Micromanage and Midnight Taboo, he also will send out Battier, who challenged for the lead with a furlong remaining in the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby before flattening out to wind up third.

“He gave us a thrill for a moment there,” Pletcher said of Battier, who recorded a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort. “I thought that race was excellent. He’s a horse who is maturing. He’s always trained impressively, so we think he has a big race in him.”

Battier and Midnight Taboo, who won races 24 hours apart at Aqueduct’s spring meet, are the only Discovery runners to have won over the track.

Romansh, who raced forwardly before fading in both the Travers and Pennsylvania Derby, has been installed as the 2-1 morning-line choice. He breezed a bullet five furlongs last week for Tom Albertrani and may turn out to be the pacesetter by default.

Norumbega has won two of three starts since adding Lasix, capped by an improved show of tactical speed at Keeneland in mid-October. He is now 3-0-1 from four starts at the Discovery’s 1 1/8-mile distance for trainer Shug McGaughey.

“He’s a great big, leggy kind of horse,” assistant trainer Buzz Tenney said. “He’s by Tiznow, so I think his future is ahead of him.”

Rounding out the field is Mr Palmer, a Bill Mott-trained son of Pulpit who rallied to finish fourth in the Wood Memorial and was then off for six months before finishing off the board in a sloppy renewal of the Grade 2 Indiana Derby.

“He ran well in the Wood, but he needed time after that – it took a lot out of him,” assistant trainer Leana Willaford said. “The Indiana Derby wasn’t ideal; he caught a very mucky racetrack.”