Attachment Rate will face one of Pletcher's 3-year-olds in Unbridled

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With the postponement of the Kentucky Derby from the first Saturday in May until the first Saturday in September, the opportunity has arisen for late-developing 3-year-olds to insert themselves in the Derby picture in the months ahead.

Recognizing that fact and acknowledging the unexpected strength of the 3-year-old division stabled locally because of travel restraints and track closures due to the coronavirus pandemic, Gulfstream Park has carded the $75,000 Unbridled on Saturday. The overnight stakes is restricted to 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on the main track.

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The Unbridled is one of several races to be added to the spring-summer stakes program owing to the quality of horses that have remained in South Florida following the conclusion of the Championship meet on March 29. The Unbridled drew 23 nominations, including five from trainer Todd Pletcher. His group of lightly raced but promising 3-year-olds is topped by Money Moves, perfect in two starts and an allowance winner at a mile in his most recent appearance. Other Pletcher candidates for the Unbridled are I’ll Fight Dempsey, Liam’s Point, Silver Ratio, and Dr. Post.

On Monday, Pletcher said he would likely “run something” in the Unbridled but would not make a final decision until just before entry time Wednesday.

Other leading candidates for the Unbridled include Attachment Rate for Dale Romans, the Mark Hennig-trained duo of allowance winners Americanus and Sonneman, as well as Relentless Dancer, who finished a tiring fourth after setting the early pace in the Tampa Bay Derby.

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Romans said he is looking forward to getting Attachment Rate back to the races for the first time since his third-place finish in the Gotham on March 7 at Aqueduct.

“Our original plan was to go right to the Blue Grass out of the Gotham,” Romans said. “Unfortunately, that never materialized. Fortunately, management here recognized what type of horse population they still have around here right now and are doing all they can do to help the horsemen get through this situation. Attachment Rate has been working very well, and I expect another big effort from him on Saturday.”

Tampa Bay Derby runner-up Sole Volante, rated eighth on Daily Racing Form’s latest Derby Watch, was nominated but will not run Saturday.

◗ Sunday’s mandatory Rainbow 6 disbursal attracted more than $7.3 million in new wagers, adding to a carryover of in excess of $1.3 million that had accumulated in the first 11 programs since the spring meet began April 3. Winning tickets returned $20,158 for a 20-cent wager. The sequence included only one favorite, the even-money Bareeqa in the opening leg.

◗ Apprentice jockey Joseph Trejos registered his first victory in the United States, guiding Mixteca to victory for trainer Luis Guttierez as a 20-1 outsider in Saturday’s opening race. Trejos, a 2018 graduate of Panama’s prestigious Lafitt Pincay Jr. Jockey School, won 44 races in his native Panama before coming to this country to begin galloping horses last November.