Carpe Diem among bevy of Pletcher workers

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – On Saturday afternoon, Todd Pletcher was scheduled to run 11 horses at Gulfstream Park. On Saturday morning at Palm Beach Downs – his winter headquarters about 40 miles northwest of Gulfstream – Pletcher worked 29 horses, including top 3-year-olds Carpe Diem and Far From Over.

On a cool, cloudy morning over a dirt track labeled “good,” Pletcher worked 14 teams of two. Carpe Diem, the Tampa Bay Derby winner, didn’t need any assistance from a workmate as he worked a half-mile in 48.15 seconds – Pletcher caught him in 47.98 seconds – with a final quarter of 22.93 under jockey John Velazquez. Carpe Diem galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.10. He’s pointing to the Blue Grass Stakes next Saturday at Keeneland.

“He breezed similar to last week, very settled the first part and finished up really well the last part,” Velazquez said. “He used to be pretty strong going to the pole – a little fast the first part – but he’s manageable now, which is very good.”

Pletcher said Carpe Diem is “training unbelievable. The horse is doing really, really well, seems happy. Couldn’t be more pleased with the way he’s come out of the race and the way he’s breezed afterwards.”

A little while later, Far From Over, the Withers Stakes winner who is pointing to next Saturday’s Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, breezed four furlongs in 48.98 seconds in company with Two Weeks Off, a 3-year-old who hasn’t run since winning a maiden race last August at Saratoga. Under exercise rider Ezequivel Perez, Far From Over went his first quarter in 25.66 seconds and his second quarter in 23.32. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.84 and was very much in hand.

“Throughout the course of the winter, he’s become a better and better breeze horse,” Pletcher said. “Early on, before his first start, I wasn’t sure what to expect; he was still sort of figuring the game out. But it seemed like after he made his first start, he became a better work horse, and that’s continued to be the case.”

Far From Over will ship to New York on Thursday. Pletcher also plans to run Daredevil in the Wood Memorial. Daredevil shipped to New York last Monday and was scheduled to breeze at Belmont Park on Sunday.

Pletcher breezed a bevy of other stakes horses Saturday morning.

Palace Malice, the 2013 Belmont Stakes winner and 2014 Met Mile winner, worked five furlongs in 1:01.02, getting his final quarter in 23.39 seconds. He worked in company with Protonico. Palace Malice, who has not raced since finishing sixth in the Grade 1 Whitney last Aug. 2, is pointing to the Grade 3, $150,000 Westchester Stakes on May 2.

It was the fifth work for Palace Malice since he joined Pletcher’s Florida stable early this winter.

“His fitness level is pretty high for a horse going his first five-eighths,” Pletcher said.

Protonico, who was eased in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap, will run in either the Ben Ali at Keeneland or the Oaklawn Handicap at Oaklawn Park. Both races are April 11.

General a Rod, who worked a half-mile in 48.61 seconds in company with Jack Milton, could go in the Ben Ali or the Charles Town Classic on April 18. Pletcher said the Charles Town Classic became “a little less popular now that Shared Belief is going there.”

Stopchargingmaria, the multiple Grade 1-winning 3-year-old from 2014, and Feathered, a filly who was multiple Grade 1 stakes-placed as a 2-year-old last year, worked four furlongs together in a sharp 47.86 seconds.

Feathered is likely to go to the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park next Saturday. Stopchargingmaria, now owned by Town and Country Stable, is expected to make her seasonal debut in the Grade 1, $350,000 Madison Stakes next Saturday.

“There are limited options on where you can start a filly like that coming back,” Pletcher said. “She got very good last year going two turns. She’s handy enough that seven-eighths is a good place to start back.”