Emmanuel successfully stretches out

Emmanuel earned an 89 Beyer Speed Figure in a 4 1/2-length victory in a mile and 40-yard allowance Sunday at Tampa Bay Downs when staying unbeaten for Todd Pletcher in two career races.

Under minimal urging from jockey Pablo Morales, Emmanuel led from the start, drawing clear in 1:40.24 over a fast track and returning $2.60 as a heavy favorite in a field of six.

Through the years, Pletcher has occasionally sent a top 3-year-old to Tampa for a needed two-turn race when behind schedule, most notably in 2017 when the eventual Kentucky Derby winner, Always Dreaming, won a maiden race in late January.

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Emmanuel, a More Than Ready colt owned by WinStar Farm and Siena Farm, was such an impressive winner of his only prior start, a one-mile Gulfstream maiden race on Dec. 11, that he closed at 17-1 as the fifth-lowest separately listed betting interest in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager held Jan. 21-23.

The Emmanuel win capped a massive weekend for Pletcher, who on Saturday at Gulfstream won the Pegasus World Cup with Life Is Good, the Pegasus Turf with Colonel Liam, the W.L. McKnight with Abaan, and a maiden race with a first-time starter named Swing Shift.