Grade 1 winner Locked begins comeback in race 1

Locked, a Grade 1 winner at 2, makes his long-awaited 3-year-old debut in a second-level allowance Saturday at Aqueduct that goes as the first race on a 12-race program.

Locked was also entered in the Perryville Stakes at Keeneland on Saturday but will run at Aqueduct, trainer Todd Pletcher said Thursday.

Locked, winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at 2, has not run since he finished third behind stablemate Fierceness in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last November. He was scratched from the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park in late February with what was ultimately diagnosed as a ligament injury in his left knee.

“The Perryville came up a really large field, with his running style and the way the track’s playing at Keeneland it would have been hard to make up a lot ground going seven furlongs,” Pletcher said. “I just feel like this is a better spot to bring him back and get him underway.”

Pletcher said this race could be used as a stepping-stone to either the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Dec. 7 or the Harlan’s Holiday at Gulfstream on Dec. 21, with either of those leading to a potential start in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 25.

:: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets.

“He doesn’t have to win first time back sprinting,” Pletcher said. “This will hopefully set him up to move him forward.”

The field for Saturday’s race includes Lord Miles, the 2023 Wood Memorial winner, who will make his first start for Bill Mott.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.