Locked impresses in long-awaited return

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Locked, away from the races for nearly 50 weeks, returned an impressive winner Saturday at Aqueduct, taking a second-level allowance race by 7 1/2 lengths.

Locked, under John Velazquez, who lost his crop early on in the race, chased the pace-setting Gun It before taking command at the three-sixteenths pole and drawing clear under a vigorous hand ride. Heavily-favored Locked ($2.80) covered seven furlongs in a solid 1:21.02 though it looked early on Saturday’s card that Aqueduct’s main track was quick.

Locked, trained by Todd Pletcher for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, had also been entered in Saturday’s $350,000 Perryville Stakes at Keeneland, but his connections opted for this softer spot. Locked, the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity winner of 2023, hadn’t run since he finished third to stablemate Fierceness in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last November.

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Locked was scratched from the Fountain of Youth Stakes during the winter and was diagnosed with a knee ligament injury that required plenty of time off.

“It was encouraging, he had been training very well,” Pletcher said. “Trying to make the right decision bringing him back, we were prepared to go to Keeneland [but] big field, and he hadn’t run in a year. It worked out.”

Pletcher said the goal for early 2025 is to try and get Locked to the $3 million Pegasus at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 25. A race like the Grade 2, $500,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Dec. 7 or the Grade 3, $150,000 Harlan’s Holiday at Gulfstream on Dec. 21 are the potential next spots for Locked.

“Cigar Mile looks a little more attractive the way he ran on this track today,” Pletcher said. “We’ll see. I’ll talk to Aron [Wellman of Eclipse] and the connections and come up with a plan. It was good to see him comeback.”

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