Micromanage going long in Birdstone Stakes
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In the first start of his career, Micromanage won a seven-furlong race at Saratoga. In the 18th start of his career, Micromanage will attempt to win a 14-furlong race at Saratoga.
Micromanage heads a field of six entered for Thursday’s $100,000 Birdstone Stakes, carded at the unusual distance of 1 3/4 miles over Saratoga’s main track. Though his Tomlinson distance rating of 272 is the lowest in the field, Micromanage has run races that suggest he is the most equipped of the sextet to handle the marathon distance.
Two starts back, Micromanage, a son of Medaglia d’Oro, was beaten a neck by Norumbega in the Grade 2 Brooklyn Handicap at 1 1/2 miles at Belmont Park. In March, he won the Grade 3 Skip Away Stakes at 1 3/16 miles at Gulfstream Park.
Trainer Todd Pletcher had Micromanage entered July 27 in the Monmouth Cup at Monmouth Park but scratched when it became clear this race would have enough entries to fill.
“He ran pretty well at a mile and a half. We’ll give it a shot,” said Pletcher, who trains Micromanage for owner Mike Repole. “I think it’s a pretty good spot. Hopefully he shows up and runs his race.”As a graded stakes winner, Micromanage carries top weight of 122 pounds, spotting two to eight pounds to the rest of the field. Javier Castellano rides from post 5.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 5 Micromanage. Trainer Todd Pletcher is 7 for 76 with a $1.20 ROI over the past five years in dirt routes of 10 furlongs and longer.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Key contenders
Micromanage (Last 3 Beyers: 89-101-95)
* The only dirt graded stakes winner in the field, having won the Skip Away at Gulfstream at 1 3/16 miles.
* Coming off a seventh-place finish in the Grade 2 Suburban, a performance for which Pletcher said the colt had “no excuses.” ◗ Suburban runner-up Moreno won the Grade 1 Whitney, while Suburban third-place finisher Prayer for Relief ran fourth in the Whitney.
Don Dulce (Last 3 Beyers: 93-96-99)
* In his first race off the claim for trainer Jason Servis, Don Dulce finished fourth to Itsmyluckyday in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile, beaten only 3 1/2 lengths. Itsmyluckyday came back to run second in the Grade 1 Whitney.
“He ran great – too short for him,” Servis said of Don Dulce’s Salvator Mile effort. “He didn’t get off good, they picked it up around the turn, and he was running at the end. I was very happy with the race.”
* Don Dulce has lost his last 11 races. His last win came here going 1 1/8 miles in an optional claimer July 29, 2013.
Formulator Fact: In the last five years, Servis is 0 for 8 with a second and three thirds in non-graded stakes races beyond one mile.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Don Dulce. Trainer Jason Servis is 5 for 14 with a $3.27 ROI over the past five years in dirt routes of nine furlongs and longer.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Slim Shadey (Last 3 Beyers: 90-98-86)
* He is a multiple graded stakes winner at 1 1/2 miles on the turf but has never raced on a fast dirt track in 38 career starts.
* His one dirt try came two starts back when he won the off-the-turf Elkwood Stakes over a sloppy Monmouth main track.