Pletcher has double-barreled threat in Excelsior
Trainer Todd Pletcher has a strong one-two punch with First Constitution and Untreated in the $150,000 Excelsior on Saturday at Aqueduct. The 1 1/8-mile race for 4-year-olds and up drew five horses and goes as the eighth of nine races with a scheduled post time of 5:13 p.m. Eastern.
Under the allowance conditions of the race, First Constitution will carry high weight of 122 pounds. If he runs as well as he did in the $97,000 Jazil on Jan. 22 at Aqueduct, he is going to be tough to beat. It was the first time in the United States that First Constitution, a Group 1 winner in his native Chile, did not use Lasix. The Excelsior is a non-Lasix race.
With Jose Lezcano riding, the 5-year-old Chilean-bred set honest fractions under pressure from Core Conviction, opened up a two-length advantage at the six-furlong mark, and kept widening to win the 1 1/8-mile Jazil by 6 3/4 lengths.
“He may have benefited from a speed-favoring track,” Pletcher said.
Following his impressive performance in the Jazil, First Constitution shipped to Florida. His connections were considering several different races but ultimately decided “to go back to Aqueduct,” Pletcher said. “He seemed to like it.”
First Constitution drew post 3 with Kendrick Carmouche riding.
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First Constitution will have to deal with the speed breaking from the rail in Splicethemainbrace. If they get carried away early, Untreated could pick up the pieces.
A 4-year-old colt by Nyquist, Untreated also likes the local surface. Following a disappointing effort in the Grade 2 Blue Grass last April 3 at Keeneland, he won a first-level allowance race Nov. 19 at Aqueduct and repeated in a second-level allowance that carried a $62,500 claiming option Dec. 31. Both races were contested at a mile, the latter over a track rated muddy.
In his first start as an older horse, Untreated finished a non-threatening sixth behind the imposing Olympiad in the Grade 3 Mineshaft on Feb. 19 at Fair Grounds. Pletcher was not too disappointed in the effort.
“He had a pretty wide trip all the way around there and wasn’t beaten bad,” the Hall of Fame trainer said regarding Untreated’s effort in the Mineshaft. “I thought it was a better-than-it-looked-on-paper race.”
Trevor McCarthy will be aboard for the first time when Untreated breaks from post 2.
Forewarned finished more than 17 lengths behind First Constitution in the Jazil, but the 7-year-old Ohio-bred is not out the question.
Trained by Uriah St. Lewis, the 7-year-old Ohio-bred followed up the Jazil with a solid effort in the $100,000 John B. Campbell at Laurel, where he made a strong late move to miss by the narrowest of margins to Galerio in the 1 1/16-mile race Feb. 19. The 102 Beyer he received is a career best and the top lifetime figure among the horses entered.
Prior to the Jazil, Forewarned shocked the $125,000 Queens County at Aqueduct, where he paid $86 for his 1 1/4-length victory over Empty Tomb in the 1 1/8-mile race.
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A closer, Forewarned could be dangerous if the track is playing fair and he gets an honest and contested pace to work with.
Splicethemainbrace is coming off a third for trainer Robert Reid Jr. in the $100,000 Washington Crossing on March 7 at Parx Racing.
–additional reporting by David Grening