Send It In back on surface he loves best

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Send It In made Aqueduct’s inner track his own private playground last winter, reeling off three consecutive victories as part of a four-race winning streak.

On Friday, Send It In hopes to pick up where he left off when he returns from a 10-month layoff in a $78,000, third-level optional $100,000 claiming race, the featured event on Aqueduct’s eight-race card.

Send It In, a gelding by Big Brown trained by Todd Pletcher, won a New York-bred second-level allowance and two open-company allowance races over the inner track last winter. He was headed for the Excelsior at Aqueduct in April when Pletcher stopped on him.

“He seemed a little jammed up, wasn’t training quite as well as he was,” Pletcher said when asked about the layoff. “Being a New York-bred gelding, we played it conservative, gave him some time off, and now he’s back.”

Send It In made his first two starts against $40,000 claimers in April 2014. But he has won five of his last six, with a head loss to Uncle Sigh his only blemish.

“He’s probably one of – if not the most – pleasant surprises in the barn,” Pletcher said. “Early on, he was very slow, and we couldn’t get him to do much of anything. We tried him on the turf, being a Big Brown, and we just kept training and training, and he started getting better and better.”

In his first two allowance wins over the inner track, Send It In came from off the pace. In his March 12 victory, he bobbled breaking from the rail, then went to the front and, after surviving an early pace battle, pulled away to win by 5 1/4 lengths.

“It seems like he’s not only gotten better, but he’s gotten a little handier and a little more tactical,” Pletcher said. “I don’t know for sure what he’ll do off the layoff, but he’s training forwardly, and I could see him placing himself in a prominent position.”

Voluntario and Muqtaser, two recent allowance winners, head the competition.

Race 7

KEY CONTENDERS

Send It In, by Big Brown

Last 3 Beyers: 104-85-92

◗ Went 3 for 3 over the inner track last winter, including a dominant 5 1/4-length score going a mile and 70 yards – the distance of this race – March 12. Second City, who pressed him on the pace that day, won an optional claimer over the main track Nov. 30 with a 92 Beyer Speed Figure.

◗ Manny Franco, who is 5-1-0 from six starts on Send It In, rides from post 5.

Muqtaser, by Distorted Humor

Last 3 Beyers: 101-93-90

◗ Comes off a 7 3/4-length romp in the slop in a second-level allowance at Belmont. Had a wide trip when fifth in his first start off a 13-month layoff in his only try on a fast dirt track.

Voluntario, by Hold Me Back

Last 3 Beyers: 99-94-74

◗ Bounced back from two dismal efforts with a five-length victory over Summer Revolution going a one-turn mile over the main track Nov. 4. Went 1 for 2, albeit in sprints, over the inner track last winter.