Sudden Surprise gets chance to go long

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Sudden Surprise, a four-time sprint-stakes winner, will be given the opportunity to stretch out around two turns in the $100,000 Gander Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds at Aqueduct on Feb. 6, trainer Todd Pletcher said Thursday.

Sudden Surprise, a son of Giant Surprise owned and bred by Mike Repole, went 5 for 6 as a 2-year-old, with this wins coming from 5 1/2 to seven furlongs. His lone loss came in the one-mile Sleepy Hollow Stakes at Belmont Park, where he finished fourth, beaten 3 1/2 lengths by Get Jets.

“He stayed one pace throughout,” Pletcher said Thursday on a rare winter visit to Belmont. “He didn’t make the lead that day. I think he’s probably a horse you got to let run on a little bit, so I’d have to think he will handle the stretch-out, but until we do it ...

“We’ll stretch him out in the Gander, and if he proves he’s capable of handling that, then we’ll look at the Gotham.”