Workmates Last Judgment, Soldado win off extended layoffs

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Everybody talks about key races as a handicapping tool. But what about key workouts?

Certainly the five furlong work in 1:01.04 on Jan. 30 at Palm Beach Downs matching the team of Last Judgment and Soldado will go down as a key workout after the pair returned just a week later to win feature races here on back-to-back days, capped off by Last Judgment’s impressive 2 3/4-length allowance win on Friday. The previous afternoon, Soldado was equally sharp defeating slightly lesser allowance opposition by 2 1/2 lengths. Both races were decided at six furlongs.

Last Judgment and Soldado were coming into their races last week off significant layoffs. Last Judgment had been idle since finishing a distant fourth in Monmouth Park’s Pegasus Stakes on June 16. The son of Congrats won his maiden here against statebreds last winter and 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Oaklawn Park in mid-March.

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Last Judgment overcame a slow start from the rail under John Velazquez to win his 2020 debut.

“I was a little concerned when he drew the one hole,” said Pletcher. “He got shuffled back a little bit. I was a little worried for about an eighth of a mile, but once he got him out in the clear you could see him start running. The way he’d been training up to it and the way his workmate had run the previous afternoon, I was very confident.”

Pletcher said Last Judgment had no real issues when he stopped on him during the second half of his 3-year-old season.

“When we took him to Churchill for the Pat Day Mile he was training fantastic and he threw in a real dud,” said Pletcher. “We regrouped, took him to the Pegasus, and he didn’t fire again. So we just felt it would be best to give him a break. I think he’s much better going two turns, and off this effort I wouldn’t be afraid to step him up into a stakes going two turns next time.”

Soldado was an easy maiden winner launching his career here last winter but went to the sidelines after disappointing efforts in two subsequent starts. He returned from the near 10-month hiatus to earn a career best 97 Beyer Speed Figure for his victory with Luis Saez aboard a week ago.

“That was a big effort off the bench and he came out of it well,” Pletcher said. “He still has another allowance condition so we’ll see.”