Trainer Todd Pletcher unveiled a pair of impressive debut winners Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., where WinStar Farm LLC and Siena Farm were represented in the winner's circle by Emmanuel and Dean's List following their dominating triumphs in maiden special weight races for 2-year-olds.
Emmanuel, a son of More Than Ready, produced a dazzling front-running score in Race 7, running a mile in 1:36.47 to win by a comfortable 6 ¾ lengths as the 7-5 favorite.
Three races earlier on the card, Dean's List, a son of Speightstown, rolled to a 5 ½-length score in a six-furlong sprint.
“They had been workmates the last few times and they both trained like quality horses,” Pletcher said. “We were obviously not wanting to run them against one another, so we felt like this guy [Emmanuel] was better suited for the mile first time out. Glad it worked out.”
Both promising colts were ridden by Luis Saez, who also won the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector aboard Officiating.
Emmanuel, who broke cleanly and alertly from the rail post position, set fractions of :23.66 and :45.96 for the first half mile before completing six furlongs in 1:11.08 and seven furlongs in 1:23.66.
“I have to give him a lot of credit. To win from the one hole going a mile first time out, that's a demanding task. I'm proud of him for doing it and it looked like he did it the right way,” Pletcher said.
Dean's List pressed the pace set by Felix past fractions of :21.70 and :44.36 for a half mile before asserting himself in the stretch.
“We were hoping for a good performance. He'd been breezing like a horse that would run well in his debut. He broke sharply and ran a professional race,” Pletcher said. “They were rolling along but it looked like he was in hand, doing it comfortably, so we're happy with everything.”
The WinStar homebred, who went to post as the 6-5 favorite, ran six furlongs in 1:09.92.
Pletcher trained both More Than Ready, a most versatile G1 winner, and Speightstown, the 2014 Eclipse Award-winning sprinter – the respective sires of Emmanuel and Dean's List.
“We've had a lot of More Than Readys over the years, and this is a bigger, scopier colt than a lot of them,” Pletcher said. “I told someone this morning that was asking about him, I said he kind of reminds me of a Verrazano type – a big, physical, strong imposing colt. You're always concerned going a mile first time out, but we felt like he had shown us enough in the mornings.”
More Than Ready has been a highly successful sire of dirt and turf horses.
“It's been great to watch that over the years. It seems like just yesterday I was so anxious to see the first More Than Ready foals and now 20 years later, he's still going strong,” Pletcher said. “He's a phenomenal stallion, so versatile, he's just unbelievable.”
Dean's List is a Speightstown lookalike.
“He reminds us a lot of Speightstown. He's built like him and looks a lot like him,” said Pletcher. “Speightstown's had such a great career it's fun to have one.”
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