| Saturday, December 13, 2014 Hard-fought win for Micromanage in Saturday's Queens County By Sean Morris OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Mike Repole's Micromanage swept to the front around the far turn and repelled a late challenge from 6-5 favorite Vyjack to prevail in Saturday's $100,000 Queens County at Aqueduct Racetrack. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Micromanage has had an inconsistent 2014 campaign, but showed up with his best effort on Saturday, returning to dirt after a brief foray into turf racing. The 4-year-old colt broke a step slow under Manny Franco, and lingered near the back of the pack as 40-1 outsider Plainview set a spirited pace of 23.21 seconds for the opening quarter-mile, 47.47 for the half, and 1:12.48 for three-quarters. Entering the far turn, Micromanage commenced a four-wide rally, and vaulted into contention as the field bunched up at the top of the stretch. With Vyjack trapped behind horses along the inside, Micromanage struck the front in mid-stretch, and had enough left to hold off the favorite, who managed to extricate himself from traffic at the eighth pole, by 1 ¼ lengths. "It's like being a 13-year-old kid again," said Repole, who also sent out third-place finisher Misconnect. "I love it here at Aqueduct. We really didn't want to run the two horses together; we kind of wanted to split them up. [But] they were both training really, really well, and if they're both going to stay here, this is the spot. I thought Misconnect ran really, really well and Micro, getting off the turf and back to the dirt, at a mile-and-an-eighth, is really, really good. Manny Franco rode him very well for the first time he rode him. They'll stay in New York. There's another stakes on January 19 [$100,000 Jazil]. They'll get a little bit of a break over the holidays and bring them back in January." Micromanage completed the 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.76 over a tiring inner track to notch his third stakes win of the year. The son of Medaglia d'Oro also won the Grade 3 Skip Away at Gulfstream Park and the 1 ¾-mile Birdstone at Saratoga Race Course in 2014. "I thought Manuel [Franco] rode [Micromanage] very well; he stayed busy on him the whole time and kept him outside," said Byron Hughes, assistant to Pletcher. "He's been training great and has been a solid horse for us, especially getting back on the dirt. He seems to like this inner track." Micromanage, as part of an entry with Misconnect, returned $9.70 on a $2 win wager, and increased his bankroll to $701,881. Grade 2 Kelso winner Vyjack finished 1 ¼ lengths in front of Misconnect, while it was another 1 ¼ lengths back to Stormin Monarcho in fourth. Turco Bravo, Elnaawi, Don Dulce, Percussion and Plainview completed the order of finish. -30- |
