Audible Aims to Make More Noise in Florida Derby

It should be impossible for Todd Pletcher to sneak up on anyone, what with seven Eclipse Awards as the nation's outstanding trainer on his mantle, and the gleam from two of the three trophies he captured during last year's Triple Crown races shining like an "Eat At Joe's" sign. Yet at the start of the 2018 season, when banter about potential leading sophomore runners heated up, the Toddlers were unusually quiet when it came to touting themselves.

His lone starter in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) was a 46-1 longshot in Hazit. All of the grade 1 juvenile races were won by others. Where the other usual suspects like Bob Baffert, Dale Romans, and Kiaran McLaughlin all had tangible reason to hang aspirations on multiple young runners, Pletcher had to hope the glimmers of potential he was seeing in his barn would give him something to boast about months down the line.

"It kind of depends on when you start the clock. In July, August, September, not really," Pletcher said when asked how confident he was last year about having top contenders on the 2018 Road to the Kentucky Derby. "But things kind of seemed to be coming together in October-November. We felt like we had some horses that were training very well and were looking forward to their debuts."

On Sept. 27, a New York-bred named Audible produced what Pletcher called a "sneaky-good" third-place finish at Belmont Park in his first career start. He got on the phone with WinStar Farm president Elliott Walden and informed him the effort absolutely indicated potential.

The bay son of Into Mischief  has been selling himself since then, rattling off three straight victories—including a win in the Feb. 3 Holy Bull Stakes (G2)—that effectively opened the floodgates for some of his stablemates to also announce themselves. On March 31, Audible will try to make even more noise on the Triple Crown trail in the $1.1 million Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park, where he was installed as the 9-5 favorite in a nine-horse field.

Since hitting the wire 5 1/2 lengths in front of grade 1 winner Free Drop Billy in the Holy Bull, Audible has been joined by unbeaten Rebel Stakes (G2) winner Magnum Moon and Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) victor Noble Indy as Pletcher trainees on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard. With just 10 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), Audible needs a top-two finish this weekend to clinch a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May, but taking steps forward has yet to be an issue in his career.

In his debut, he broke poorly, lost ground while rating next to last, but made up significant ground to get show honors. After Audible took his next two outings at Aqueduct Racetrack, Pletcher considered a state-bred stakes for the colt's next test, but—with dicey weather hampering the northeast—instead sent him with his Florida string to prep for his sophomore debut.

"He was training well enough that the Holy Bull made sense, and he breezed strongly going into it. But I would say it was an effort that surprised us in the emphatic way he won the race," Pletcher said. "We weren't shocked that he won, but he really put forth a powerful effort—so that was, needless to say, very encouraging."

With both Free Drop Billy and graded stakes winner Enticed in the Holy Bull field, Audible had a stout litmus test for his first try in deeper company. From getting bumped at the start, to racing between horses, to fending off a top-level foe breathing down his neck coming into the lane, Audible shrugged off each challenge with beyond-his-experience poise and threw down a definitive turn of foot in the stretch.

"(The Holy Bull) wasn't what you would describe as your sort of cupcake trip,"  Pletcher said. "He was always sort of in between horses, surrounded by horses, under pressure throughout the race, and he was able to maintain that position and then still deliver that late kick. And I thought for a relatively inexperienced horse, he handled all that with a lot of maturity and poise. And you know that, to me, sort of established his class.

"You just don't see too many horses that early in their career sort of overcome ... not that he had a bad trip, but it was a trip you generally think a more seasoned horse would need."

Owned by WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, Starlight Racing, and Head of Plains Partners, Audible will break from post 8 in the Florida Derby with Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez in the irons.

Fellow Florida Derby entrant Promises Fulfilled also delivered a brilliant performance over the Gulfstream Park surface in his season debut, winning the Xpressbet Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) in gate-to-wire fashion by 2 1/4 lengths over Strike Power. The Romans-trained son of Shackleford  has won three of four career starts, with his only loss a third-place run in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) in November, when he emerged with a popped splint.

"He just does whatever you want him to do ... goes out there and takes care of his business. And, you know, he actually should be undefeated," said Romans, who is also scheduled to saddle Storm Runner in the Florida Derby after that one had a troubled, seventh-place outing in the Fountain of Youth. "He's just fast and he has great stamina to keep going. I wouldn't want to be someone trying to hook him. He can rate, but it's not a matter of rating. He's going to go to the lead. We're not changing anything now."

With Promises Fulfilled, Strike Power, and Audible possessing early speed, the fractions could set up favorably for graded stakes winner Catholic Boy.

The stretch-running son of More Than Ready  has won graded stakes on both dirt and turf and heads into the Florida Derby off a runner-up effort to Flameaway during his seasonal bow in the Feb. 10 Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3). That start was the first for the bay colt since his victory in the Dec. 2 Remsen Stakes (G2), and was enough to instill confidence in new owners, as Siena Farm's purchase of a minority interest from Robert LaPenta and Madaket Stables was announced March 28. 

"You're kind of hoping a prep would be a little bit easy, but we ran into Flameaway, who was on point and ran huge," said Jonathan Thomas, trainer of Catholic Boy. "I felt like we gave up a little bit of ground chasing a fast pace. We were pecking at the pace a little bit. He ran well, ran hard, got a lot out of it. The timing is perfect from that race to this race."

Entries: Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1)

Gulfstream Park, Saturday, March 31, 2018, Race 14

• Grade I
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $1,100,000
• 3 yo
• 6:36 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Strike Power (KY)	Luis Saez	122	Mark A. Hennig	4/1
2	2Millionaire Runner (KY)	Jose A. Batista	122	Jaime Mejia	50/1
3	3Tip Sheet (FL)	Edgard J. Zayas	122	Stanley I. Gold	30/1
4	4Promises Fulfilled (KY)	Robby Albarado	122	Dale L. Romans	3/1
5	5Storm Runner (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	122	Dale L. Romans	20/1
6	6Catholic Boy (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	122	Jonathan Thomas	7/2
7	7Hofburg (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	122	William I. Mott	20/1
8	8Audible (NY)	John R. Velazquez	122	Todd A. Pletcher	9/5
9	9Mississippi (KY)	Julien R. Leparoux	122	Mark E. Casse	12/1