Micromanage Set for Another Distance Test
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After rolling to the easiest of victories in the 1 3/4-mile Birdstone Stakes, Micromanage will cut back to a mere 1 1/2 miles when the 4-year-old Medaglia d'Oro colt faces an expected nine other rivals in the $200,000 Greenwood Cup Stakes (gr. III) Sept. 1 at Parx Racing.
After winning the 1 3/16-mile Skip Away Stakes (gr. III) at Gulfstream Park early in the year, Repole Stable's Micromanage has excelled at longer distances this season. He registered a close second in the 1 1/2-mile Brooklyn Invitational Stakes (gr. II) at Belmont Park along with his dominating Birdstone triumph Aug. 7 at Saratoga Race Course for multiple Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher.
There is a chance Micromanage will instead opt for Saturday's Woodward Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga, where he is cross-entered and an 8-1 morning-line choice.
In Monday's race for 3-year-olds and up, Micromanage has been assigned 122 pounds, making him the co-highweight with Peruvian group I winner Lideris, who will be making his third start in the United States.
Lideris failed to place in either of his first two U.S. efforts, the Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes (gr. I) and the Cougar II Handicap (gr. III) at Del Mar. A son of Mizzen Mast , Lideris won this year's Gran Premio Asociation Latinoamericana de Jockey Clubes E Hipodromos (Per-I).
The Greenwood also has attracted the Birdstone runner-up, Shadwell Stable's Irsaal, a son of More Than Ready ; and grade III-placed Abraham, by Distorted Humor , who enters off a pair of clear victories in allowance/optional claiming races at Belmont Park and Saratoga.
The Greenwood is one of four stakes, three of which are graded, scheduled for Labor Day at Parx.
[raceEntries date="9/1/2014" country="USA" trackid="PRX" racenumber="9"]