Mr. Jordan Impresses in Smooth Air Stakes

A dominating win by Mr. Jordan in the $94,250 Smooth Air Stakes Nov. 29 came as no surprise to bettors who made him the 3-5 favorite, but the manner in which the flashy gray colt overwhelmed his nine rivals at Gulfstream Park West may have even exceeded their expectations.

The undefeated Eddie Plesa Jr.-trained colt galloped to a 4 1/2-length victory without even a hint of encouragement from jockey Gabriel Saez in his first attempt to transfer his talent around two turns in the mile event, one of six stakes on the Juvenile Showcase program .

"It was impressive. He ran a big, big race. He answered a question about distance. No question about it," Plesa said. "The way he did it—Gabe never touched him with the stick. He did it all on his own."

While scoring his third straight open-lengths triumph in handy fashion, the Florida-bred son of Kantharos   confirmed his status as a most exciting prospect for Gulfstream Park's upcoming stakes for 3-year-olds during the upcoming winter meet.

"I have to be happy with everything he's done and achieved thus far, but there are going to be a lot better horses for him to run at in the future," Plesa said. "Right now it bodes well for everything he's done. He's done everything we've asked of him. It's exciting."

Mr. Jordan broke alertly from his rail post position, as the horse directly outside of him, Morgans Harbour, veered severely to his outside and caused several horses to steady.  Rival Juan and Bina took advantage of the situation from his outside post to quickly pull alongside the favorite, who set comfortable fractions of :24.71  and :48.60 for the first half mile.

Juan and Bina continued to put the pressure on the favorite leaving the backstretch and on the far turn before Mr. Jordan began to inch away. Edgar Prado asked Juan and Bina to respond, but Mr. Jordan scooted off with efficient strides on his way to a comfortable triumph.

"He just got into a gear and cruised around there. It was just keeping him together and making sure he switched leads in the stretch," said Saez. The rider picked up the mount from regular rider Paco Lopez, who kept a commitment to ride the Plesa-trained Itsmyluckyday   in Saturday's Cigar Mile (gr. I) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Mr. Jordan's romp helped to ease the disappointment of Itsmyluckyday's off-the-board finish after being bumped out of the starting gate.

"It's been a bittersweet day, but this is the sweet part. I guess it's good to end the day with the sweet part," Plesa said.

Mr. Jordan broke his maiden by more than six lengths at Monmouth Park Sept. 14 and scored a handy three-length victory in the Juvenile Sprint for Florida-bred juveniles at Gulfstream Park West Nov. 8. He ran the mile in 1:38:54 Saturday while handling the outside pressure.

"In my mind, I was thinking to myself, 'We'll get an answer,'" Plesa said. "He rated kindly for Gabe. He did a great job, and the horse responded. That's what I was looking for."

Mr. Jordan earned $59,175 for owners David Melin, Leon Ellman and Plesa's wife, Laurie.

Juan and Bina held second money, 6 1/2 lengths ahead of Hubba Shake.

Plesa is planning to run Mr. Jordan next at Gulfstream Park, whose winter meet begins Dec. 6, but he's not certain which race will be set as a goal.

"I don't know which races they will be. It could be the one-turn mile (the $100,000 Mucho Macho Man Jan. 3). It could be his first race. I'm not sure. We'll get him back to the barn and see how he comes out of this race, and go from there."

Also on the Nov. 29 card at Gulfstream Park West, It's Not Me won the $97,250 Buffalo Man Stakes and Chief Kitten took the $76,500 Pulpit Stakes.