Micromanage Up in Time for Jazil Stakes Win

Repole Stable's favorite Micromanage won his second straight stakes of Aqueduct Racetrack's inner-track meet Jan. 19, scoring over a muddy and sealed track in the first running of the $100,000 Jazil Stakes .

 

In his previous race, the Queens County Stakes Dec. 13, Micromanage rallied five wide and inched away to win by 1 1/4 lengths. On Monday, he again sat behind the leaders, with an unfazed Manny Franco in the irons.

 

Micromanage tucked into fifth position as pacesetter Schivarelli led the field through the opening quarter in :23.54, with the half in :46.95. 

 

Micromanage was given the go-ahead by Franco as the field turned for home and rallied into the stretch under steady urging to prevail by three-quarters of a length from Chilean-bred Turco Bravo. Irsaal finished third, another half-length back, after shaking off Schivarelli at the quarter pole to take the lead but he was overtaken late by the top two. 

 

"I had a good trip," Franco said of Micromanage, a five-year-old son of Medaglia d'Oro  . "I tried to put my horse in an outside position because that's the way he likes to run, but I had to save some ground around the (far) turn. After that I got room and my horse took off pretty good. I felt comfortable (that I would win) because I had horse."

 

Part of an entry with the fourth-place finisher Misconnect, Micromanage returned $3.10, completing the 1-mile-and-70 yards in1:41:01. He has a 7-4-5 record from 24 starts and earnings of $761,881.

 

"Micromanage likes to be on the outside, so we were hoping wherever he broke he could leave from there," said Byron Hughes, trainer Todd Pletcher's assistant. "He tends to get lazy and Manny did a great job keeping busy on him.

 

"They seem to get along well together; both races have been great. He's definitely a grinder. Once he gets outside, and once he gets something to run at, he tends to keep firing, so we're very happy he got up in time. When he tries, he can run with the best of them."

 

Schivarelli faded to fifth and Abraham was sixth to complete the order of finish. Casiguapo was scratched.

 

Micromanage was bred in Kentucky by Fiona Craig and Dermot Cantillon. His dam is Catnip, by Flying Paster. Through agent J.J. Crupi, Repole Stable spent $170,000 to buy Micromanage at the 2011 Keeneland September yearling sale from consignor Woods Edge Farm's agency.