Paraneck Stable’s DADDY JOE (Unbridled’s Song) and PAVO (Marquetry)
each worked over the inner track before the 1ST race at Aqueduct on Wednesday in
preparation for Saturday’s $150,000 Gotham S. (G3). Both horses schooled in the
paddock prior to their workouts.
Daddy Joe went to the track first at about 12:25 p.m. (EST). Jockey Norberto
Arroyo Jr. jogged the colt to the three-sixteenths pole, stood him there for
about a minute, turned him around and then slowly broke him into a gallop. The
dark bay colt went in fractions of :12 2/5, :24 2/5, :36 4/5 and :48 3/5 before
completing five furlongs in 1:00 and galloping out six furlongs in 1:12 3/5.
Trainer Jennifer Pedersen said she may have finally figured out Daddy Joe,
who most recently finished fourth in the Horatius S. at Laurel Park after a seventh
in the Whirlaway S. at Aqueduct.
“I think he’s a horse who wants to drop his head and be left alone,” Pedersen
said. “You’ve got to let him get comfortable. That’s something that hasn’t been
done in his last two races.”
Pedersen said she believes the colt is better going two turns.
“I think he’s a two-turn horse,” she said. “To me, a one-turn mile is just a
long sprint.”
Shortly thereafter, Pavo pretty much went through the same routine under
jockey Alan Garcia. The chestnut colt was a little rank just before beginning
his work at the half-mile pole. He recorded fractions of :12 2/5, :25 and :37
before completing the four-furlong distance in :49. Pavo galloped out five
furlongs in 1:02.
While Pedersen doesn’t care for the Gotham’s one-turn conditions for Daddy
Joe, she believes the race is perfect for City Zip S. winner Pavo, who exits a
runner-up effort in the 1 1/16-mile John Battaglia Memorial S. at Turfway Park.
“I love the one-turn mile for him because they’ll outrun him early and he’ll
close,” Pedersen said.