Micro ‘manages’ his way to victory in Skip Away

Micromanage captured the Skip Away at Gulfstream Park for his first graded win (Joe Ganley/EquiSport Photos) Repole Stable’s Micromanage added blinkers for the first time in his career and claimed his first graded victory by 4 1/4 lengths in Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Skip Away Stakes at Gulfstream Park. “It worked out beautifully,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He got a great trip from the outside, he was able to get over and save some ground on the first turn with a stalking position. I think the distance suits him well. I’m not sure (if the blinkers helped) because he did get a perfect trip today. “We knew last time when Mike Smith rode him, he said, ‘The horse didn’t run that bad, he got stuck inside and he didn’t like that.’ So we wanted to keep him clear and maybe the blinkers gave him some confidence. He ran a good one.” Micromanage stalked the pace three wide as Nevada Kid posted an opening quarter in :24. Sr. Quisqueyano was latched onto the outside of the pacesetter and poked a head in front to run a half-mile in :47 2/5. Those two continued to battle it out as Nevada Kid fought back on the inside to run six furlongs in 1:11, before starting to fade.

Micromanage just bided his time in third as the two leaders battled back and
forth on the front end. The four-year-old colt rallied to take over in the early
stretch and drew away under urging from jockey Javier Castellano. 

“I had a beautiful trip,” Castellano said. “It worked out beautiful. On the
backside, my horse kept track of the two speed horses. We had a beautiful spot
and at the half-mile pole I knew I had it. I felt it, that we would win the
race.”

The son of Medaglia d’Oro traveled 1 3/16 miles over the fast main track in
1:55 1/5. Sent off as the 4-1 co-second choice, Micromanage paid $10.40 to his
supporters for the score. He has a record that stands at 14-4-3-2 and $436,881
in career earnings.

Norumbega took second and was three lengths clear of Sr. Quisqueyano in
third. Nikki’s Sandcastle, Nevada Kid, Macho Bull, 3-1 favorite War Dancer,
Csaba, Joshua’s Comprise and Salustio rounded out the order of finish. Grand
Tito was scratched. 

Micromanage broke his maiden by five lengths at first asking as a
two-year-old at Saratoga. He stepped up to graded company in his next start and
was a well-beaten fifth in the Champagne at Belmont, before closing out 2012
with a last-of-10 finish in the Remsen at Aqueduct.

Micromanage did not race until May as three-year-old, where he captured an
allowance over a sloppy Monmouth Park track. The bay was runner-up in the Easy
Goer the following month at Belmont. He went back to Monmouth where he captured
the Long Branch in July in advance of a third-place finish in the Haskell
Invitational in July.

Micromanage finished off the board in his next two starts in the Smarty Jones and Indiana Derby. He
was third in the Discovery and closed 2013 with runner-up finishes in both the
Time for a Change and  Traskwood Stakes. The bay was exiting a
seventh-place finish in the Mineshaft Stakes over this track last month.

“The race I really want to get him ready for is the Brooklyn on Belmont Day,”
Pletcher said. “The mile-and-a-half will suit him well. We’ll probably run him
somewhere in between that, but I’m not sure where yet.”

Bred in by Fiona Craig and Dermot Cantillon, Micromanage is out of the
multiple stakes winning Flying Paster mare Catnip, who is a half- sister to 1994
Belmont Stakes victor Editor’s Note as well as multiple Grade 1-placed Hold That
Tiger.

Micromanage is a half-brother to multiple Grade 3 winner Indescribable. His
third dam is T. C. Kitten, who produced 1985 champion two-year-old filly Family
Style and Grade 1 scorers Hennessy and Pearl City.

Micromanage sold as a yearling for $170,000 at the Keeneland September sale.

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