Shanghai Bobby, who suffered his first career defeat to
Itsmyluckyday in Saturday’s $400,000 Holy Bull (G3), came out of his
second-place finish at Gulfstream Park in fine order.
“He came back great, really good. We’re not only pleased with his
performance but how he came out of it,” Trainer Todd Pletcher said
Sunday afternoon.
Owned by Jack and Laurie Wolf’s Starlight Racing and Mrs. John
Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrrick Smith, Shanghai Bobby set a strong
pace before falling by two lengths to Itsmyluckyday. The winner set a
track record for 1 1/16 miles with a 1:41.81 clocking. Shanghai Bobby
finished 11 ½ lengths clear of third-place finisher Clearly Now.
“We’re not making any excuses. We felt like we ran great – 12
lengths clear of the third horse and three-fifths off the track record,”
said Pletcher, whose colt was ridden by Rosie Napravnik. “It was a huge
effort. We were second best on the day, but we were really happy with
his effort.”
Pletcher said Shanghai Bobby, who was honored with an Eclipse Award
after going undefeated in five races during this 2-year-old season,
would likely run next in the $1 million Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream
on March 30.
“I talked to Jack Wolf a little bit this morning. We’re not going to
make any decisions yet, but at the same time, we don’t see any reason
to deviate from our original plan,” Pletcher said.