GO GO GOMEZ on Palace Malice

John Greenhaw

Garrett Gomez To Ride Palace Malice



We’ve engaged the riding services of Garrett Gomez for Palace Malice in Saturday’s Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. The post position draw is Wednesday, April 10. The Arkansas Derby draws about an hour later and we will keep a sharp eye on that in the event there’s an opportunity there that is overwhelming, in which case we would head west. However, I think there’s every reason to believe we will run at Keeneland

FlyinLate

Now that is what I call an upgrade!!

dirtyshirt

That's great news John. And you thought I was lying about that third new jock. Who will ride Footbridge?

Makes me want to reconsider my travel...

John Greenhaw

Joining Pletcher's Oaks contenders on the trip from South Florida were Palm Beach runner-up Charming Kitten and Palace Malice (No. 32), third in the Risen Star and most recently seventh in the Louisiana Derby. Both colts are scheduled to run in Saturday's Blue Grass on Keeneland's Polytrack.

"Kitten's Joys seem to love Keeneland and (Charming Kitten) actually ran OK there in the Breeders' Futurity (last October), but got into some trouble at the top of the stretch," Pletcher said. "I think he's a better horse now then he was then.

"We like (Palace Malice) a lot and he's trained really well all winter. He was a little unlucky at the Fair Grounds and I think he deserves another chance. He was purchased at Keeneland last year and breezed well over the surface there. Our motivation is to try to earn points to get in."

The Blue Grass awards points to the Top 4 finishers on a 100-40-20-10 scale as part of the Second Leg of the Championship Series. Charming Kitten and Palace Malice likely would earn a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate with a Top 2 finish. A third-place finish for Palace Malice would likely put him "on the bubble" with 30 points.

Charming Kitten and Palace Malice both galloped at Churchill Downs on Tuesday and will ship to Keeneland on Saturday morning