Last May, Antiquarian gave Todd Pletcher his record-extending fifth victory in the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes before finishing fifth in the Belmont. On Saturday, Pletcher will send out the pair of Vassimo and Uncaged in the Peter Pan, which drew a field of 10 and could be used as a stepping-stone to the Belmont Stakes on June 7 at Saratoga.
Vassimo, like Antiquarian a year ago, enters the Peter Pan off a sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. Irad Ortiz Jr. rides Vassimo from the rail.
Uncaged is one of three horses entered in the Peter Pan who have done more than win one race. Uncaged, with blinkers added last out and stretched out to a mile, won a first-level allowance by 1 3/4 lengths. Kendrick Carmouche rides from post 6.
Pletcher said Uncaged’s improvement in his last race likely came as a result of stretching out in distance and adding blinkers.
“I need both of them to make moves forward,” Pletcher said.
Captain Cook, trained by Rick Dutrow, is the only stakes winner in the field, having captured the Withers in February. Most recently, he finished fourth as the favorite behind Rodriguez in the Wood Memorial.
Brereton’s Baytown is the only other member of the field to have more than one win. Chad Brown sends out Hill Road, third in both the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Tampa Bay Derby. Hill Road missed the Wood due to a fever. Brown also entered Lordship, a debut winner at Tampa Bay Downs in March.
Others entered in the Peter Pan include Happily Delusional, Surfside Moon, McAfee, and First Pitch.
◗ Grande, the Wood Memorial runner-up who was scratched from Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, was at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital Monday getting a checkup, Pletcher said.
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