Pletcher and Gargan both have two entered in the Gio Ponti at Aqueduct

By NY Hot List staff | November 18, 2022

Overall a field of nine 3-year-olds was drawn for the $135,000 Gio Ponti on Saturday at Aqueduct. Trainers Todd Pletcher and Danny Gargan each have two horses entered in the 1 1/16 mile turf stake.

Pletcher has the top two choices in the morning line with Steady On as the 2-1 favorite and Grand Sonata as the second choice at 3-1.

Gargan has the 9-2 third choice in Dakota Gold, the winner of 2 out of his last 3 starts in New York-bred stakes races. Dakota Gold has a career record of 6: 4-1-0, but can be tricky to ride.

“He kind of plays with horses,” explained Gargan. “If you let him get next to one, he likes to play with them and hang out with them. It takes him a minute to get by a horse. He has to be ridden with confidence, because he’ll run up to a horse and say, ‘Hi,’ and then get by. He should have won two stakes at Saratoga, but he played around a little and it cost him a win.”

The $135,000 Stewart Manor – Aqueduct, Saturday, Race 7.

(2) Grand Sonata gets some class relief after four starts in graded stakes in which he was third and second in his last two. In the winter at Gulfstream Park, he won two stakes in a row including the Kittens Joy (G3). (1) Churchtown ships down from Woodbine for Hall of Famer Roger Attfield after a narrow pace-pressing loss in a September stakes race which came after a brief layoff. (6) Dakota Gold is one of the pair entered in this race by Danny Gargan. This NY-bred began his career last year with two wins against open company and then was fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf of 2021. He came back as a 3-year-old to win twice in state-bred stakes. With $575,000 in earnings, he returns from an August layoff preparing for the Hollywood Derby (G1) next month. (8) Steady On won his last two starts at the BAQ meeting for Todd Pletcher and will now step up to a stakes for the first time in just his fourth career race.

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