Aqueduct: Overanalyze, Unlimited Budget headed for Florida

ELMONT, N.Y. - Overanalyze, Unlimited Budget and Dance Card, the winners of three graded stakes on Saturday’s program at Aqueduct Racetrack, will all be headed to south Florida shortly to prepare for their 2013 campaigns.

Overanalyze put himself on the Kentucky Derby trail with his nose victory over Normandy Invasion in the Grade 2 Remsen. Both Overanalyze and Normandy Invasion earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 99, which would rank as the second highest figure recorded by a 2-year-old male in 2012. Only Little Distorted, who earned a 101 in a sprint race, has a higher number.

For Overanalyze, it was his third win from five starts in 2012. He won a five-furlong maiden race at Saratoga, the Grade 2 Futurity at six furlongs at Belmont Park and the Remsen at 1 1/8 miles.

“I think he’s proven his versatility; he’s a horse you have to now consider to be capable of doing just about anything,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “Now he’s won wire to wire, he’s won from last, he’s won from a stalking position. He’s run well every time, but I thought yesterday moved his stock way up.”

Pletcher said Overanalyze and Remsen last-place finisher Micromanage would ship to Palm Meadows on Monday. Pletcher said Overanalyze would likely not run until February, possibly in the Fountain of Youth on Feb. 23.

Pletcher said he could not find an excuse for Micromanage, who has run two subpar races after winning his debut at Saratoga by five lengths.

“For a horse that ran as well as he did first time and trained brilliantly since then it’s very frustrating,” Pletcher said. “I almost wish he had a temperature this morning to give us an explanation, but right now we don’t have one so all I know to do is take him down to Florida and regroup.”

Pletcher said Remsen third-place finisher Delhomme would be shipped to WinStar Farm in Kentucky for a brief freshening before rejoining him at Palm Meadows Racetrack.

Unlimited Budget, who won Saturday’s Grade 2 Demoiselle 15 days after winning a maiden race, will likely not run until February, Pletcher said. Her first target could be the Davona Dale, a Grade 2, $250,000 race at 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 23.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said Dance Card came out of her four-length victory in the Grade 1 Gazelle in good order. It was Dance Card’s fourth consecutive win.

While Dance Card would ship to south Florida this week, McLaughlin has an eye on the inaugural $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic, a 1 1/16-mile race at Sam Houston Racetrack on Jan. 26.

Though she won the Gazelle handily, Dance Card has drifted out significantly in her last three starts, something McLaughlin feels like he has to address.

“When a horse is bad in the gate you take them to the gate and school them and watch them get better,” McLaughlin said. “She doesn’t drift in the morning, she doesn’t do anything wrong. I’m sure it’s not soundness issues, but it’s a concern. We’re going to work on something whether it’s blinkers or some kind of equipment change. Now that she’s a Grade 1 winner we have to tinker with it a little bit.”