Marconi Moves Late in Skip Away

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL –  Marconi made a big late run down the middle of the track to win Friday’s $100,000 Skip Away Stakes at Gulfstream Park. This was the first win for the four-year-old son of Tapit since breaking his maiden in December of 2017.

Realm broke from the first position and shot right to the front along the rail. The Scotsman also broke well and got up from the outside to join Realm on the lead and the two horses hit the turn neck and neck. Marconi meanwhile got pinched and settled for third behind the leaders. As they exited the first turn, Realm gave way to the Scotsman who took up sole possession of the lead and set comfortable early fractions of :24.86 and :49.97 with the field packed close together sitting off of the leader. As they approached the second turn, the pace quickened as Sir Anthony made a move along the rail to contest the lead. Marconi also began his move on the outside. By the top of the stretch, Sir Anthony was even with Realm as they battled it out on the rail as they made their way toward the wire. Marconi meanwhile ran right down the middle of the track and made the best of the space he was given thanks to the clever ride by jockey Luis Saez. With his late burst of speed, Marconi got up to finish 1/2 length ahead of Sir Anthony. Realm finished in third a neck back of Sir Anthony and The Scotsman finished fourth.

This was the first career stakes win for the Todd Pletcher trainee Marconi who is a half brother to Grade 1 winner Mucho Macho Man. Marconi was a $2 million yearling purchase at the 2016 Keeneland September sale.

“He’s been training well. We were optimistic coming in. We always felt like the longer the better for him. He had a little time to mature. He’s a big horse and we always felt like he’d get better with a little time. We were hoping he would show up and deliver the type of performance he’s been showing in the morning. It was nice to see. Luis gave him a good ride and he kept coming,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “I think he’s heading in the right direction and as a 4-year-old he should start to really figure things out. I was impressed by how he was training recently; it seems like he’s kind of been coming around.”

Marconi returned $11.00 to win, $5.40 to place, and $4.00 to show. Sir Anthony brought back $7.40 to place and $5.00 to show, while Realm paid $8.20 to show.