Emmanuel turned in a brilliant performance Dec. 11 at Gulfstream Park, rolling to a 6 ¾-length win in his first lifetime start and becoming the latest TDN Rising Star for More Than Ready.
The 2-year-old colt seized the lead from the start and was a head in front of Practical Way after a quarter-mile in :23.66. He got the half-mile in a quick :45.97 and began to pull away on the turn. Asked only slightly by Luis Saez as he came into the stretch. Emmanuel gave an immediate response, leaving the field in his wake. He coasted under the wire in 1:36.47 for the mile on the main track.
“I have to give [Emmanuel] a lot of credit,” said winning trainer Todd Pletcher. “To win from the one hole going a mile first time out,that’s a demanding task. I’m proud of him for doing it and it looked like he did it the right way.”
At $350,000, Emmanuel was More Than Ready’s most expensive yearling of 2020 when he sold to his owners Siena Farm LLC and WinStar Farm LLC at the Keeneland September sale. Emmanuel was bred by Helen K. Groves Revocable Trust and is out Hard Cloth, an unraced daughter of the Grade III-placed turf distaffer Trensa. Hard Cloth foaled a full sister to Emmanuel this year.
Emmanuel is the 16th lifetime Rising Star for More Than Ready, who is having another banner year with seven graded stakes winners to date. After breeding 121 mares in 2021, he will stand next year at WinStar for $50,000 S&N.
