He held off 2014 Donn winner Lea under Javier Castellano to score by three-quarters of a length on a fast track.

"The horse dictated it," Castellano said. "He's a speed horse. He had a good post and I wanted to take advantage of that. It worked out perfect.”

“The horse was phenomenal and just galloped along. Turning for home, he just took off again. I liked the way he did it today."

Constitution, owned by Winstar Farm, won the 2014 Florida Derby at Gulfstream as part of an undefeated three-race win streak before he was sidelined with a hairline fracture in his right front cannon bone.

He returned to competition last October. The Donn was his first start of 2015 off a third in the November 28 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs.

WinStar president Elliott Walden said the March 28 Dubai World Cup is an objective “but we'll see how he comes out of this race."

Constitution's victory added to an excellent day for Pletcher, who won the G1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap with Mshawish, the G3 Suwannee River with Sandiva and sent out the G3 Withers Stakes winner Far From Over at Aqueduct for an impressive score that has him on his way to the Kentucky Derby.

"It was a great day, we were blessed," Pletcher said.