Todd Pletcher

According to the rulings page of the New York State Gaming Commission, trainer Todd Pletcher began serving a 10-day suspension Thursday. The suspension stems from the 2022 GI Hopeful Stakes when the Pletcher-trained Forte (Violence) tested positive for Meloxicam, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory. Pletcher has denied using the medication with Forte. The Gaming Commission also ruled that Forte was officially disqualified from the Hopeful victory. The news from the Gaming Commission led owner Mike Repole to post a long and scathing tweet on X. "The New York State Gaming Commission @NYSGamingComm...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - At 7:30 Sunday morning, Cherie DeVaux stood in front of a couple dozen media types and talked all things Golden Tempo (Curlin). There was plenty to say. Moments before, she had brought the big horse out of his stall and Golden Tempo stood in the shedrow, gawked at the horse racing paparazzi and hammed it up. While DeVaux held him with a shank, Golden Tempo stuck his long neck past his trainer and took a bite out of the blanket of white carnations that was draped...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - She's got the 'Golden' touch. After pulling off a historic 23-1 upset in the GI Kentucky Derby, the Cherie DeVaux-trained 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Golden Tempo (Curlin) doubled up in Saturday's GI Belmont Stakes, held for the third and final time at Saratoga. The Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable homebred and future Lane's End stallion followed in the footsteps of Sovereignty (Into Mischief), who also secured the first and third legs of last year's Triple Crown after famously skipping the GI Preakness Stakes....

TDN's Chief Correspondent Bill Finley is joined by Senior Contributing Editor Alan Carasso and Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack to handicap Saturday's GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. FINLEY: Picking Renegade (Into Mischief) to win the Belmont is a no-brainer. After he was knocked silly at the start of the GI Kentucky Derby, he overcame the trouble and ran a big race to finish second, beaten only a neck. Did his problems at the start cost him the race? Probably. Todd Pletcher is a master at having his horses ready for...

The field for the GI Belmont Stakes, ranked in "likeliest winner" order (program number after each horse's name). 1) RENEGADE #4 (c, Into Mischief--Spice Is Nice, by Curlin). O-Robert Low, Lawana L. Low, and Repole Stable; B-Robert Low & Lawana Low (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. Sales history: $975,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP. Lifetime  record: GISW, 6-2-3-1, $2,031,500. Last start: 2nd May 2 GI Kentucky Derby. Renegade overcame all sorts of trouble when beaten a neck as the 5.65-1 second choice in the GI Kentucky Derby, and the bet here is that...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - When it's a big race day, you'll find Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. Saturday is a big race day at Saratoga Race Course. Seven graded stakes--six of them Grade Is worth $5.9 million. Of course, Baffert is going to be here. He doesn't have a horse in the $2-million GI Belmont Stakes, but he has an impressive trio--Nysos (Nyquist), Crude Velocity (Beau Liam) and Imagination (Into Mischief)--running on the undercard. Nysos and Crude Velocity are both 'TDN Rising Stars, presented by Hagyard.' "It's a big...

1st-SAR, 115K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 12:35 p.m. Trainer Todd Pletcher debuts a pair of 2-year-old fillies in the Thursday opener at Saratoga. Rail-drawn PERPETUAL (Drain the Clock) impressed at OBS March earlier this year, working a quarter-mile in :20.1 before selling to Lee Ackerley Racing & Gainesway for $500,000. Her unraced Street Boss first dam has already produced two winners from as many to race and Pletcher will leg up Hall of Famer John Velazquez for this unveiling. In the middle of the gate, stablemate Dinner Party (Not...

Todd Pletcher will have the likely favorite in the GI Belmont Stakes in GI Kentucky Derby runner-up Renegade (Into Mischief) and a live longshot in Powershift (Constitution). He knows how to win the race--he's done it four times. Might this be his fifth? Those were among topics Pletcher addressed when he joined the team on this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. He was the Gainesway Guest of the Week. Breaking from the dreaded post one in the Derby, Renegade was slammed at the start and it took...

Todd Pletcher has a heavy hand in this weekend's Belmont Stakes with morning-line favorite Renegade and stablemate Powershift. The Hall of Fame trainer discusses the sophomore duo, relives Belmont wins from years past, and shares his thoughts on changing the schedule of the Triple Crown.

The historically unrewarding inside post position--now winless in 41 years--kept Renegade from being favored in the GI Kentucky Derby. But the adverse gate draw and some jostling both after the break and in the final stages didn't keep this hard-charging Into Mischief colt from barreling home with a tenacious late run that, in many years, would have been good enough to win the first leg of the Triple Crown. The connections of Renegade (like 15 other Derby participants) predictably bypassed the May 16 GI Preakness Stakes. After breezing a half-mile...

Repole Stable and Robert and Lawana Low's Renegade (Into Mischief) returned to the worktab at Saratoga Thursday morning for the first time since being outfinished by 'TDN Rising Star' Golden Tempo (Curlin) in the May 2 GI Kentucky Derby, going a half-mile in :49.80 (8/22) in the company of Repole's Powershift (Constitution). Both are possibilities for the $2-million GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga on June 6. Renegade, a flashy winner of the GI Arkansas Derby ahead of his effort at odds of 11-2 beneath the Twin Spires, worked to the...

1st-BAQ, $85K, Msw, 2yo, (S), 5f, 1:10p.m. Life Is Good is represented by a pair of juveniles, including Repole Stable's BEACH LIFE. Bred by Thirty Year Farm, the New York-bred brought $350,000 at last year's Keeneland September Sale. The filly by Achalaya (Bellamy Road) is a half-sister to multiple Grade I-winning turf horse Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed). Trained by Todd Pletcher, the firster will be ridden by Johnny Velazquez. The WinStar stallion is also represented by Twice the Life, out of C'Est La Vie (Medaglia d'Oro). The Jeremiah Englehart-trained filly...