Todd Pletcher
LEXINGTON, KY - Mike Repole is heading into Breeders' Cup weekend with 'Uncle Mo' on his side. After fulfilling a lifelong dream by running one-two in the GI Belmont S. with the recently retired and Spendthrift-bound Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and Nest (Curlin)--one of Repole's seven Grade I victories on the year--the momentum has continued to build for the native New Yorker's stable ahead of this year's Championships at Keeneland. 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) and Chocolate Gelato (Practical Joke), two of the bigger names on the 'Future Stars Friday'...
LEXINGTON, KY -- With University of Kentucky men's basketball head coach John Calipari pulling the pills, unbeaten superstar Flightline (Tapit) drew post four for Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Classic to a round of applause during Monday's Rood & Riddle Post Position Draw held at the home of the Wildcats at Rupp Arena in downtown Lexington. The 3-5 morning-line favorite will meet seven rivals in the $6-million centerpiece at Keeneland, including the talented Life Is Good (Into Mischief) (post two) and top 3-year-olds Epicenter (Not This Time) (post six), Taiba (Gun...
Unbeaten sensation and guaranteed GI Breeders' Cup Classic favorite Flightline (Tapit) put in his final prep for the World Championships at Keeneland Saturday. The 'TDN Rising Star' covered five furlongs solo in 1:00.60 (4/62) shortly after 7:30 a.m. under assistant trainer Juan Leyva. "I told Juan to go in a minute and change and out [seven-eighths] in 1:26, and that's what he did," trainer John Sadler said. "Juan's a great work rider. It was not about going fast today, just getting around there happy today." Flightline arrived at Keeneland Sunday...
It might feel a touch trite to repeat it, but the timeworn observation is such for a reason: the stallion market is one packed to the brim with tough customers and salty competition. And it turns out, both literally and metaphorically as evidenced by the recently released Report of Mares Bred. Breeders gravitate to quality and are more frequently turning to tried-and-true sources to find it, or are becoming more demanding of first-year sires before taking the chance. In an economy where connections are forced to steadily tighten their belts,...
With unbeaten sensation Flightline (Tapit) leading the way, 205 horses, including 45 from overseas, and seven former or returning Breeders' Cup champions, have been pre-entered for the 39th Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland Nov. 4 & 5. The Breeders' Cup will be televised live domestically on NBC, Peacock, USA Network, and FanDuel TV. Click here to view all of the 2022 Breeders' Cup World Championships Pre-Entered Fields. Nine horses were pre-entered for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. In addition to the record-setting GI Pacific Classic winner Flightline, the $6-million...
6th-Belmont The Big A, $95,000, Msw, 10-22, 2yo, 7f, 1:25.64, ft, 4 1/4 lengths. RUDDER'S MEN (c, 2, Battalion Runner--Unblemished, by Speightstown) was easily the most popular choice at 1-2 for his debut run after working a bullet four furlongs from the gate in :46 2/5 (1/187) Oct. 7. Campaigned by the same connections as his freshman sire (by Unbridled's Song), Rudder's Men hustled to the front shortly after the break and settled nicely a path off the rail through a sharp opening quarter in :22.53. Kept under wraps until...
A day after working many of his 2-year-olds expected for the Future Stars Friday races during the Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov 4. at Keeneland, trainer Todd Pletcher breezed his older horses Friday. The trio, led by MGISW Life Is Good (Into Mischief), champion Malathaat (Curlin), and MGISW winner Nest (Curlin), are expected to compete in the Breeders' Cup Nov. 5. Shortly after 9 am, CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm's GI Breeders' Cup Classic candidate Life Is Good breezed five furlongs on a fast track in 1:00.40 for his first...
Wertheimer and Frere's homebred Grade I winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Happy Saver (Super Saver--Happy Week, by Distorted Humor) will retire to Airdrie Stud in Midway, Kentucky following this year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic, Airdrie Stud announced Friday. He will stand for an initial fee of $12,500 LFSN. Undefeated in his first five starts, Happy Saver's signature victory came in the historic GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, where he won the race as a 3-year-old in his fourth career start. Most recently, Happy Saver has finished second in each of...
A host of juveniles from the Todd Pletcher barn gearing up for engagements on Friday of Breeders' Cup championship weekend worked at Keeneland Thursday. Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Forte (Violence) and Harrell Ventures' Lost Ark (Violence), the respective winner and sixth-place finisher in the Oct. 8 GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity, breezed a half-mile together in :49.20 immediately after the track's second renovation break at 9 a.m. Both are candidates for the $2-million GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Keeneland clockers caught the two in fractions of :13.40, :25, and...
I always enjoy whatever Chris McGrath writes, particularly his way of getting at things that many do not want to address. In Saturday's TDN he touched on a subject close to my heart (This Side Up, Nov. 15 TDN), so much so that I would venture to distil an answer to his question of why modern horsemen are so much more reluctant to ask questions of the Thoroughbred than their predecessors, down to the following: Because in the modern "Thoroughbred Industry" the tail of stud value now wags the dog...
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 6th-KEE, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, 3:40 p.m. As big sister Malathaat prepares for a date in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff in three-weeks time, her 2-year-old full-sister JULIA SHINING makes her debut for owner/breeder Stonestreet Stables and trainer Todd Pletcher. Out of GISW & MGISP Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy), herself out of MGISW Dream Rush (Wild Rush) and a half-sister to MGSW Dream Pauline (Tapit), Julia Shining is her dam's second...
Trainer Todd Pletcher joined this week's TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland to discuss his impressive contingent preparing for the Breeders' Cup.