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Jack Milton gives Pletcher earnings record with Poker win

Jack Milton has now won two in a row after taking the Poker (Cehlsea Durand/Adam Coglianese Photography) Todd Pletcher surpassed his mentor, D. Wayne Lukas, on the all-time earnings list among North American trainers when Jack Milton rallied from off a hot pace to take the Grade 3, $300,000 Poker at Belmont Park on Memorial Day. As of late Monday afternoon, Pletcher-trained horses had earned $268,512,294 compared with Lukas' monetary tally of $268,467,262. Pletcher, who turns 47 on June 26, has won six Eclipse Awards as top trainer, has trained nine individual champions and won three classics. "I think it's a product of inflation, to be honest, and I don't think anybody is going to match Wayne's accomplishments in this business," Pletcher admitted. "That said, it's still a satisfying milestone for the team and a record to be proud of."

The early trailer in the field of six, Jack Milton improved his position at each call as Peace and Justice burst out to a long lead through splits of :22 2/5, :45 2/5 and 1:09 3/5. Out of gas by the stretch, the long-time leader yielded to Jack Milton, who made a sweeping five-wide rally and drew off to win convincingly by 2 3/4 lengths under Javier Castellano.

Owned by Gary Barber, Jack Milton paid $7.70 to win after completing a mile on the firm Widener turf in 1:33.

Big Screen, a 14-1 outsider who had ran third in the 2013 Poker was for second, two lengths clear of 4-5 favorite Za Approval. Plainview, Sinatra, and Peace and Justice completed the order of finish. Bio Pro, the original entrymate of Jack Milton, was scratched after winning an allowance at Belmont on Saturday.

This was the second Grade 3 score for Jack Milton, who also captured the Transylvania at Keeneland in April 2013 after winning on debut at Gulfstream three months earlier. In between the two victories was a runner-up effort against allowance foes at Gulfstream.

After the Transylvania, the son of War Front finished third in four consecutive stakes -- Penn Mile, Virginia Derby, Secretariat, and Jamaica Handicap -- before completing his sophomore campaign with a sixth in the Hollywood Derby. He returned to action May 1, where he beat second-level allowance company at Churchill Downs by three lengths going a mile. His record now stands at 10-4-1-4, $505,900.

"He knocked on the door several times in some nice races last year, so it's gratifying to see him win a big one," Pletcher said. "He certainly deserves it. I think he has improved as a four-year-old, and he settled well today and gave a powerful kick. I think the mile distance suits him well, and we'll look at stepping him up a notch, maybe in a Grade 1 down the road."

Bred by Cherry Valley Farm in Kentucky, Jack Milton was sold for $100,000 as a Keeneland September yearling, but RNA'd for $190,000 as an OBS March two-year-old. The dark bay is out of the Forty Niner mare Preserver, who is responsible for four other stakes performers -- Grade 3 winner Peace Preserver, the Grade 3-placed duo of My Rachel and Stake, and the stakes-placed Dig Alittle Deeper.

This is the family of champion and ill-fated sire War Pass; Grade 1 heroines Karlovy Vary and Oath; multiple Grade 2 scorer Great Intentions; and Grade 3 winners Country Light and Honest Man.

Jack Milton's fifth dam is Bayou, the champion three-year-old filly of 1957 and ancestress of two-time champion Slew o' Gold, 1979 Belmont Stakes upsetter Coastal and multiple Grade 1 winner Aptitude, among others. Bayou was a full sister to Broodmare of the Year Levee, most famously the dam of Hall of Famer Shuvee.

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