For a modern-day record 10th time, Todd Pletcher will leave
Saratoga Race Course with the meet’s coveted training title.
Named for legendary Hall of Famer H. Allen Jerkens, the
Saratoga championship will be the fourth in a row and ninth in 12 years for
Pletcher, who first won in 1998. Hall of Famer Bill Mott also has nine training
titles to his credit, the last in 2007.
Entering the Spa’s final weekend, Pletcher had a 12-win
advantage over runner-up Chad Brown, 34-22, and his $4,065,857 in purses was
nearly double that of Brown, who was second with $2,147,038.
Pletcher was also 15-for-45 with two-year-olds at the meet
and had captured 14 stakes, 10 of them graded, including the Grade 1
Coaching Club American Oaks and Grade 1 Alabama with Princess of Sylmar, the
Grade 1 Whitney Invitational Handicap with Cross Traffic, and the Grade 1
King’s Bishop with Capo Bastone.
“We’re very, very pleased,” Pletcher said. “We’ve had a very good meet in
terms of two-year-olds running pretty well. Other than the Travers, I couldn’t
imagine it going much better.”
Pletcher trained the top two contenders for Saratoga’s
signature race, the Grade 1, $1 million Travers, in Verrazano and Palace Malice.
Favored at 8-5, Verrazano faded to seventh, while Palace Malice missed the break
and trailed throughout before rallying strongly to finish just a length behind
the winner in fourth.
“When you have one (horse) get away badly and lose by a
length behind slow fractions, you can’t help but feel like one slipped away from
you,” said Pletcher, who won two or more races on a single card nine times at
the meet, including a four-win day on August 11.
The all-time leading trainer at
Saratoga, as can be ascertained from available records, the horseman needs six to reach
400 career victories at Saratoga.
“I think anytime you can come up here and win four Grade
1s, you have to be pretty happy,” Pletcher remarked. “We’ve won (14) stakes
overall, so we’re really, really pleased. Hopefully, we can finish really
strong, too. I couldn’t have dreamed of having a better meet.”
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