Trainer Todd Pletcher reported Sunday morning that Grade 1 Beldame
heroine Princess of Sylmar, Grade 2 Kelso Handicap winner Graydar,
Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup runner-up Palace Malice and the rest of his Super
Saturday representatives all returned from their efforts in good order.
Pletcher was particularly pleased with the performance of three-year-old Princess of
Sylmar, who in her first outing against older horses upended two-time Eclipse
honoree and defending
champion Royal Delta in the 1 1/8-mile Beldame.
“Any time you take a three-year-old and run against older horses for the first time
and you’re able to win, it’s a great achievement,” Pletcher said. “When the
horse that you beat is Royal Delta, it’s an even greater accomplishment.
“It
further enhanced Princess of Sylmar’s reputation and took what everyone
recognized as a remarkable three-year-old season to another level. We’ve been
blessed with quite a few good fillies, but certainly her three-year-old season
stacks up pretty well with anyone’s.”
Bred in Pennsylvania by owner Ed Stanco, Princess of Sylmar began her career at Penn
National and next won three straight races over the inner track at Aqueduct,
including the Busher and Busanda Stakes. After finishing second to subsequent
dual Grade 1 winner Close Hatches in the Gazelle, Princess of Sylmar
upset the Kentucky Oaks, romped by six lengths in the
Coaching Club American Oaks and came home a 2 1/2-length winner in the Alabama.
“She’s what makes racing such a great sport,” Pletcher noted. “You take a guy
(Stanco)
that literally breeds his first mare and gets Princess of Sylmar, who’s able to
compete with all of the biggest horses in the country, and run against and beat
a filly that cost, what, $9 million? It’s what’s cool about the game, that one
from modest beginnings can beat one like that.”
Pletcher said a decision would not be made for some time on whether to
supplement Princess of Sylmar to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
“With the way yesterday’s races are positioned, five weeks out from the
Breeders’ Cup, it gives us time to sort out how everyone is doing and how
everyone came out of the races,” he said. “Hopefully we can sit back and let
them tell us what the right decision is.”
Immediately following the Beldame, Graydar came off a six-month layoff and
earned an all-fees-paid trip to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile with a solid victory
in the Kelso.
“He broke a step slow but was able to position himself quickly,” Pletcher
described.
“With five weeks and hopefully a good, steady series of breezes leading up to
the (Dirt) Mile, I think he has room to improve.”
Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice led a trio of Pletcher trainees in the Gold
Cup, in which Brazilian import Vitoria Olimpica finished fourth and Whitney Invitational Handicap winner Cross Traffic was seventh after a
disastrous start.
“He kind of did a spread-eagle coming out of the gate; remarkably, he did not
grab himself or pull a shoe,” Pletcher explained. “His chances were eliminated at the
beginning, so you just have to draw a line through it and stick with the
original plan, which right now would be the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
“With Vitoria Olimpica, for only his third start in the United States it was a
very good race, and we’re very, very pleased with Palace Malice,” he added. “He
showed up and ran a very good race yesterday. Being a May foal, there’s more to
come, I hope.”
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