Trainer Todd Pletcher said his Belmont S. (G1) contenders — Carpe Diem
(Giant’s Causeway), Madefromlucky (Lookin at Lucky) and Materiality (Afleet
Alex) — walked the shedrow Sunday morning. This is
typical for Pletcher horses who breezed two days prior. The day after the work,
they all jogged on the track.
The trainer indicated that he will announce his finalized rider assignments
on Tuesday.
The Belmont Stakes has been one of the most rewarding
experiences for Pletcher, who earned his first classic victory with the filly
Rags to Riches in the 2007 edition. In 2013, he was back in the winner’s circle
following the third leg of the Triple Crown with Palace Malice.
But the Belmont has also resulted in frustration for
Pletcher, who has saddled the runner-up on four occasions — Bluegrass Cat
(2006), Dunkirk (2009), Stay Thirsty (2011), and Commissioner (2014). And some
of those losses were heart-breakers.
“Commissioner’s beat last year was as tough of a beat you
will take in any race, much less a classic,” Pletcher admitted. “To essentially lead
every step of the way, except for the last one, that was a tough beat.
“Stay Thirsty’s beat was actually pretty tough, too,” he
continued. “And Dunkirk, he ran very well, and led most of the way. Our results
overall have been very good (in the Belmont), but we’re kind of a length away
from having won four or five of these.”
Pletcher’s representation will be substantial on Friday and
Saturday. As of Sunday morning, Pletcher had 19 horses, including his three
Belmont probables, slated for stakes action during the Belmont Stakes Racing
Festival.
Among those is Competitive Edge (Super Saver), who will put off facing older horses for now
and instead run against his peers in the $500,000 Woody Stephens
S. (G2) on the Belmont Stakes undercard, according to Pletcher.
Competitive Edge was possible to take on older rivals for the
first time in the $1.25 million Metropolitan H. (G1) but, in light of rider
availability and weight assignments, Pletcher said the bay colt will
enter the seven-furlong Woody Stephens for three-year-olds instead.
As the lone sophomore in consideration for the Met Mile,
Competitive Edge was assigned the field’s low weight at 111 pounds.
“With a low weight like that you also have to have a jockey
that you’re confident in and can do the weight,” Pletcher said. “And with Johnny
(Velazquez) committed to Tonalist, we felt like we’d just face three-year-olds for
now.”
Competitive Edge has been unbeaten in his four career
starts, all of which have been at a distance of a mile or less, including a 5
3/4-length victory in the seven-furlong Hopeful S. (G1) last summer at Saratoga
and, most recently, a 4 1/2-length score in the Pat Day Mile (G3) on May 2 at
Churchill Downs.
“His record kind of speaks for itself,” Pletcher stated.
“He’s been consistently good in all his starts. He’s trained very well.”
Competitive Edge will likely be joined in the Woody
Stephens by stablemate Two Weeks Off (Harlan’s Holiday), according to
Pletcher.
Two Weeks Off, who is also nominated to the $150,000 Easy Goer S. at 1 1/16
miles, has won twice at the Woody Stephens distance, including an impressive
6 1/2-length victory in an April 4 allowance at Keeneland. The dark bay colt made his stakes debut in the 1 1/8-mile Peter Pan
S. (G2), in which
he finished third, 2 1/2 lengths behind Belmont
hopeful Madefromlucky.
“Two Weeks Off had an impressive win on the Beard course
(at Keeneland), which is basically seven furlongs,” Pletcher remarked. “In the Peter
Pan, it seemed like he might’ve been a little too fresh going a mile and an
eighth, he kind of pulled a little bit in the first part. He still ran well for
his first try in a stakes but we figured backing him up to seven-eighths made
sense.”
Pletcher said that Velazquez will have the mount on
Competitive Edge, while Javier Castellano is slated to ride Two Weeks Off.
The trainer’s other stakes targets are as follows:
| RACE | HORSE | |||
| FRIDAY | $250,000
True North S. (G2) |
Eastwood
(Speightstown) |
||
| Rock Fall
(Speightstown) |
||||
| $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup | Red Rifle (Giant’s
Causeway) |
|||
| Unitarian (Pulpit) | ||||
| $250,000
Tremont S. |
Uncle
Vinny (Uncle Mo) |
|||
| $150,000 Jersey Girl S. | Enchantress (Malibu Moon) | |||
| SATURDAY | $1
million Manhattan S. (G1) |
General a
Rod (Roman Ruler) |
||
| Jack
Milton (War Front) |
||||
| $1 million Ogden Phipps S.
(G1) |
Stopchargingmaria (Tale of
the Cat) |
|||
| $750,000
Acorn S. (G1) |
Curalina
(Curlin) |
|||
| $400,000 Brooklyn (G2) | Micromanage (Medaglia
d’Oro) |
|||
| Coach Inge (Big Brown) | ||||
| $150,000
Easy Goer S. |
Stanford
(Malibu Moon) |
|||
| Nonna’s
Boy (Distorted Humor) |
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