By Ben Massam
Some two months into the 2-year-old racing season, seven-time Eclipse Award winner Todd Pletcher has already established his customary position at the fore of the training ranks, with two juvenile stakes wins and a number of other promising prospects. Pletcher's barn was firing on all cylinders this past weekend, sending out three maiden graduates in the span of three hours at Belmont Park and Monmouth Park, Saturday.
Pletcher kicked off the action with a rallying score by Bronson (Medaglia d'Oro) in a five-furlong maiden event at the Jersey Shore. Given that the colt's pedigree leans toward longer-distance races and turf–including his MGSW dam Cambiocorsa (Avenue of Flags)–Pletcher said that he was pleased to see his charge win at first asking on dirt.
“We'll definitely consider the [July 23 GIII] Sanford [for Bronson],” Pletcher said. “We feel like he's a colt that's going to improve with more distance, so I'm a little bit surprised that he's quite as precocious as he turned out to be, winning sprinting like that. I like the way he finished, it looked like he had something left in the tank and he galloped out strongly.”
A bit later in the day at Monmouth, St. Elias Stable's Sweet Loretta (Tapit) stamped herself as one to watch with a runaway seven-length score in another five-furlong dash. Pletcher said that the filly's effort was strong enough to add her to the list of contenders for the GIII Schuylerville S. on Saratoga's opening day, July 22. A $750,000 Keeneland November weanling purchase, the bay is out of a half-sister to 2012 Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Spring in the Air (Spring at Last).
“We'll see how she bounces out of it and consider the Schuylerville,” Pletcher said of Sweet Loretta. “We also have the filly Bode's Dream (Bodemeister), who won the [June 9] Astoria for the same ownership, so we'll take that under consideration. But we'll train them both with the idea that the Schuylerville is a possibility for either one or both.”
Pletcher said that Lets Go Stable and Three Chimneys Farm's Made You Look (More Than Ready) will likely target the GII With Anticipation S. at Saratoga Aug. 31 after annexing a six-panel maiden dash at Belmont Saturday. The colt–whose second dam is 1995 champion 3-year-old filly Serena's Song (Rahy)–previously finished a clear second behind 'TDN Rising Star' Red Lodge (Midshipman) in his five-furlong debut at Belmont May 27.
“We might wait all the way until the With Anticipation with him, we'll just play it by ear,” Pletcher explained. “He's a strongly bred horse with a big bottom side, and like a lot of More Than Readies, he seems to excel on the turf.”
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