Todd Pletcher

Candied (Candy Ride {Arg}) had all the momentum as the field turned into the stretch for Sunday's fifth at Saratoga, a six-furlong maiden for 2-year-old fillies. The only question was whether or not she could get up in time after racing seven wide on the turn. It took some doing, but she got the job done, winning a race despite showing signs that she's still on the immature side. Ridden by Luis Saez, Candied was in mid-pack early as Ella Elizabeth (Take Charge Indy) set the pace. On the far...

No fewer than four of the seven 3-year-olds expected for Saturday's GI Travers S. got their final tune-ups Saturday morning, three over the Saratoga main track and one at Del Mar. Mage (Good Magic), the GI Kentucky Derby hero who figures no worse than the second betting choice behind Forte (Violence) in the 10-furlong feature, breezed three-quarters of a mile in 1:15.56 for trainer Gustavo Delgago. In what was described as a maintenance move beneath exercise rider J.J. Delgado, the son of former 'TDN Rising Star' Puca (Big Brown) went...

"What's in a name?" Spurning Master Shakespeare and embracing anecdotal evidence, consider the tale of how Saratoga's Oklahoma Training Track got its name. Horsemen complained that the distance across Union Avenue to the main course was such a hike that it might as well be in Boomer Sooner land. Another piece from the past concerns the name of the Alabama S. Dating to 1872, the race was given that moniker after the Derby-winning owner William Cottrell of Mobile asked if it could be dubbed after his home state, instead of...

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, along with his wife Tracy, received the Marylou Whitney Award from the New York Race Track Chaplaincy for their continuing devotion and support of the backstretch community at the organization's 16th annual fundraising brunch at the Saratoga National Golf Club, the organization said in a release Wednesday. "I can't say enough about what the New York Race Track Chaplaincy organization does for the backstretch community," Pletcher said. "It provides so much more than spiritual help. I look at it like the mayor's office where...

by Alan Carasso & Patrycja Szpyra Displaying some single-minded ways in the post parade, where he proved himself quite the handful, St Elias Stable, Ken Langone, C. Steven Duncker and Vicarage Stable's Deterministic (Liam's Map--Giulio's Jewel, by Speightstown) was off slowly on top of his pre-race antics, but he overcame it all to relentlessly grind his way to 'TDN Rising Star' honors in Saturday's fifth race from Saratoga. Clearly last from the stalls, the dark bay colt lingered at the back of the field for a time, then was content...

7th-Saratoga, $88,000, (S), Msw, 8-11, 2yo, 6f, 1:12.00, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. TRUST FUND (c, 2, Practical Joke--Mo Savings, by Uncle Mo) played a bit of bumper cars with Inonit (Include) at the jump after rival drawn farther out veered in on them, but managed to recover well enough to lock horns in a speed duel before then taking over the lead approaching the half in :45.85. Four wide and driving on a clear advantage coming for home, Trust Fund kept to his task to come in 2 1/4 lengths...

4th-CNL, $60K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1 1/16mT, 3:00 p.m. A $700,000 Ylg FTSAUG purchase, INTEGRATION (Quality Road) debuts for Shug McGaughey. Out of 2016 GI Del Mar Oaks heroine Harmonize (Scat Daddy), who was campaigned and bred by Larkin Armstrong, this 3-year-old colt hails from a deep, extended female family which includes MGSWs like Al Khali (Medaglia d'Oro), Cappuchino (Capote) and Hungry Island (More Than Ready), plus GI Diana S. heroine and MGSW Somali Lemonade (Lemon Drop Kid) and MGISW Verrazano (More Than Ready). TJCIS PPs 5th-SAR, $136K, Msw, 2yo, 7f,...

In the absence of Godolphin standout and GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf winner Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), the role of morning-line favorite for Saturday's feature at Virginia's Colonial Downs fell to GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational winner Atone (Into Mischief). A Godolphin-bred gelded son of leading sire Into Mischief, the Michael Maker trainee, owned by Three Diamonds Farm, put a career best 103 Beyer Speed Figure to take down Brazilian standout Ivar (Brz) (Agnes Gold {Jpn}) at Gulfstream Park Jan. 28. He'll stretch out to 1 1/4 miles...

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Forte (Violence) and Whisper Hill Farm and Gainesway Stable's Tapit Trice (Tapit), both 'TDN Rising Stars', worked in company over the main track Thursday in preparation for the GI Travers S. August 26 at Saratoga. Forte, with regular pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr. up, worked without blinkers to the outside of Tapit Trice, who was guided through the half-mile breeze by exercise rider Fernando Rivera. Both workmates stopped the clock in :48.33. "I thought both horses worked extremely well--both were moving really well and good...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- It turned out that a non-decision is precisely what settled who would ride GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) and GI Belmont S. winner Arcangelo (Arrogate) in the GI Travers. Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano rode both horses to their victories in the Triple Crown series and had his choice of which one to ride in the Travers on Aug. 26 at Saratoga Race Course. He holds the Travers record of six wins. Mage's trainer, Gustavo Delgado, asked Castellano on Monday to give him...

Vindictive (Uncle Mo--Exotic Bloom, by Montbrook), a close second in last spring's GIII Pimlico Special S., has been retired and will stand his first season at stud in 2024 at the Spinella Family's Pegasus Stud in New Jersey. The $200,000 KEESEP yearling purchase and half-brother to GI Breeders' Cup Distaff heroine Stopchargingmaria (Tale of the Cat) was campaigned by Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable, LLC and LNJ Foxwoods and trained by Todd Pletcher. He retires with a record of 8-4-1-1 and earnings of $300,960. "Vindictive is an impressive physical specimen who...

1st-Monmouth, $55,250, Msw, 8-6, 2yo, 1mT, 1:39.91, fm, 4 lengths. NOMOS (c, 2, Uncle Mo--Westit {GB} {SP-Fr, SP-USA}, by Tapit) went off favored at 9-5 in this grass debut and got a clean start against the fence from the two slot after the rail horse steadied and was pulled up early in the race. Racing in the middle of a tightly-bunched group into the backstretch through an easy opening quarter in :24.15, he stayed glued to the inside and began to pick up momentum and position as the field swung...