Todd Pletcher

The 13th annual jockeys-versus-horsemen charity basketball game, one of the most popular events on the Saratoga social calendar and which benefits the programs of the New York Race Track Chaplaincy, will be played Thursday, Aug. 3 at the Saratoga Springs Recreation Center at 6:30 p.m. The jockey team will once again be coached by Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero Jr., with trainer Todd Pletcher and agent Kiaran McLaughlin coaching the horsemen team. Mitch Levites of the NYRA TV department will once again serve as the announcer and retired NBA...

Few Todd Pletcher first-time starters fail to live up to their billing if they break as 1-5 favorites and Pirate (Omaha Beach) kept that trend rolling with a three-length win to graduate at Saratoga and become the Spa's first 2023 'TDN Rising Star' and the first for his freshman sire (by War Front). Never under the radar, the 2-year-old half-brother to GI Preakness S. winner National Treasure (Quality Road) took all the money and quickly silenced any doubt about his inside draw with a quick beginning under jockey Irad Ortiz,...

2nd-Saratoga, $105,000, Msw, 7-14, 3yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:49.71, gd, 6 3/4 lengths. DREAMLIKE (c, 3, Gun Runner--Time to Tap, by Tapit) began his career Feb. 11 in Hallendale, where he finished second in a mile maiden contest and in a 1 1/16-mile Mar. 11 main track race before shipping north Apr. 8 to Aqueduct to try his hand in the GII Wood Memorial S. Third in that Derby-qualifier with a blanket finish separating him from winner GSW Lord Miles (Curlin) and runner-up GSW Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}), he was...

Trainer Todd Pletcher has confirmed Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's MGISW Forte (Violence) for the GII Jim Dandy S. July 29 at Saratoga Race Course. The 3-year-old colt will use the race as a prep for the GI Travers S. Aug. 26, which the Hall of Famer won with Flower Alley [2005] and Stay Thirsty [2011]. "It was a tough call," said Pletcher. "We just felt like shipping up here, getting him used to the track, two Travers winners we previously had have done that." Pletcher added that Forte...

With Saratoga opening, NYRA TV Analyst and Handicapper Andy Serling will be ultra busy over the next seven plus weeks, spending countless hours on every card as he tries to pick winners and give his viewers valuable betting advice. But he's not complaining. It's hard to imagine anyone who loves Saratoga more. To talk about the meet, Serling joined the team on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. Serling, who has been attending the meet on a regular basis since 1975, was the Green Group Guest of...

Clarence and Dorothy Scharbauer built Valor Farm outside of Dallas 30 years ago after Dorothy and their daughter Pam campaigned Hall of Famer Alysheba in the late 1980s. Their son Doug continues the blue-and-white silk tradition as his unbeaten homebred Closing Act (Munnings) takes on 10 other 2-year-old fillies in Thursday's GIII Schuylerville S. on opening day at Saratoga. The Steve Asmussen trainee, listed at 10-1 on the morning line, is coming off her first stakes win in the Astoria S. June 11 at Belmont Park after breaking her maiden...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y--Nothing new at old Saratoga this summer. As has been the case for many decades, most of racing's stars will be in town for America's most important Thoroughbred meet of the year. The first race of the 40 days of the 155th season opens at 1:10 p.m. Thursday with a 10-race program at Saratoga Race Course. By the time the meeting reaches its conclusion on Labor Day, Sept. 4, over 400 races, including 71 stakes worth $20.8 million, will have been run. The traditional opening-day feature is the...

After a close battle with his brother through the final days of the 40-day spring/summer meet at Belmont Park, jockey Jose Ortiz secured the leading riding title on Sunday at the Belmont oval, finishing the meet just one win ahead with 59 total victories. Ortiz celebrated his 12th overall meet riding title. He was also the leading rider on the NYRA circuit in 2016, 2020 and 2021. Ortiz closed out the meet with a record of 246-59-44-38 and total purse earnings of $4,921,926, putting him at a win rate of...

5th-Belmont, $90,000, Msw, 7-9, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:05.64, ft, 3 lengths. HAUL (c, 2, Army Mule--Western Kitty, by Western Fame), installed the 6-5 choice first up for trainer Todd Pletcher, was sent in pursuit of Ridgewood Runner (Klimt), who three down an opening quarter in :22.85. Pulling on even terms with the pacesetter passing the quarter pole, the bay forged to a clear advantage and proved best late to hold Ridgewood Runner safe by three lengths. Devil's Playground (Into Mischief) was a distant third. The victory marked the third win...

Trainer Todd Pletcher appears to be in a good spot heading into the upcoming Saratoga Race Course meet after enjoying graded-stakes success Saturday at Belmont Park with both Far Bridge (English Channel) and 'TDN Rising Star' Charge It (Tapit). LSU Stables' Far Bridge earned his first graded stakes triumph in the GI Belmont Derby Invitational. Pletcher said following the race that the GI Saratoga Derby Invitational August 5 would be, "a logical next target." Whisper Hill Farm's Charge It is a likely candidate for the GI Whitney S. the same...

'TDN Rising Star' Far Bridge (c, 3, English Channel--Fitpitcher, by Kitten's Joy) was the beneficiary of a clean trip beneath Jose Ortiz, took command in upper stretch and finished off nicely to take Saturday's GI Belmont Derby on Long Island. Less fortunate was King Power Racing's G2 Dante S. hero The Foxes (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}), whose passage more resembled a rush-hour trip on the adjacent Cross Island Parkway, but he flew home to remarkably grab second on the line from pacesetting longshot Mondego (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}). Supplanted late...

Whisper Hill Farm homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' Charge It (c, 4, Tapit--I'll Take Charge, by Indian Charlie) got his season back on track with a dominating performance in Saturday's GII Suburban S. at Belmont Park. The 3-5 favorite, a 23-length winner in last term's GIII Dwyer S. over the same surface, was kept out in the clear by Johnny Velazquez and took over following an opening quarter in :24.49. Still racing several paths off the rail down the backstretch, the gray took the field of five into the far...