The Saratoga Conversation: Todd Pletcher

Before he became a Hall of Fame trainer, Todd Pletcher was once a sports journalist. Kind of. He had a nickname, too. Find out what horse race is his most satisfying victory and who were his favorite horses to train. And, if you want to find out what NFL team is near and dear to his heart, dive right in. Find out all you never knew about one of the most successful trainers in the history of the sport.

TDN: On your resume–and I am not going to go through the whole thing because we would be here for hours–no one has more Eclipse Awards for leading trainer than you. No one has more Saratoga training titles than you. Two Kentucky Derbys. Four Belmonts. Is there one thing you have done that sticks out for you?

Todd Pletcher: I don't know if there is one individual achievement that stands out. I would like to think it's been the consistency that we have been able to maintain at a pretty high level over an extended period of time.

TDN: So, there is not one thing you are going to hang your hat on and say, 'that was pretty cool.'

TP: I tell you, it's a difficult business to sort of sit back while you are still active and reflect on everything that has happened. I have found, maybe at times, when you have some milestone achievements…3,000 wins, 5,000 wins…you kind of briefly reflect like 'wow, I never anticipated it would accumulate to that level.' You can get inducted into the Hall of Fame and then later that afternoon go over and lose four races.

TDN: You are 57. There is still a long way to go.

TP: I would hope so.

TDN: When you were a student at Arizona, didn't you dabble in journalism a little bit?

TP: I did. But I wouldn't call it journalism. That might be stretching it a little bit. My roommate, who was an English major, was the beat writer for the Arizona football team. He came back one day and said there was a job I needed to take. I said, 'what are you talking about?' He said the guy that covers intramural sports for the Arizona Daily Wildcat quit today. He said it was a piece of cake. I ended up doing it. One of the things I did was the intramural rankings for flag football, for volleyball…whatever sport was going on. I would make the rankings and our fraternity would be ranked No. 1 a lot of times. I was also refereeing intramural basketball and volleyball. I could ref a game and get 20 bucks and write an article and get another 20 bucks. I was killing it. Double dipping. I also wrote an article previewing the 1989 Kentucky Derby and I picked Sunday Silence to beat Easy Goer.

TDN: So, everyone in the fraternity got rich?

TP: (laughs) I don't know. We were already gone by the time they ran. It was right around graduation.

TDN: I know horse racing was with you from the start, but did you ever think you would be a journalist?

TP: No, no, no. I wasn't a good enough writer. I just stumbled onto that.

TDN: People who don't know Todd Pletcher might say he is dry, no sense of humor. I know that is not true. You can be a funny guy, can't you?

TP: Occasionally, I think I crack some people up. Probably not very many.

TDN: It's not like you are a piece of sandpaper.

TP: No. I think it gets mislabeled a little bit. I don't necessarily look at that as a bad thing either.

TDN: When you walk through the crowd at Saratoga, how often does someone ask you for a horse?

TP: Pretty much every day. You would expect when you walk through, you'd get 'do you like this one?'

TDN: Do you answer them?

TP: Yeah. Usually it's “we're trying … hopefully.” I don't tell them, 'go to the window on this one.'

TDN: With all your success, some people might look at you like they look at the New York Yankees. They root against you because of all the past success.

TP: I think there is some element to that. I think maybe you go through phases. When (Bill) Mott was the leading trainer here every year, maybe he was that guy. Then me, and now Chad (Brown). It's human nature to root for the underdogs. The dukes of the world aren't always that popular but, hopefully respected.

TDN: Did you have a nickname growing up?

TP: When I was in college, everyone called me Fletch. A lot of guys called me that.

TDN: If there's a movie made about your life and you can pick the guy to play you, who are you picking?

TP: Oooh. That's a good one. Paul Newman. Seems like a cool guy. I think our generation thought that.

TDN: You must have loved “The Sting.”

TP: Classic.

TDN: If you could have dinner with three people, living or dead, who would they be?

TP: John Wooden, Richard Pryor and, for my daughter (Hannah), Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I was a huge Richard Pryor fan when I was a teenager. All his movies, standup…everything. I don't know how this would go. Maybe Richard and I will hang around for after dinner drinks.

TDN: I know you're a Dallas Cowboys fan. Big?

TP: Yup. I was born in Dallas, grew up in Texas and, probably as a 6- or 7-year-old, I thought because I was born in Dallas, that meant I was obligated to support them. Growing up in Texas, Dallas was on TV every Sunday, unless they played on Monday night or Thanksgiving Day. I remember as a little kid my mom would make me go to church and I would miss the first 10 or 15 minutes of the game. That was not a good thing. From first grade to when I graduated high school, I seriously doubt I missed more than a game or two.

TDN: Do you still try to catch all their games now?

TP: It's easier now. Back then, you had four channels.

TDN: But there is thing called horse racing that happens on Sunday afternoons.

TP: Yes. Growing up in the 70s, it was awesome. I got the Roger Staubach days and the Drew Pearson days. In the 90s, when they were good, I was had just starting training, so I did not get to watch nearly as many of those games. When my kids (Hannah, Kyle and Payton) were born, they missed all those teams. They are Cowboy fans, but they missed the 70s, the 90s. They have seen like three playoff games in 25 years. Every once in in a while they get a little upset with me because I made them into Cowboy fans.

TDN: I talked to you before and you said that Scooby-Doo is your favorite cartoon when growing up.

TP: Yup. It's still good.

TDN: OK. Who is Shaggy and who is Scooby-Do between you and your owner, Mike Repole?

TP: (laughs) Oh, man. I have to make Repole Shaggy.

Irad Ortiz, Pletcher, and Mike Repole | Sarah Andrew photo

TDN: Describe Mike Repole in fewer words that he would describe you.

TP: He is a very complex guy. I think a lot of what you see is the real Mike Repole. He is a very thoughtful guy, a very charitable guy, a very philanthropic person. I consider myself to be a fairly busy person in terms of the amount of responsibility I have, the job I have, the amount of time it takes. I could not imagine being Mike Repole for a week. He has got so many things going on and he'll know everything going on with every single one of his horses. And he is doing 30 other things and taking care of 10 other people who maybe have a medical issue or things like that. He does so much for so many people that a lot of people don't know about.

TDN: Most satisfying win and most heartbreaking loss.

TP:  I have always said, and I don't think it will change, Rags to Riches' Belmont win (2007). It was my most satisfying for a number of reasons. It was my first Classic, a filly beating the colts, the excitement of the race and the way it unfolded. Everything about it was literally experiencing everything in horse racing in less than two and a half minutes. The disappointment of the stumble, then thinking you are going to win, and then thinking Curlin is going to come back and you're going to lose by a nose, and you ultimately win by a head. It encompassed everything that is great about the thrill of the sport. There have been a lot of tough beats. I think we have been second in the Belmont nine time.

TDN: You think Rags to Riches should be in the Hall of Fame.

TP: I think I might be disappointed about that more than anything. I don't understand it because, to me, getting inducted into the Hall of Fame means you have accomplished something that very few others have. She is the only filly to win the Belmont in, what are we at now, 110 years? (119. Tanya was the last to do it in 1905). That puts her in an elite category. The detractors say she didn't make enough starts (seven, five wins, one second). Justify (who is being inducted this year) had a tremendous career (six starts, six wins) but it only lasted four of five months. It seems a bit unfair. I always thought she deserved to be in there. Hopefully, the voters will see it that way one day.

TDN: You have five empty stalls, and you can put five horses from history in there, but none of your own. Who are they?

TP: When I was in California with my dad's good friend Henry Moreno, who I spent a couple summers working for, he told me Swaps was the best horse he had ever seen. I would probably say him. My dad was training at Santa Anita the winter of Spectacular Bid's 4-year-old season and he always said he was one of the best horses he had ever seen. Flightline was as talented as any horse we have seen in a while. Rachel Alexandra. I think her Kentucky Oaks was arguably as good as a horse has ever run. I'll go with Seattle Slew because Angel (Hall of Fame rider Cordero) said he was the best horse he had ever ridden.

TDN: No Secretariat. You can't pick all of them.

TP: You can't put him on the AE (laughs). From a historical perspective, it's too hard to narrow it down to five. I'm good with those five.

TDN: You did a TDN Podcast–the Writer's Room with Randy Moss and Zoe Cadman–last week and now this. You are going to be Mr. TDN. Might have to get you on the staff.

TP:  It's a good thing. I love the TDN. I've read it every day for a lot of years. It's good for the industry.

TDN: If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

TP: X-ray vision. It would come in handy in today's training world (laughs).

TDN: Do you cook?

TP: No. I occasionally tend to the grill but I'm not very good at it.

TDN: (Wife) Tracy does the cooking?

TP: Tracy does the cooking.

TDN: With all the owners in town, how much sleep do you get a night?

TP: With the extension of the meet, it has changed the dynamics of it a little bit. I have kind of scaled back on the number of events we go to. The schedule is so demanding that you have to pick and choose your spots and pace yourself. We eat at home a lot and try to have early dinners when we do. Depending on the post times you have, sometimes it's possible, sometimes it's not.

TDN: What time are you at the barn in the morning?

TP: Four. The other day we were in early races, so I was here from 4 to 5:30 (p.m.). On the weekends, it's later than that. I like being here early. I like a little bit of quiet time before we get going so I can look over some condition books.

TDN: What time do you get up?

TP: 3:30 (a.m.).

TDN: What time do you go to bed?

TP: Eight (p.m.). There are certain times of the year where it's less busy. But we still start early. During the winter I might get to the barn at 4:30 (a.m.).

TDN: It would be unfair to ask you who is your favorite horse you have trained, right?

TP: There are certainly horses you have had that you enjoy training more than others. I have always said the two horses that helped my career get going the most were Jersey Girl and More Than Ready. Because of that, they will always be two of my favorites. Jersey Girl was my first Grade I winner.

More Than Ready prior to the 2000 Breeders' Cup Sprint, with a young Todd Pletcher | Horsephotos

TDN: Watch much TV?

TP: I find myself watching more Netflix and those kinds of things. It's a different world now. Kids now don't watch TV the way we did when we were kids. If you lived in El Paso, Texas, you were at home on Tuesday nights watching “Happy Days” at 7 (p.m.) and you were done for the week.  Now, with the exception of watching a live sporting event, you can watch things whenever you want. Binge watch twenty episodes if you want.

TDN: Were you a “Happy Days” guy?

TP: I think everyone was at my age. You watched “Happy Days” and “Laverne & Shirley” back-to-back.

TDN: Wayne Lukas, who you worked for before going out on your own, is a Hall of Fame trainer, one of the giants of the game. What do you think of when you hear his name?

TP: He's a legend. I have always said that he is probably the most resilient person I have ever met. The longevity is such a small part of the story. If you look back at the 1980s, to me, he is the only trainer I can think of who has really revolutionized training. He totally changed the trainer game. Guys like Steve (Asmussen) have taken it to a different level. It was Wayne's blueprint that laid it out for a bunch of us.

TDN: Baseball players have walk-up songs when they come to bat. What would be your walk-up song bringing a horse onto the track?

TP: There is a guy who works out at McMahon (of Saratoga Thoroughbreds LLC) Farm. His rapper name is Lip Shank. His rap song is N One. His real name is Benji (Perez, has worked for McMahon for 25 years. That would be my song.