Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher is in the midst of yet another busy Saratoga season, but this weekend he will have a quick hiatus from the Spa as he pops over to Monmouth Park to saddle several leading contenders in the GI Haskell Stakes. To discuss Fierceness (City of Light), Mindframe (Constitution) and Tuscan Sky (Vino Rosso)–and talk about whether or not we will see all three colts in New Jersey or if any will wait until the GII Jim Dandy Stakes–Pletcher joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast, presented by Keeneland.
Running fellow Repole Stable-owned colts Mindframe and Fierceness in the same race is not the ideal scenario, but Pletcher is all too familiar with how situations can change in the blink of an eye with these athletes. Just last weekend, Fierceness's full-brother Mentee was scratched from the GIII Sanford Stakes due to a temperature. Pletcher, who was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week on the show, said they have been preparing all three colts as if they are running in the Haskell and will monitor how each horse is training leading up to the race on Saturday before making a final decision.
“The tricky thing about it is, in this particular situation the Haskell is a Grade I and the Jim Dandy is a Grade II,” Pletcher said. “Fierceness has already established his stallion value. He's a champion 2-year-old. He's won the GI Florida Derby and he's a multiple Grade I winner. Mindframe, on the other hand, is on the verge of becoming a major stallion prospect and to some degree is a solid prospect already, but a Grade I win for him is a big payday in terms of his stallion value.”
Asked if he ultimately decides not to run Mindframe against Fierceness, would the logical scenario would be to run Fierceness in the Jim Dandy, Pletcher said that would probably be the backup plan.
The Maryland-bred Mindframe is the least seasoned among the trio, with only three starts under his belt including his runner-up performance in the GI Belmont where he showed his inexperience by drifting out in the stretch.
“The one thing that we were concerned about going into the Belmont was, did he have enough seasoning to be ready to run in the Belmont against horses who had more experience,” said Pletcher. “I think our concern turned out to be what ultimately cost him the race. By the same token, you have to be elated with the way he ran in only his third start. To do that was very impressive and at the same time very frustrating to think that maybe we let one get away. He's a very talented horse. He's trained very well since then. I think he has the right to improve again with that race under his belt. He's a May 13 foal so you would think time is on his side. The more experience he gets and the older he gets, hopefully the better he gets.”
The team of Randy Moss and Zoe Cadman also chatted with Pletcher about what life is like during the busy Saratoga season. Pletcher mentioned a few of the other current stable stars in his barn and even handed out a few unraced 2-year-old tips.
“Saratoga is a different animal than anywhere else we go,” said Pletcher. “It can be relatively quiet on a dark day where you can kind of not have a bunch of people hanging around, but there's nothing quite like sale week. You would think if you're an outsider that Travers week is really a crazy week in Saratoga, but it's really the week surrounding the yearling sale that is by far the most attended and everybody wants to be out in the morning, see their horses train and know what time they're going out. So it can be challenging at times to try to stay focused on what you're doing training your horses, but it's great to have that kind of enthusiasm and people out here.”
Elsewhere on the podcast, GIII Quick Call S. winner Star of Mystery (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) was the Fastest Horse of the Week, which is presented by the stallions at WinStar Farm. The show is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, XBTV.com and the KTOB. Further discussion during this week's show included a roundup of last weekend's racing, with talk of Chad Brown's domination in the GI Diana Stakes, plus a preview of this weekend's racing from Monmouth to Del Mar and Saratoga.
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