Todd Pletcher not ready to bet his life on beating Rachel Alexandra
Picking winners is never easy - just look at all those short-term loan adverts on the television – but the marketing gurus at the New York Racing Association are pushing a special double wager for Saratoga this weekend.
Just find the winners of both the Grade One features, the Travers and Personal Ensign Stakes, which is exactly what Todd Pletcher is hoping to achieve, although the payout for him is likely to be even more satisfying after some recent reverses.
Rachel Alexandra may have got her season back on track, with two victories to balance a couple of early-season defeats, but there are some who feel that she is some way short of the aura of invincibility that surrounded her through a nine-race unbeaten streak.
She will start favourite for the Personal Ensign but Pletcher’s mare Life At Ten comes to the race with a four-race winning record for the year, highlighted by her victory in the Grade One Ogden Phipps Handicap at Belmont Park in June. And she has won over the 10-furlong trip of Sunday’s race – something which is uncharted territory for Rachel Alexandra.
Not that Pletcher is making any bullish predictions even if he is happy about Life At Ten – who has won seven of 14 career starts - as she goes into her biggest test so far. After her latest workout the trainer said: “She not only worked well, but galloped out extremely well. She's in very good form right now, and she's obviously on a winning streak. I think her races this year have been better than some have given her credit for, but I also think it's a very, very tall order to take on Rachel Alexandra.”
Back in May the tallest order for Pletcher was to win the Kentucky Derby. After nine years of trying, Pletcher’s chances of improving upon his 0-24 record in the race appeared to have taken a serious hit when ante-post favourite Eskendereya was scratched on the Sunday before the race. Undeterred, Pletcher saddled four runners in the race and won it with Super Saver.
Since then the colt’s performances have been less than super. He was not sighted when only eighth to Lookin At Lucky in the Preakness although he got closer to the same winner when he finished a four-and-three-quarter fourth in the Haskell Invitational Stakes at Monmouth three weeks ago.
Viewing that as a progression may appear fanciful but Pletcher sites a similar trend that took Super Saver to the winner’s enclosure at Churchill Downs three months ago. “I think he's going to run an improved race from the Haskell," he said. "Having that race under his belt has helped him. If you look at his form this year, he ran decently in Tampa [third in the Tampa Bay Derby], moved forward with a better race in Arkansas [the Arkansas Derby], and then another move forward [to win the Derby], so I think he's going to respond the same way."
Pletcher’s response to the colt’s detractors is to point out one simple fact. He won the race that counts. “He’s the one who won the race. It was on the biggest day and the biggest race. He stepped up and he put himself into position to get that trip. He did it and no-one else could,” he said, adding “I think it would be great vindication if he won the Travers and then the Breeders' Cup Classic. This horse has just as good accomplishments as anyone else in there.”
The Travers may be the historical highlight of the Saratoga meeting but the very recent history has not been good for Pletcher, despite being on course for a seventh trainers’ title at the track, with defeats for Quality Road in the Whitney Handicap a fortnight and Devil May Care in the Alabama Stakes last Saturday. "We’d be delighted to win the Travers," he said. "But, it doesn't mean the Whitney isn't going to sting or the Alabama isn't going to sting. It's the nature of our business.
"But, I would be a crybaby if I complained too much about the meet we've had," he said. "I'd love to win every single stakes race but, we've got a lot to be grateful for. There are some big ones left and I'm sure there’ll be some excitement and disappointment in store."
You can bet on that.
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