Pletcher choosing spots for top runners

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Pletcher choosing spots for top runners

Trainer Todd Pletcher said he wants to survey weekend workouts before he
plots paths for many of his Belmont graded stakes contenders, but did confirm
four-year-olds San Pablo and Stay Thirsty for the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey
Club Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles on September 29.

“They are as definite as you can be in this business,” said Pletcher, who
added that both runners will breeze at Belmont on Sunday.

San Pablo has won two straight, the Birdstone on August 2 at Saratoga and the
Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin on August 18 at Monmouth Park.

“I think his last two races have been an improvement,” said Pletcher, who
trains San Pablo for Burning Sands Stable. “His Birdstone was a good effort, and
the Iselin was another step forward off short rest. He needs to make another
slight move forward. He has closed that gap from where he was in January and
February towards where some of the better horses are. If he makes another move
forward, I think that puts him right there. He’s always been a horse who has
shown talent and consistently runs well, and he seems to be putting it all
together.”

Stay Thirsty, fifth in Saratoga’s Grade 1 Woodward on September 1, seeks his
first win since the 2011 Grade 1 Travers. He was third to Flat Out and
Drosselmeyer in last year’s Jockey Club Gold Cup.

“It seems like a division where nobody has really taken over, so it’s sort of
looking for someone to step up and win more than one in a row,” said Pletcher of
the group of top older males. “It seems like a competitive, open race on paper.”

Caixa Eletronica, another Repole Stable representative, will compete in
either the Grade 1, $400,000 Vosburgh at six furlongs or the Grade 2, $400,000
Kelso Handicap at one mile, according to Pletcher.

“It will be an entry-day decision,” he said.

Pletcher added that he is considering the Grade 1, $400,000 Beldame for
Disposablepleasure, In Lingerie, and Maristar and that he will decide who will
run after they breeze over the next few days.

Grade 2 Adirondack heroine Kauai Katie will breeze on Monday for the Grade 2,
$200,000 Matron, a seven-furlong race for two-year-olds on September 30,
Pletcher said. The Matron will be contested the same day as the Grade 2,
$200,000 Futurity, a six-furlong dash open to all two-year-olds.

“I’m not sure what we’re going to do in the Futurity,” Pletcher said. “It’s
open for discussion after some works this weekend.”

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