AL BEHRMAN / Associated Press
Trainer Todd Pletcher is riding high going into Saturday's Breeders' Cup. |
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas is asked about Todd Pletcher a lot these days.
And Lukas, never at a loss for words, has a lot of complimentary ones for Pletcher.
“He was an extraordinary horseman and worker,” Lukas said Tuesday of his former assistant from 1989 through 1995. “He was also very vanilla (personality-wise). I had lots of assistants who were more colorful but none that were any better than him. He was all business all the time.
“I knew that Todd, with his education and background, would do very well on his own, and I'm so proud of what he has done.”
What Pletcher has done, over the course of the past three years but especially this year, is break training records – most of which Lukas held. The latest example being yesterday when Pletcher entered a record 17 horses in Saturday's Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, topping the 14-horse herd that Lukas sent postward in 1987.
A total of 104 horses was entered in the eight $2 million-$5 million races for Breeders' Cup Day, the highest number since 105 were entered in 2000. For the highlight $5 million Classic, Bernardini drew the No. 3 post in a field of 13 and was made the even-money favorite on the opening line.
Invasor was second at 5-1 and Pacific Classic winner Lava Man third at 6-1. Pletcher has multiple horses entered in six races, a single horse to saddle in the Sprint and gets a break only for the fifth race on the program when he has nothing going in the Mile.
“I'll kick back, maybe grab a soda,” Pletcher said of his only down time during a seven-hour program.
Pletcher, 39, set a single-season record for purse earnings by his horses with $20.8 million last year, eclipsing the $19.1 million in 2003 of Bobby Frankel, who had topped the $18 million-plus record of Lukas set in 1987.
Pletcher already has broken his 2005 record this season and is approaching the $22 million mark with $20 million more in prize money for the winning on Saturday. He has tied Lukas' record 53 graded stakes wins set in 1987 and, considering the quality of horses he'll send out, could break it Saturday.
“It's the biggest day in racing. We've got a lot of clients who want their horses there and we feel all the horses we entered belong,” Pletcher said of his 17 entries, who could threaten the record of four wins on a Breeders' Cup day by Richard Mandella in 2003. “We're coming in with very good horses, so expectations are high and there will be some pressure. But it's what we do. We (horsemen) live for these days.”
Born in Dallas, Pletcher got a solid upbringing in the racing business as the son of a trainer, Jake Pletcher, who worked with thoroughbreds and quarter horses from the Midwest to California. Pletcher worked for trainers Henry Moreno, Lukas and Charlie Whittingham during the summers while he attended the University of Arizona and earned a degree in animal science.
Two weeks after his college graduation in 1989, Pletcher went back to work for Lukas for the seven-year run that led to going out on his own in December 1995. Under Lukas, whose operation stretched coast-to-coast encompassing hundreds of horses and many deep-pocketed owners, Pletcher honed the organizational skills and people skills necessary to deal with the kind of owners who could provide the kind of quality horses required to succeed.
Pletcher established himself on the East Coast (New York/Florida) circuit and in 2004 he ended Frankel's string of four straight Trainer of the Year Eclipse awards and started his own string that is expected to reach three this year.
“What he's doing is very impressive, and he's an outstanding individual,” said Lukas, who reigned as the purse earnings leader for a record 10 straight years from 1983 through '92.
“I'm not surprised that he set the earnings record, because purses keep going up and up, but the stakes record he's about to break – I thought that would stand for a long time.”
While Pletcher is not nearly the talker or quote machine for the media that Lukas is, his accomplishments have led some to call him a “Lukas clone.” That label sits well with Pletcher's mentor.
“If somebody said that, I'm very proud to be considered that way,” Lukas said.
Hank Wesch: (619) 293-1853; hank.wesch@uniontrib.com
