Todd Pletcher Quotes (44 Quotes)

His best distance is probably a mile-andan-eighth to a mile-and-a-quarter. It's good to see that we can stretch him out from here.

She was a bad girl at the gate and we're going to try to fix that. When she runs Friday, we'll blindfold her coming to the gate and then load her first.

You can't jump to conclusions just yet.

She took to the turf course well and turned in a big race, which she's shown she's capable of doing on certain days. She got a perfect trip and delivered with a perfect run down the lane.

I think this is probably the best race she's ever run, which is saying a lot because she's been such a very good, consistent mare. It seems like the older she gets, and more mature she gets, she seems to be able to rate better and better. And that was the key to delivering this performance today.

When you get to October, it's generally the right time of year to try 3-year-olds against older horses. That part of it we're not overly concerned about. The kind of races he ran in the Jim Dandy and Travers we don't necessarily really need to improve.

Right now, what I would like to do with him is run him in the Kentucky Derby. I thought he ran enough in the Florida Derby. I think he's an improving horse. We're obviously watching his earnings status closely. Sometime after Saturday, I have to make a decision. Right now, it looks like he's right on the bubble.

He's doing well. I think maybe we were bringing him back too quick in the Cigar Mile after the Breeders' Cup.

I'm always disappointed when I don't win. I know everyone is critical of Bluegrass Cat's speed figures. But he does not have a bad record, and I think he'll improve with added distance. He had an excuse yesterday.

I was very pleased. This horse has been training exceptionally well since he got down here. Obviously, it's a big step up to go from an 'a other than' allowance to run against a Grade 1 winner like First Samurai.

His most impressive races in Chile were on dirt, so we decided to take a shot in the Cigar Mile and obviously it just didn't work out. It was probably the wrong time to do it following the Breeders' Cup.

Everything unfolded the way we thought it would and the way we hoped it would. This was a home run. The Jim Dandy was the kind of performance that propelled Flower Alley to the next level.

We considered all the options, the pros and cons. The weather looks, temperature-wise, like it will not be poor. And we don't have to worry about the rain with him.

He's a patient rider and we would like to see the horse settle in mid pack. I don't think he's a very difficult horse to ride.

He's just an enormously talented horse that's able to do those kinds of things without being totally focused just yet. Even though he's come a long way in a relatively short number of races he's still not battle seasoned.

He's matured physically and mentally and handles the distance. He's the whole package.

We'll point for the Met Mile. That's been the plan.

He lost a lot of ground. I thought he ran a big race.

I thought we would be the early speed. When she hopped at the start, it concerned me a little bit. She recovered quick enough to put herself in good position.

I'm not going to jump to any conclusions just yet. We'll see how he comes out of it.

The surface has a bit of a quirky reputation, so it's important that he already has started there. It can be tiring for some horses the first time over it, but he handled it. It has the reputation of being very safe and if it rains, since it's sand-based, it can handle the moisture.

I felt like if we can get this horse straightened away and focused and he matures, then he can be any kind of horse.

If he were to win the Sprint, I think he puts himself in position to make a strong case for not only horse of the year, but champion three-year-old.

Since the sale, he's been at Ashford, resting and doing a little jogging. We're in no hurry with him, although I still think he's the precocious type. We're just going to let him get settled in and take it slow.

He had a torn muscle in his left-hind leg, ... We did an internal blister on him and gave him some down time to get that straightened away. We were originally thinking about bringing him back in the (Alfred G.) Vanderbilt (gr. II, Aug. 13 at Saratoga), but we just ran out of time. He's worked well up to the Forego. We just hope he shows up and runs his 'A' race.

I think he's the complete package. I feel we're holding a very strong hand.

Keyed Entry is an exceptionally gifted horse. He's got loads of speed, he's very willing and he's obviously done everything we've asked him to do so far.

He lost all position at a pivotal point in the race. He just didn't handle the second turn. But if there is a good time to get beat, this was one of them.

My only real concern coming into the race is that he did not run well over this course last year. But that was only the second start of his career, and he was still a little green back then. I guess we can put that worry to bed now.

We're just trying to take it one step at a time.

I don't want to get in the way of Johnny with his Kentucky Derby mounts. This was a particularly hard decision, because anyone who works or trains or is around Keyed Entry knows how good he is. You'd want to stay with a horse like that as long as possible. He's undefeated. He's training super. In a perfect world, Keyed Entry would already have gone two turns, so Johnny could have made a better comparison with Bluegrass Cat. Bluegrass Cat already has been a mile and an eighth, and he's already been a mile and a sixteenth this year. I think it came down to that.

I thought he worked real well. I think he really likes this track. We decided to train here because if you get rain, it's a little more consistent surface. And hopefully after the Blue Grass he'll be back here.

He was a fresh horse and ran exactly the way we wanted him to.

He can run from off the pace if we need to do that, but maybe letting him be a free-running horse is his best style. We're certainly not going to try to take him off the pace. The most likely scenario is he's going to be on the lead, but if somebody else wants the lead then that's fine, too.

Obviously we know were in a position that he has to win the Classic to even think about that. If that happens then you can start looking at it a number of ways. Hes running against the strongest field any 3-year-old has run against this year. If hes able to get it done, lets soapbox then.

Six furlongs is a better distance for him, and he's a New York-bred - he runs for bonus money.

They are bubble-type horses that need to step forward and have a big showing in the Florida Derby to step into the Kentucky Derby picture. They did what they needed to do to get to this point.

I thought the Jim Dandy was a breakthrough performance for him. Any time you dominate a race like that I think it's a pretty big deal.

He's a pretty forward horse and the key is just really if they can relax just enough to make their speed dangerous and keep carrying it.

Pollard was tough, durable and consistent -- a real warrior, the type of horse everyone would want to own. He gave you everything he had.

No final decision has been made. He is going to come here with the possibility he could run in the Kentucky Derby. We will make the decision from here.

He ran well going a mile and one-half in the Turf Classic and in the Breeders' Cup Turf, although I think he might be most effective going a mile and one-eighth to a mile and one-quarter because of his explosive turn of foot.

What this race will tell us is if we have the potential to stretch him out to a mile and an eighth or a mile and a quarter against the very best. I would be surprised if he didn't run well at a mile and a sixteenth. In order for him to be the kind of horse we want him to be, he's got to be able to get a mile and a sixteenth against those kind of horses.

The key for horses like him in their first start at two turns is to relax just a little to make their speed dangerous. You can't get too caught up in who else is running in a given race. They all will get tougher as you go along.