Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher reaches 6,000-win milestone on Saturday at Saratoga
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher earned his 6,000th career victory in North America with sophomore colt Versailles Road defeating elders in Race 14, an 11-furlong inner turf optional claimer and Saturday’s finale at Saratoga Race Course.
"It's a hard business to reflect in much, but it's weird how when you get to these milestones that you start thinking about the individual ones and the single ones - they add up,” Pletcher said.
Bridlewood Farm, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Robert LaPenta’s Versailles Road exited post 2 under Manny Franco and settled into a ground-saving third position 2 1/2 lengths off the pace set by the favored Capital Partner through the opening quarter-mile in 24.10 seconds over the firm turf.
Capital Partner led through fractions of 49.28, 1:14.59, 1:39.05 and 2:03.34, before Franco tipped the Quality Road bay off the rail to collar that rival inside the eighth-pole, and ultimately prevail by 1 1/2 lengths over the deep-closing Sardis in a final time of 2:15.70.
“I liked my position, I wanted to be forward with my horse, but I was happy with where I was,” Franco said. “I sat and I was happy with the way my horse was running. It’s amazing to get this win for Todd’s 6,000th. I’m just happy to get it done for him, I know it means a lot to him, and it means a lot for me to win for this kind of barn.”
Pletcher, 59, is the son of trainer Jake Pletcher and began working as a hotwalker for his father at the age of seven. Pletcher worked for his father at Ruidoso Downs, Louisiana Downs, and Ak-Sar-Ben and later had stints with Henry Moreno and Hall of Famer Charlie Whittingham in California. Between his sophomore and junior years in the Race Track Industry Program at the University of Arizona, Pletcher worked as a groom for Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas at Arlington Park.
After graduating from college in 1989, Pletcher began working for Lukas as a foreman in New York. He was promoted to assistant in 1991 and was Lukas’ East Coast assistant until he took out his own trainer’s license in December 1995. Pletcher won his first race on January 26, 1996 at Gulfstream Park with Majestic Number. His first graded stakes win came with Rare Rock in the 1998 Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Breeders’ Cup Handicap and he landed his first Grade 1 later that year in the Acorn at Belmont Park with Jersey Girl.
Pletcher on eight occasions has won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer [2004-07, 2010, 2013-14, 2022] and has trained 17 Eclipse Champions. The native of Dallas, Texas has won the Kentucky Derby twice and the Belmont Stakes four times. He has 16 Breeders’ Cup victories and has won outright or shared Saratoga’s H. Allen Jerkens training title 15 times.
Pletcher said quotes from the late multiple Grade 1-winning jockey Robby Albarado, who passed away at age 52 on Tuesday, resonated with him.
"I was reading something about Robby - maybe it was in one of his obituaries the other day, he was talking about how he was feeling when he got close to 5,000 and maybe got into a little bit of a slump and he started thinking about how important each win, in what might seem just a normal race, each win is so important to so many people. I knew what he was talking about when I was reading that,” Pletcher said.
Pletcher won his first Triple Crown race in 2007 when Rags to Riches became the first filly in 102 years to capture the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes. He added “Test of the Champion” victories in 2013 [Palace Malice], 2017 [Tapwrit], and 2022 [Mo Donegal] and also won the 2010 Kentucky Derby with Super Saver and the 2017 edition with Always Dreaming.
In addition to his 15 training titles, highlights at Saratoga for Pletcher include three wins in the DraftKings Travers [Flower Alley, 2005; Stay Thirsty, 2011; and Fierceness, 2024] and four wins in the Whitney [Left Bank, 2002; Lawyer Ron, 2007; Cross Traffic, 2013; Life is Good, 2022]. He has won the Woodward six times, with three of those wins [Lawyer Ron, 2007; Quality Road, 2010; and Liam’s Map, 2015] coming at Saratoga. Last year, he won his third Jockey Club Gold Cup and first at Saratoga with Antiquarian. He is a four-time winner of the Alabama [Princess of Sylmar, 2013; Stopchargingmaria, 2014; Malathaat, 2021; and Nest, 2022].
"I was hoping it would happen here,” Pletcher said. “Like I jokingly said - in 2026 - a couple of months ago. It's always special to win here."
Despite all the local success, the 6,000th win was elusive for nearly the entirety of the 14-race Whitney Day program, including a nose defeat with first-time starter Bold Leadership in Race 8.
"Maybe it might not be our day,” Pletcher said with a laugh about that result. “We felt like we had some live chances with a lot of babies and a very tough Whitney. I was hoping we could get one. It took all day to do it, but thankfully it happened."
Pletcher, like his late mentor Lukas, has seen many former employees go on to become successful trainers, including George Weaver, Jonathan Thomas, Michael McCarthy, Horacio De Paz, Whit Beckman and Amelia Green, and the Hall of Famer says that ranks near the top of his many accomplishments.
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