Anchor Down in familiar spot in Vanderbilt

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher opted to sit out the Belmont Sprint Championship with Anchor Down after the Metropolitan Mile runner-up drew the rail. Now, Pletcher is faced with a similar dilemma after Anchor Down again pulled post 1 for Saturday’s Grade 1 Vanderbilt.

“I guess I’ll talk to the owners and let them make that decision again,” said Pletcher, who trains Anchor Down for Alto Racing LLC.

Anchor Down has been a beaten favorite against allowance company when breaking from the inside post twice over the past year.

“There aren’t a ton of options for him,” said Pletcher. “The Forego would be an option, but we could wait for that, and he could draw the 1 hole again. We’ll see. I really don’t know yet.”

If Anchor Down runs in the Vanderbilt, one of his main opponents will be Requite.

In a perfect world, trainer George Weaver would have sent Requite back to Gulfstream Park last month for the Smile Sprint, a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. But nothing has gone even close to perfect for Requite since he began his career so promisingly here during the summer of 2014.

Requite has made just six starts during his injury-plagued career. He’ll make his seventh here Saturday – and his first against Grade 1 company – in the Vanderbilt.

“We were definitely considering the race in Florida because it was a Win and You’re In and the Breeders’ Cup Sprint is our ultimate goal for him this year,” said Weaver. “But he missed a little time after coming down with a fever, so there was no way I could get a couple of works in him and make that race.”

So, Weaver immediately pointed Requite for the Vanderbilt, which is run at the same six-furlong distance as the BC Sprint.

“Although he ran real well going seven furlongs last year at Gulfstream, I think six furlongs is really right up his alley,” Weaver said.

Aside from Anchor Down and Requite, who’ll break from post 7 under Javier Castellano, the Vanderbilt field includes the Jorge Navarro-trained trio of Catalina Red, Delta Bluesman and Chublicious as well as A. P. Indian, Holy Boss, and All Star Red.

Saturday’s six-furlong Amsterdam, a Grade 3 dash for 3-year-olds, also drew a field of eight, including the Pletcher-trained duo of Ready Dancer (post 4) and Uncle Vinny (post 6), both of whom were also entered in Friday’s 1 1/8-mile Curlin. The rest of the field for the Amsterdam, from the rail out, is Counterforce, Maniacal, Quijote, Its All Relevant, King Kranz, and Mind Your Biscuits.