Dead-heat for first a rare first for Pletcher

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Todd Pletcher had pretty much done it all in his Hall of Fame training career – until Thursday at Keeneland.

Pletcher was grinning ear to ear after two of his 2-year-old fillies, Pure Pauline and Grand Entrance, dead-heated for win in the ninth race to end one of the most delightfully bizarre days in track history.

“I’d had a dead-heat for second before,” said Pletcher, in town from his New York base for much of the run-up to the Nov. 4-5 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland. “But this is a first.”

Indeed, it took Pletcher nearly 24,000 starters to finally have his picture taken in a winner’s circle along with two of his horses. Pure Pauline, a Stonestreet Stables homebred ridden by John Velazquez, had rallied up the rail for a slim lead in the final yards of the 1 1/16-mile maiden race, only to be caught precisely on the wire by Grand Entrance, ridden by Luis Saez for Eclipse Thoroughbreds, Gary Barber, and Steven Rocco.

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Adding to the extraordinary feat is the fact that not only were Pure Pauline and Grand Entrance both bred by Stonestreet, but they are closely related on their dams’ side. Pure Pauline was produced by Keen Pauline, a daughter of Grand Pauline, the dam of Grand Entrance.

For Pletcher, the result epitomized just how good he’s going these days. A slam-dunk first-ballot inductee to the Hall of Fame in 2021, the 55-year-old Dallas native already had won three of the six Grade 1 races at this 17-day meet with Forte (Breeders’ Futurity), Annapolis (Coolmore Turf Mile), and Malathaat (Spinster). All of them figure as major contenders in the upcoming Breeders’ Cup, along with a number of others, including Nest, Life Is Good, Chocolate Gelato, and more.

In addition, the two wins – yes, an owner or trainer gets double-credit in these rare cases – gave him a four-win margin atop the local trainer standings as he seeks what would be a sixth Keeneland training title, a statistic that, in a wider context, is a tiny footnote to what he has accomplished, collecting 5,430 wins (through Thursday) as the all-time leading earnings leader in North America, with more than $445 million.

The Pletcher dead-heat came in the nightcap of a madcap afternoon.

Two races before, some of the largest mutuel payoffs in the 86-year-old history of Keeneland resulted in the day’s seventh race when Fancy Martini, ridden by James Graham for Joe Sharp, prevailed at 54-1 in a 12-horse field. The Klimt filly was followed home in the two-turn turf allowance by Barista (37-1) and Smarmy (48-1), making for a track-record superfecta payoff of $72,863.72 for 10 cents. The only winning ticket from a wagering pool of $93,651 was purchased through NYRA Bets for just $18, according to a track release.

Sandwiched between those two astounding races, Trademark crushed an outstanding field of 3-year-olds in the eighth race, a 1 1/8-mile allowance, winning off by 3 3/4 lengths at 23-1 – but only after drawing in from the also-eligibles list, of course. The breakthrough effort graded out to a 93 Beyer Speed Figure and ended what had been a very disappointing 2022 for an Upstart gelding who had won his last two starts as a 2-year-old. Trademark had finished no better than fourth in his seven previous starts this year, all of them stakes. He was seventh in the Aug. 26 Hilton Memorial at Charles Town prior to his Thursday score.

Trademark was ridden by Martin Garcia for BBN Racing and trainer Vicki Oliver in the $118,405 race. Actuator, the Indiana Derby winner, was second, while Creative Minister, the 9-5 favorite, was sixth.

“This is what he’d been showing us in the mornings all along,” said Oliver. “Why he hadn’t run like this in the afternoons this year, I don’t know. Maybe running out of his own barn – we’ve shipped him all over the place – and everything going right with his trip were the reasons he finally put it together like he did.”

Oliver said another allowance restricted to 3-year-olds next month at Churchill Downs could be a possible next start for Trademark.

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