Plesa gets lucky where it counts

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. readily admits that 2015 was a bad year as far as he was concerned. He also called it the luckiest year of his life.

Those who know Plesa well understand exactly what he means.

Plesa has won just 37 races in 2015, his lowest yearly total since 1984. He also started fewer horses this season, 267, than he had in each of the past 30 years. Serious health issues kept Plesa from duplicating the kind of success he’s enjoyed on a regular basis since taking out his trainer’s license in the early 1980s.

“Last year was bad in a lot of ways,” said Plesa, 66. “The horses were somewhat of a disappointment, although we did have some bright spots along the way. But my health was a big part of it. They took my kidney out this summer, did a biopsy, and found out I had stage 3 cancer. The set of circumstances that led them to remove my kidney and finding the cancer are too long to go into, but I was very lucky they took the whole kidney out when they did. I just kept coming to a series of crossroads where I had to make a left or right turn, and fortunately, I kept making the right turn every time. By all rights, I should be standing here right now 20 pounds heavier, feeling great, I would imagine, and have cancer throughout my body and not know it. That’s what should have happened, and it didn’t. I feel like I had an angel on my shoulder directing me to do this and do that all along the way. I feel so very lucky at the moment. So, in that respect, it was really a great year.”

Plesa said he was pronounced cancer free earlier this month.

“I was at Cleveland Clinic 10 days ago,” Plesa said. “They told me I was cancer free, and that took a big load off for all of us.”

Plesa, who has won 2,252 races, with earnings of nearly $54 million, is now back concentrating on his stable full time and looking ahead to 2016 with horses like Full Salute, who runs Saturday in the Grade 3 Hutcheson for 3-year-olds, and the Grade 3 winner Mr. Jordan. Full Salute closed out his 2-year-old campaign with a come-from-behind victory in the seven-furlong Buffalo Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park West.

Plesa said he instructed jockey Edgard Zayas to take back on Full Salute in the Buffalo Man.

“In his previous start, the rider kind of rushed him off his feet, and I felt he didn’t respond well to that.” Plesa said. “So, I told Edgard to let him break, gather him up, and make a run at them, and that’s exactly what he did. I thought he ran big for two reasons: because he won and because he won on that surface. He had every right to get tired over there, and he didn’t.”

Plesa said he’s not sure yet how good Full Salute can be.

“He’s going to be a nice horse, whether on the top tier or second tier,” said Plesa. “We’ll see. That’s why we’re going in here – it’s the right race at the right time for him.”

Full Salute breezed an easy half-mile in 49.45 seconds at Palm Meadows on Monday.

Plesa is also looking forward to bringing Mr. Jordan back for his 4-year-old campaign. Mr. Jordan, a son of Kantharos, returned from a four-month hiatus following the Haskell to finish third behind Valid and Madefromlucky in the Harlan’s Holiday here Dec. 12.

“I was tickled to death with his race, and I’m even more tickled the way he came out of that race,” Plesa said. “He’s just a different horse in a lot of ways. He’s bigger, stronger, feeling great.”

Plesa intends to run Mr. Jordan on Jan. 9 in the Grade 3, one-mile Hal’s Hope.

◗ The Hutcheson lured 20 nominees and will share top billing on Saturday’s card with its filly counterpart, the Grade 3 Old Hat. Also on the card are the one-mile Mucho Macho Man, which also is for 3-year-olds; the Dania Beach for 3-year-olds on the turf; and the Ginger Brew for 3-year-old fillies on turf.

Todd Pletcher nominated Prospectus and Zulu to both the Hutcheson and the Mucho Macho Man but said he doesn’t intend to run either one.