Pletcher back in familiar spot on top of standings

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The 2019-20 Championship meeting, which ended Sunday, was certainly a bizarre one in many ways. But one bit of normalcy that did return during the winter was seeing Todd Pletcher’s name back atop the trainer standings at the end of the session, a position he had held for 15 consecutive years until relinquishing the title to Jorge Navarro last season.

Pletcher closed the winter meet with 48 victories, seven more than runner-up Mike Maker. Five of Pletcher’s wins came in stakes, including Saturday’s Grade 3 Appleton with Social Paranoia.

“It’s fun and exciting for our team to be able to win another title,” Pletcher said Monday. “We had a good run, missed it last year, but it’s nice to get back on track again. I’m proud of the whole team. What’s also exciting is that many of the wins came with young horses, maidens and such, that we can continue to develop as the year goes forward.”

:: To stay up to date, follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

The most recent of those young horses Pletcher was referring to is the promising 3-year-old Dr. Post, who edged away to a 1 1/4-length decision over stablemate Nocturnal in a seven-furlong maiden special weight dash on Sunday, for which he received an eye-catching 96 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He was a horse we had high hopes for last summer, but he had a little setback after his debut,” Pletcher explained. “He’s a big, scopey son of Quality Road who I would anticipate would stretch out. I think he’s just getting under way going seven furlongs and that we’ll see even further improvement when he stretches out.”

Pletcher, winner of a record seven Eclipse Award titles as champion trainer and with 4,893 career victories to his credit, ran two horses on Saturday in search of a sixth Curlin Florida Derby win. He finished fourth with the lightly raced Gouverneur Morris and sixth with Fountain of Youth runner-up Candy Tycoon.

“I thought Gouverneur Morris ran a good race,” Pletcher said. “He encountered a little traffic on the first turn, got shuffled back, and lost position over a track it’s been difficult to close ground on, especially the last week, it seemed. For a lightly raced horse, he was still finding more at the end, so while I was hoping for a better outcome, I’m not disappointed in his performance or effort. As for Candy Tycoon, he got banged around on the first turn, got hung out pretty wide, and dropped far back, making for an impossible scenario to overcome.”

Social Paranoia saved the day here Saturday for Pletcher when he rallied from 12th and last to a 1 1/4-length victory in the one-mile Appleton in his first start since capturing the Dueling Grounds Derby at 1 5/16 miles last September at Kentucky Downs.

“That was a big effort first off the layoff,” Pletcher said of Social Paranoia’s Appleton win. “Down the backside I thought he’d dropped too far back, but he really put a big kick in to win. He’s always been a horse who has shown a lot of talent and this was his best effort to date.”

Like all his colleagues stabled locally, Pletcher expressed his gratitude that racing has been able to continue at Gulfstream Park during the coronavirus pandemic. Pletcher, who recently closed his New York operation, has a full contingent of more than 100 horses stabled at Palm Beach Downs and another 20 on the grounds at Gulfstream Park.

“It’s great they’ve been able to keep things going here,” Pletcher said. “It kind of gives some hope to those of us who are down here, although as far as making any real schedule plans at the moment for certain horses, that’s very difficult at the moment.”

◗ Pletcher wasn’t the only one celebrating a title on Sunday. Irad Ortiz Jr. won his second straight jockey championship after holding off a furious late surge from Luis Saez, 115-113. Ortiz stopped riding here March 19 in deference to the coronavirus epidemic. Among Ortiz’s 11 stakes wins during the session was a victory astride Mucho Gusto in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup.

Ken and Sarah Ramsey captured their seventh Championship meet owner’s title with 16 winners, six more than Imaginary Stable, Arindel, and Drawing Away Stable, who dead-heated for second place.