Pletcher has the goods in Kitten's Joy, Sweetest Chant

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Todd Pletcher has accomplished far more in his storybook 25-year training career with dirt horses, but that’s not to say he can’t win a big race on the turf. In fact, Pletcher sent out the 1-2-4 finishers last Saturday in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park, adding to major successes through the years with grass specialists such as English Channel, Honey Ryder, Pluck, Wait a While, Halladay, and many more.

The subject arises because of how Pletcher stands to fare in the two Grade 3 turf stakes Saturday on the Holy Bull undercard at Gulfstream. He’ll send out Never Surprised in the $100,0000 Kitten’s Joy and Cona Lima in the $100,000 Sweetest Chant, and nobody would be taken aback if Pletcher sweeps them both.

Here’s a look at each of those supporting one-mile features for 3-year-olds, both of which will be run around two turns over a course that surely will be firm.

Kitten’s Joy (race 4)

Never Surprised, with Irad Ortiz Jr. riding from post 6, will look to stay unbeaten in three career starts, lining up alongside the other favorite in a field of seven colts, Kentucky Pharoah (post 7, Julien Leparoux), who’ll be looking to run his record to 3 for 3 over the Gulfstream turf for trainer Jack Sisterson.

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Never Surprised won both prior starts during a three-week sequence in November over the Aqueduct turf, ending with the ungraded Central Park. The Constitution colt was never headed in that 1 1/16-mile race.

“He went wire to wire over good ground, so I don’t know if that means we’ll be going head-to-head with him or not,” said Sisterson, who trains the similarly speedy Kentucky Pharoah, an American Pharoah colt bred and owned by the Calumet Farm of Brad Kelley.

“You’d hope not. The good thing about our colt is he doesn’t have to have the lead, despite what his form might suggest. He can sit in behind and quicken when it’s time. He’s just a very talented colt with a high cruising speed.”

Clearly the early stages of this race could go a long way in determining the outcome. If the two outside runners cancel each other out, so to speak, then the table could be set for the likes of the New York-bred It’s a Gamble, in post 2 with Luis Saez, or Original, leaving from post 3 with John Velazquez, both of whom have flashed some ability over grass.

This is the eighth running of the Kitten’s Joy, named for the 2004 turf champion who has become a prolific sire. The race goes at 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

Sweetest Chant (race 10)

Con Lima was the 2-1 second choice leading throughout under Paco Lopez here four Saturdays ago in the ungraded Ginger Brew, which was run under nearly identical conditions to how the Sweetest Chant appears to shape up. Lopez will be back aboard breaking from post 4 in a field of eight fillies.

A mere $15,000 weanling buy in whom a majority interest was purchased by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners following her second start, Con Lima is a Texas-bred with three wins and three seconds from six career races. She’s a confirmed front-runner who will once again be trying to take command after dealing with Lionessofbrittany (post 7, Edgard Zayas), who’s stretching out from five-furlong races.

Looking to turn the tables on Con Lima is Honey Pants, in post 2 with Irad Ortiz Jr., who was the 3-2 favorite while giving futile chase and finishing 3 1/4 lengths behind Con Lima as the Ginger Brew runner-up. Honey Pants is trained by Christophe Clement, whose lofty reputation with two-turn turf runners speaks for itself. The Ginger Brew was the first route attempt by Honey Pants, who rallied steadily to take the place spot in an overall solid effort.

Fringe players in this 23rd running of the Sweetest Chant include Director’s Cut and a trio of last-out maiden winners – Candace O, White Frost, and Domain Expertise.

Domain Expertise is trained by Chad Brown, who won the Sweetest Chant a remarkable six years in a row, from 2012-17.

The Sweetest Chant is named for the 1978 foal who won seven stakes, most notably the 1983 Orchid at Gulfstream, for Russell Reineman and Joe Bollero. It goes at 4:18 p.m. Eastern as a key link in the end-of-card multi-race wagers, directly preceding the Holy Bull, which is race 11.