Pletcher sends two talented colts in quest for Florida Derby No. 6

Trainer Todd Pletcher ran his first horse in the Florida Derby in 2001 and since then has missed only one running of Gulfstream Park’s marquee race for 3-year-olds. More significantly, Pletcher has won a record five Florida Derbies, including four of the last six.

Saturday, Pletcher will be back for another go at the Florida Derby when he sends out Gouverneur Morris and Candy Tycoon in the last of 14 races on a blockbuster card.

Pletcher’s most significant victory in the Florida Derby came in 2017 with Always Dreaming, who came back five weeks later to win the Kentucky Derby, Pletcher’s second victory in that race. This year, owing to the coronavirus pandemic that has turned the world upside down, the Kentucky Derby won’t be run in five weeks, but rather in five months on Sept. 5.

The Florida Derby was going to be the only opportunity for Gouverneur Morris to earn enough qualifying points to make the Kentucky Derby under the system Churchill Derby uses to determine the field in the event more than 20 horses enter the race.

Pletcher, along with Team Valor International and WinStar Farm, the owners of Gouverneur Morris, were considering the Florida Derby, the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, and Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. When it became obvious that the Florida Derby was the only race of the three that would definitely be run, the choice was basically made for them.

“With everything going on, if he trained accordingly, now is the time to run,” Pletcher said. “He put in a very good breeze on Saturday, so we felt like it’s better to take the opportunity that’s right in front of us with the all the uncertainty that’s going on.”

Gouverneur Morris, a son of Pletcher’s 2014 Florida Derby winner Constitution, won his debut going 5 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga on Sept. 2, closing day of the meet. Much like he did in 2014 with Carpe Diem, Pletcher stretched Gouverneur Morris out to 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland for his second start. Unlike Carpe Diem, who won the Breeders’ Futurity, Gouverneur Morris finished second to Maxfield.

While Maxfield was a 5 1/2-length winner, Pletcher felt the Gouverneur Morris could have been more of a factor with a better trip under Javier Castellano.

“Javier down the backside thought he was coming off the bridle a little bit and he asked him to move a little sooner than he normally would have,” Pletcher said. “If Javier had the opportunity to know him a little better, I think he would have ridden him a little more patiently. He made a pretty strong move on the turn and flattened out.

“What I liked about it was when it looked like he was beaten, [Enforceable] engaged him late and he fought hard for second. I thought that was impressive in only his second start.”

With his connections opting to skip the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita last fall, Gouverneur Morris did not debut at 3 until Feb. 14 at Tampa Bay Downs where he won a first-level allowance going two turns by 1 1/4 lengths.

On the far turn of that race, John Velazquez had to slap Gouverneur Morris on the shoulder a time or two to keep his stalking position. Ultimately, Gouverneur Morris reeled in Untitled and was drawing away at the finish.

Pletcher said the dynamics of that race changed when his other horse in the race, Dudley Square, stumbled and lost his rider at the break, leaving Untitled as the lone speed.

“Johnny realized if he let Untitled walk the dog and get away, it was going to be a tall task to run him down,” Pletcher said. “He had to use him a little differently than he would have had there been an honest pace.”

Pletcher feels that having a harder race than perhaps the conditions would have suggested may prove beneficial “than having a walkover situation.”

“He had to earn it,” Pletcher said.

“Hopefully, that provides him with some foundation, along with a solid work tab.”

Candy Tycoon has plenty of foundation, having run six times, including a third-place finish at 4-5 in a nine-horse field last Aug. 17 at Saratoga in his debut. That he has only one win is somewhat surprising to Pletcher.

“He’s been a little bit of a frustration for us, to be honest,” Pletcher said. “He touted himself pretty strongly before his debut. . . . Based on the way he had been breezing we were expecting to be a maiden winner far sooner than it turned out.”

Candy Tycoon, a son of Twirling Candy owned by Bill and Terry Mathis, got his maiden win going 1 1/16 miles on Jan. 25 at Gulfstream. He won that race in front-running fashion. Pletcher was planning to run Candy Tycoon in a two-turn allowance on Fountain of Youth Day last month at Gulfstream, but the race didn’t fill. Plan B became the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, where Candy Tycoon dropped back to eighth early and showed courage to win a four-way battle for second, albeit 8 1/2 lengths behind Ete Indien.

“He got shuffled back on the first turn,” Pletcher said. “I think maybe it turned to be a good thing. We learned that maybe that’s the style he would appreciate moving forward. This race looks to have a solid pace setup. We’ll probably look to employ similar tactics, assuming the race does indeed shape up like that and post position says it’s okay to do it.”

Regardless of what happens Saturday, Pletcher and his colleagues won’t be immediately plotting a path to the Kentucky Derby. With the exception of the May 2 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, there is really no next race to point these 3-year-olds to following this weekend.

“We’re not looking beyond the next possible race on Saturday,” Pletcher said. “The main concern is for the health of all the participants and your employees and your family and the rest of the world. There are much larger things going on than horse racing. This is what we do, so we’re going to try and execute our game plan the best we can. It’s certainly not a time to be thinking what you’re going to be doing a month from now or two months from now.”