Super Saver gave trainer Todd Pletcher his first Kentucky Derby victory in May of 2010. Meanwhile, waiting back in the wings was the older Quality Road, whom Pletcher saddled later that month to win the prestigious Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. A decade later, both Super Saver and Quality Road are the sires of Eclipse Award champions – and Pletcher is expected to send out two sons of Quality Road in the Belmont Stakes, which kicks off the unconventional 2020 Triple Crown series on June 20. They are Dr Post and Farmington Road. They will face runners by two other former Pletcher trainees, white-hot Constitution and young classic sire Uncle Mo, as the trainer continues to turn out runners who later excel at stud. Dr Post has won both his starts this year, both for Pletcher, most recently the Unbridled Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Farmington Road was second in the Oaklawn Stakes in April and most recently was fourth in a division of the Arkansas Derby. “You can see similarities in both of them to their sire,” Pletcher said last weekend after both went through their final drills. “I would say that Dr Post looks more like Quality Road because he’s a bit of a bigger horse, but you can definitely see a similarity in both of them.” Quality Road’s stud fee climbed to $200,000 at Lane’s End Farm this year, placing him among the most expensive stallions in the country. He led the nation by individual Grade 1 winners in 2019 with Bellafina, City of Light, Dunbar Road, and Roadster; he finished fifth on the national earnings list. Quality Road was a two-time graded stakes winner for original trainer Jimmy Jerkens before moving to Pletcher’s barn to win five more graded stakes. Coming to the Belmont Stakes, Quality Road is on a roll as a sire. Dunbar Road made a successful return to the races by winning the Shawnee Stakes May 15 at Churchill Downs, while Gingham won the Angels Flight Stakes on June 13 at Santa Anita to become his seventh black-type stakes winner on the season. Quality Road sits 11th on the general sires list by North American earnings through June 14, trailing fellow former Pletcher trainees Munnings (Coolmore’s Ashford Stud) in third, Uncle Mo (Ashford) in fourth, and Speightstown (WinStar Farm) in sixth. Munnings and Uncle Mo are tied with Tapit for the most graded stakes winners in 2020, with five each. Dr Post and Farmington Road are looking to upset likely Belmont Stakes favorite Tiz the Law, who is coming off a win in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, in which be emulated sire Constitution, winner of the race in 2014. Tiz the Law is trained by Barclay Tagg. “He’s making Constitution proud,” Pletcher said. “Tiz the Law has been very impressive in all of his races, especially in the Florida Derby.” Multiple Grade 1 winner Constitution, who stands at WinStar, finished a close second to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah by earnings in a competitive 2019 freshman sire class. Constitution tied with Tapiture and American Pharoah for the most winners, and had the most black-type stakes winners. Constitution also is the sire of graded stakes winners Amalfi Sunrise, By Your Side, Independence Hall, and Laura’s Light from his first crop, as well as Grade 1-placed Gouverneur Morris, another Kentucky Derby hopeful, who also is trained by Pletcher. Four years before Constitution’s debut, another former Pletcher trainee was the leading freshman sire of 2015. Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and divisional Eclipse Award champion Uncle Mo established an earnings record in that category, thanks to Nyquist, who emulated him with a Breeders’ Cup victory and an Eclipse Award as champion juvenile. Uncle Mo then proved he could get a classic horse as Nyquist went on to win the 2016 Kentucky Derby. Uncle Mo has a pair of 3-year-olds under Belmont consideration, Modernist and Pneumatic. Nyquist is among the eight horses sired by former Pletcher trainees to earn Eclipse Award championships in the last five years alone, a list led by 2018 Triple Crown winner, Horse of the Year, and champion 3-year-old male Justify (by Scat Daddy). The octet also includes 2017 and 2018 champion male sprinter Roy H (More Than Ready), 2015 champion male sprinter Runhappy (Super Saver), 2017 champion 3-year-old filly Abel Tasman (Quality Road), 2017 champion 2-year-old filly Caledonia Road (Quality Road), 2018 champion 2-year-old filly Jaywalk (Cross Traffic), 2019 champion male sprinter Mitole (Eskendereya), and 2019 champion female turf horse Uni (More Than Ready). Prior to Uni’s victory in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Mile, Pletcher pointed out that More Than Ready had been shuttling to Australia his entire career. “As successful as he’s been here, he’s been even more successful in Australia,” he said. “It’s fun for us to see them reproduce themselves with successful racehorses. That’s what it’s all about. Not just to win the types of races that will take them to a stud barn but also to have them go on to become successful stallions. “For the owners, to see the colts developing as stallions is really the economic force that drives the bus. Or from a filly’s standpoint, it’s critical that you’re able to get black type and create some residual value. That’s where the potential home run is.” Pletcher, a seven-time Eclipse Award winner, said he’s proud of his graduates’ stud success, saying: “Part of our strategy is to buy horses as yearlings and 2-year-olds that can win the type of races that could ultimately get them to a stallion barn.” “There’s a range of successful horses and you can’t identify one specific type,” Pletcher continued. “One thing that we always try to emphasize is an attractive horse that’s well balanced and a good mover, hopefully with enough pedigree to support them that if they are successful on the racetrack they can move into a stallion barn. That’s what we’re looking for, and that doesn’t always mean the most expensive horse, but if they have those qualities of good conformation, good movers and good pedigree to support that and they’re really good on the racetrack, they’ll get that opportunity.”