Poker victory gives Pletcher earnings record

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Todd Pletcher parlayed three of a kind into a record-setting afternoon Monday, capped by Jack Milton’s 2 3/4-length victory in the Grade 3, $300,000 Poker Stakes at Belmont Park.

Pletcher won all three stakes on Monday’s Memorial Day program at Belmont, and the money his horses earned at Belmont and Monmouth Park carried him past his former boss D. Wayne Lukas to the top spot on the all-time earnings list for North American-based Thoroughbred trainers. The statistics do not take into account Lukas’s earnings in the Quarter Horse game.

Pletcher, who won the Pennine Ridge with Gala Award and the Jersey Girl with Red Velvet, has amassed $268,512,294 in purse earnings. Lukas, who ran third with his lone starter Monday at Churchill Downs, has $268,467,262.

Pletcher, 46, has won 3,532 races from 15,482 starters. Lukas, 78, has won 4,724 races from 27,936 starters.

“Like I’ve said before, the only reason we’re going to pass Wayne is because of inflation,” Pletcher said. “His accomplishments dwarf anyone else’s in the business. All that being said, it’s a significant milestone for us, proud of it, and hopefully we can continue on.”

In the process, Pletcher may have found himself a burgeoning turf miler in Jack Milton, who suffered narrow third-place finishes last year in the Penn Mile, Virginia Derby, Secretariat, and Jamaica.

Jack Milton began the year with a three-length allowance win going a mile on May 1 at Churchill, so Pletcher opted to keep him at the distance for the Poker.

Under Javier Castellano, Jack Milton trailed the field while Peace and Justice opened up a 4 1/2-length lead by running a half-mile in 45.45 seconds. Castellano had to guide Jack Milton five wide approaching the stretch, but he finished full of run to win.

Big Screen finished second, two lengths ahead of Za Approval, the 4-5 favorite. Plainview, Sinatra, and Peace and Justice completed the order of finish.
Jack Milton, a 4-year-old son of War Front owned by Gary Barber, covered the mile in 1:33.09 over firm ground and returned $7.70 to win.

“Settled really well," Pletcher said of Jack Milton. "We anticipated there’d be good pace up front. He actually settled, I felt, almost too much for a moment, but obviously it allowed him to deliver a big kick. I think he’s a horse with enough quality, he’ll probably do a lot of things. You might argue a mile is his best distance.”

For the third straight race, Za Approval didn’t perform up to par, finishing third.

“He was maybe a touch aggressive compared to the first two, but the winner was the best horse,” said Christophe Clement, trainer of Za Approval.