Vino Rosso tops Breeders' Cup quintet for Pletcher

ELMONT, N.Y. – Todd Pletcher figures to have five horses for this year’s Breeders Cup, topped by Jockey Club Gold Cup first-place finisher Vino Rosso, who is targeting the $6 million Classic.

Vino Rosso finished a nose in front of Code of Honor in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, but was disqualified to second for bumping him in the final furlong.

Other BC horses for Pletcher are Sweet Melania (Juvenile Fillies Turf), Freewheeler (Juvenile Turf Sprint), Coal Front (Dirt Mile), and Channel Cat (Turf).

Sweet Melania punched her ticket to the Juvenile Fillies Turf with a dominant 5 1/2-length victory in Wednesday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland.

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“I thought it was a very impressive performance. She seemed to handle the course there well, seemed like she was always traveling strongly. Straightening away for home she found another gear,” Pletcher said Thursday. “Happy to see it.”

Noting the short 23-day turnaround to the Breeders’ Cup, Pletcher said Sweet Melania would remain in Kentucky and do her training at Keeneland before shipping to California the the week of the event.

In addition to having five Breeders’ Cup runners, Pletcher also intends to send Marconi and You’re To Blame to Santa Anita for the Grade 2, $200,000 Marathon Stakes on Nov. 1.