Two days before he is to send out, in
rapid-fire succession, three morning-line favorites in three straight Grade 1’s
– Hilda’s Passion in the Ballerina, Uncle Mo in the Foxwoods
King’s Bishop and Stay Thirsty in the $1 million Travers – trainer Todd
Pletcher stood outside his office at Saratoga Race Course and reflected on the
upcoming day.
“It will,” he said, “be one of
the more interesting days.”
Interesting, definitely, but not
the most labor-intensive afternoon of Pletcher’s career. In 2006, for instance,
he saddled 17 horses in the Breeders’ Cup, and in 2007 he sent out five starters
in the Kentucky Derby. Travers Day, however, will be one of the more unusual,
considering the high-profile status of Uncle
Mo and Stay Thirsty’s outspoken owner, Mike
Repole, and the highly anticipated return to racing of
Uncle
Mo , who was the early favorite for the
Kentucky Derby only to be scratched with what was later diagnosed as a liver
disorder.
“It’s pretty rare that you’re
going to have two 3-year-olds running in races where potentially the $1 million,
Grade 1 focal race of the entire meet in some ways is going to be less popular
than the one right before it,” said Pletcher. “
Uncle Mo has
had a lot of buildup since he came back to us on July 11. When we first started
with him, a lot of people didn’t think it was going to happen. But we’ve gotten
to this point exactly like we hoped we could have.”
Six timed workouts later (two of
them bullets) and Uncle
Mo is ready to return to action for
the first time since his third-place finish in the Grade 1 Resorts World New
York Casino Wood Memorial, which was the first loss of his career. The buildup
to his return has been intense, with videographers, photographers and reporters
attending each of his workouts.
“We’ve had enough experience on
Kentucky Derby days or in the Breeders’ Cup, where it’s not intimidating,” he
said. “You have to prepare yourself for all the potential results. Hopefully
we’re prepared so that we can enjoy it.”
As for Repole, who scored his
first Grade 1 victory last October when Uncle
Mo won the
Champagne , Pletcher said the experience of having
Uncle
Mo , last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner
and 2010’s champion Two-Year-Old Male, knocked off the Triple Crown trail was a
learning experience for the owner.
“This spring, he’s gotten a good
taste of the ups and downs of horse racing,” he said. “It showed him how tough
it can be.”
As if to underscore that,
Pletcher confirmed that Repole’s star 2-year-old, Grade 2 Sanford winner
Overdriven, would not make the Grade 1 Three Chimneys Hopeful on
September 5.
“We’re still waiting on
X-ray results to be read by Dr. [Larry] Bramlage, but right now the only thing
we know for sure is that he’s not going to run in the Hopeful,” said Pletcher.
The trainer added that Hour
Glass, 12-1 on the morning line for the Ballerina, likely will not run
against her stablemate in the seven-furlong race.
“If there are some defections,
that could change,” he said. “But we’re probably not going to run.”