Shut out since winning the 3,999th race of his career last Sunday, trainer Todd Pletcher earned victory 4,000 when 4-year-old firster Eagle Scout (Tapit) prevailed in Friday's fifth race at Gulfstream Park, a maiden-special over the track's one-turn mile.
Pletcher, 48, becomes just the 10th conditioner in the history of the sport to achieve the milestone, a list that features no fewer than five Hall of Fame trainers, including Pletcher's mentor D. Wayne Lukas. Pletcher spent parts of seven years under Lukas's tutelage before branching out on his own in late 1995.
“We've been blessed with a lot of great horses and a lot of great opportunities. There's a lot of people to be thankful to. It's fun,” Pletcher said. “I think the whole team enjoys these type of milestones. When you get to these larger numbers I think it makes you appreciative of every single one. Everyone is significant and every win is significant.”
Already the all-time North American leading money earner with better than $311 million, Pletcher has now won 767 races at Gulfstream Park, including his first career victory a month after taking out his license, and also registered his 3000th success at the Hallandale oval in 2012. He has won the training title at the Gulfstream championship meet a remarkable 12 consecutive years and has registered 134 stakes wins at the track, 94 of those at the graded level. Pletcher has sent out the winner of the GI Florida Derby on three occassions (Scat Daddy, 2007; Constitution, 2014; and Materiality, 2015).
“Gulfstream has been good to us over the years. For whatever reason, the style we train fits the style of this track,” he said. “Horses tend to get involved early and I think that's an effective style. We've been fortunate over the years to have consistent success here.”
The Eclipse Award-winning trainer on a record seven different occasions, Pletcher has thee Classic victories–one Kentucky Derby and two Belmonts–to his credit and nine Breeders' Cup titles.
The late Dale Baird leads all trainers with 9,445 career victories. Pletcher currently sits in 10th overall and eighth position behind other active trainers including Steve Asmussen (7,252), Jerry Hollendorfer (7,054), Jack Van Berg (6,468), King Leatherbury (6,465), Scott Lake (5,662), Lukas (4,748) and Bill Mott (4,616).
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