Todd Pletcher

Favored at 12-5 in the Travers Day dirt maiden that more times than not produces horses to watch down the road, Jim Bakke's Tip Top Thomas (c, 2, Volatile--Attempt To Name, by Consolidator) narrowly outlasted a couple of well-meant rivals to become the first 'TDN Rising Star' and eighth winner overall for his freshman sire (by Violence). A $160,000 purchase out of last year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Sale, the Apr. 17 foal was coming into this debut off a pair of bullet half-mile breezes in which he outworked no fewer...

When 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) enters the gate for Saturday's $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes at Saratoga, it'll be more than a sporting gesture on the part of the ownership group and trainer Ken McPeek. The conditioner is rolling the dice against a field that includes three other Grade I winners--an oft-brilliant, but sometimes unpredictable reigning Eclipse Award champion, a Classic winner over the course and distance and a seven-figure yearling whose full potential has yet to be realized. Sure, Thorpedo Anna could have faced her peers in...

6th-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 3:05 p.m. ET. Repole Stable and Spendthrift went in to purchase for $725,000 CHANTICLEER (Not This Time) during Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga Yearling Sale before sending him to Todd Pletcher. The chestnut is out of Speightstastic (Speightstown), whose own dam MSW Cherokee Jewel (Cherokee Run) foaled her older full-sister MSW Bayerd. TJCIS PPS 9th-ELP, $71K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1m, 4:48 p.m. ET. Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Equine acquired Greer Lynn (Speightstown) for $750,000 during Keeneland November while Greer's Gold (Medaglia d'Oro) was in-utero. Set for his unveiling...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Brad Cox said he was listening to a radio show a few days ago and his ears perked up when the chat got to the upcoming GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Del Mar in November. "They were talking about Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) and Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) being a good matchup, and I was like, 'wow, she is completely forgotten," trainer Brad Cox said outside his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track Thursday morning. 'She' is Idiomatic (Curlin), and if anyone has put her...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Soon after the running of the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on July 19, Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey had seen enough. Corporate Power (Curlin), who finished second that day, earned his trip to the big leagues. He will be in the starting gate when the $1.25 million, Grade I Travers Stakes is run for the 155th time. McGaughey knows a thing or two about getting a horse ready for the Midsummer Derby. He has won the race four times, the most recent being...

Byron López was 18 years old when he moved from Guatemala and began working for a talented new trainer named Todd Pletcher. He started out as a hot walker and soon moved up to becoming a groom. Twenty-four years later, he now cares for some of the best of the best among Pletcher's elite stable. López shared his story in Spanish, but the deep devotion he has for his equine charges surpassed any language barriers. "I am motivated by the horses," he said. "They are so affectionate and I get...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- Once the $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes is history, 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) will head back to running against fillies. Trainer Kenny McPeek said he has no plans on running his talented miss against the colts after the centerpiece of the summer meeting at the Spa. "No, no, no," McPeek said outside of his barn at annex off the Oklahoma Training Track Thursday morning. "A 3-year-old filly against the colts in the Breeders' Cup Classic? Unless it fell apart." The plan moving forward for...

Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo--Lady Tapit, by Tapit), who had earned a berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Classic after his win in the GI Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill, exited a recent workout with an injury and has been retired from racing, according to a Wednesday press release from the farm. The 4-year-old son of Uncle Mo will ship from Saratoga to Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, where he will begin his stud career in 2025. The farm has not, as of yet, named a fee. "We got to see Kingsbarns's most...

GI Blue Grass Stakes winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) returned to the work tab Sunday morning for trainer Chad Brown ahead of an expected next start in the GI DraftKings Travers Stakes Aug. 24. The $2.3m FTSAUG grad, last seen second to another 'Rising Star' and champion in Fierceness (City of Light) in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes July 27, covered a solo half mile in :49 flat over the Oklahoma training track. "He worked super," said Brown. "He's come out of his last race well...

'TDN Rising Star' Showcase (c, 2, Uncle Mo--Buy Sell Hold, by Violence), a runaway debut winner going 5 1/2 furlongs downstate at the Big A July 6, muscled his way out for racing room in the stretch and stayed perfect in style going an additional furlong in Saturday's GII Saratoga Special Stakes. The 3-1 chance traveled nicely in an inside fifth through an opening quarter in :21.85. All dressed up with nowhere to go at the top of the lane, Irad Ortiz, Jr. finally found a narrow seam and shifted...

1st-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 12:35 p.m. ET. Debuting upstate is 2-year-old NANTZ (Tapit)--a $600,000 purchase during last year's Keeneland September Sale. Owned by partners Repole Stable, Spendthrift Farm, Big Easy Racing, Titletown Racing, Rick Kanter, Golconda Stable, Ali Goodrich and Mark Parkinson, the Todd Pletcher trainee is the first foal for MSW Divine Queen (Divine Park). She's out of SW Town Queen (Williamstown), who also produced SW Queen's Award (Medaglia d'Oro) and the dam of MGSW The Player (Street Hero). Also set for his unveiling is Aviator Gui (Uncle...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- It was quiet trackside at Saratoga Race Course Friday morning. Everyone had a day off after the New York Racing Association canceled Friday's card after Thursday's was run. The reason was the havoc expected to blow through the area thanks to the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby. The heavy stuff was predicted to come later in the afternoon. Horses, however, did not get the memo. They still went to work. As did the trainers and exercise riders and grooms and hotwalkers. "No days off," Hall of...