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Pletcher: Known Agenda Has ‘Good Energy’ Morning After Florida Derby Victory

St. Elias Stable homebred Known Agenda, showing “good energy” Sunday morning, will remain in South Florida for the time being before heading out for his next step along the Triple Crown trail.

Known Agenda earned his spot in the May 1 Kentucky Derby (G1) with a sharp 2 ¾-length triumph in Saturday's $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa, Gulfstream Park's signature race that has produced a remarkable 60 Triple Crown race winners in its history.

Pletcher, who extended his own record with a sixth Florida Derby victory, five of them coming in the last eight years, was pleased with how Known Agenda emerged from his first career stakes victory.

“Excellent. He came back in great shape, good energy. I'm very happy with him,” Pletcher said. “He'll stay here for a little while. We'll just kind of monitor the weather everywhere and play it by ear whether he has one work at Churchill [Downs] or two works.”

Known Agenda, by two-time Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Curlin, was the beneficiary of a perfect ride from Irad Ortiz Jr. They were able to settle in along the rail and save ground before tipping out approaching the stretch, catch leader Soup and Sandwich and draw clear on the main track at the Hallandale Beach, Fla., oval.

“He's made a lot of progress in his last two starts. I think the addition of blinkers has been part of it, and part of it is he's getting more experienced and more comfortable in those scenarios when he's behind horses and inside of horses and taking some dirt,” Pletcher said.

“I've been pleased with the way he's been able to get a better position in the race and improve his position going along. We've always had a strong feeling that added distance was going to be to his liking,” he added. “To have three wins at a mile and an eighth now is great, and we feel great about him stretching out even further.”

Also pointing to the Kentucky out of the Florida Derby are runner-up Soup and Sandwich and Greatest Honour, the Holy Bull (G3) and Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) winner trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey who finished third as the 4-5 favorite. Nova Rags and Collaborate, respectively fourth and fifth, will be pointed in other directions.

The Florida Derby put an exclamation point on a winter where Pletcher won his 17th Championship Meet training title – another track record – and second in a row after having his unprecedented 15-year run atop the standings ended in 2018-19.

Pletcher won 12 stakes, seven graded, including two of the three Grade 1 races on the winter calendar, the other coming with Colonel Liam in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. He was also tops with more than $3.5 million in purse earnings.

Among other stakes wins for Pletcher were Largent in the Fort Lauderdale (G2), Fearless in the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2), Always Shopping in the La Prevoyante (G3), Zaajel in the Forward Gal (G3), Con Lima in the Herecomesthebride (G3) and multiple Grade 1 winner Basin in Saturday's Sir Shackleton.

“We've been blessed. A lot of people put a lot of hours and effort into it and we've got a great group of owners and horses and staff making it happen,” Pletcher said. “Gulfstream has been a fun place for us and it's always great when you're able to win a meet but even more special when you're able to win races like the Florida Derby and Pegasus Turf. It's been a great meet.”

Approaching 5,100 career wins, the 53-year-old Pletcher has reached many of his career milestones at Gulfstream. They include his first career start (Jan. 13, 1996) and win (Jan. 26. 1996); 3,000th (Feb. 11, 2002) and 4,000th (March 18, 2016) career victories; and a record six Florida Derby (G1) triumphs.

Holder of a record seven Eclipse Awards as champion trainer and North America's career leader with more than $402 million in purse earnings, Pletcher is a first-time finalist for induction into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame this summer. Among his biggest victories are two in the Kentucky Derby, including 2017 Florida Derby winner Always Dreaming, three in the Belmont Stakes (G1) and 11 in the Breeders' Cup.

“It's a special honor to be nominated. We'll wait and see if we're voted in, but it sort of gives you pause to reflect a little bit. It's hard to believe it's been 25 years so quickly,” Pletcher said. “We've been very fortunate to get a lot of great opportunities and a lot of support from owners and staff, so many people contribute to something like that. It's certainly not an individual achievement as much as it is a team achievement. I'm very grateful to everyone that's contributed.”

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St. Elias Homebred Known Agenda Gives Pletcher His Sixth Florida Derby

St. Elias Stable's Known Agenda received a perfect trip from Irad Ortiz Jr. to win Saturday's $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa, providing the defending three-time Eclipse Award-winning rider with his record-breaking 138^th victory of the 2020-2021 Championship Meet at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Known Agenda ($12.80) also provided his trainer Todd Pletcher with his record sixth success in the Florida Derby while also earning a stall in the starting gate in this year's Kentucky Derby.

“It has so many great meanings but for me what is so special about this is to win it for St. Elias with a horse that they bred,” Pletcher said. “I know how much that means to them, that makes it a little more extra special for us.”

St. Elias is operated by Vincent and Teresa Viola.

The 70^th running of the Curlin Florida Derby headlined a 14-race program with 10 stakes, six graded. The tradition-rich 1 1/8-mile event for 3-year-olds, which has produced the winners of 60 Triple Crown races, offered 170 qualifying points for the May 1 Kentucky Derby (G1) on a 100-40-20-10 basis.

Courtlandt Farms' Greatest Honour, the 4-5 favorite who had won the Jan. 30 Holy Bull (G3) and Feb. 27 Fountain of Youth (G2), finished third and Nova Rags fourth.

Updated Kentucky Derby leaderboard

Known Agenda, who had captured a 1 1/8-mile optional claiming allowance by 11 lengths Feb. 26 at Gulfstream, settled in fifth while saving ground as Nova Rags set the pace, pressed by Soup and Sandwich, around the first turn and along the backstretch, producing fractions of 23.43 and 47.73 seconds for the first half mile. Nova Rags and Soup and Sandwich continued to lead the 11-horse field into the homestretch turn, where Ortiz found room to slip Known Agenda off the rail and made a three-wide move around Nova Rags and Soup and Sandwich. The son of Curlin kicked in powerfully through the stretch to score by 2 ¾ lengths.

“I was really pleased with the progress he was making up the backside because one of the things we were a little bit worried about was if he got stuck inside, he didn't seem to handle that in the Remsen [last fall] very well. A lot of horses are more confident when they're outside in the clear,” Pletcher said. “When he was making progress up the backside and picking off horses while he was inside and behind horses, I had a pretty good feeling at that point that he was running his race today and that it was a matter of – we're going to find out how good he is.”

Known Agenda received a ground-saving trip because Ortiz had no other viable options.

The Florida Derby winner is led into the winner's circle

“The instructions were to try and stay as close as I can without going too crazy and start working my way out and put the horse in the clear outside. I saw a couple horses outside of me and I had to take a hold to go around and I said it was too much, so I just followed the flow of the race,” said Ortiz after surpassing Luis Saez's old record of 137 set during the 2017-2018 Championship Meet. “I had to go to the rail, and it worked out great. When I took him out he started rolling.”

Soup and Sandwich, ridden by John Velazquez, raced greenly through the stretch but held on to finish second, three lengths ahead of Greatest Honour. Nova Rags faded to fourth. Collaborate, who stalked the early pace into the far turn, finished fifth. Bob Baffert-trained Spielberg was bumped at the start and was never a factor while finishing seventh.

Known Agenda ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.45 in his third start of the year to capture his first stakes. The homebred colt had finished fifth in the Feb. 6 Sam F. Davis (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs before winning impressively in his Feb. 26 romp while equipped with blinkers for the first time.

“We were looking for a couple of things in that last race. One, to see if blinkers made an improvement in his being a little more tactical and secondly, we wanted to see how he handled the Gulfstream surface. I thought we got very good answers to both of those questions,” Pletcher said. “The only thing was we were taking a fairly significant step back in class. It wasn't an overwhelming field, but the way he did it, to win by 11 anytime in a race like that, and [jockey] Irad [Ortiz Jr.] kind of wrapped up on him the last part, I thought it was not only an impressive race but a step in the right direction. It showed us that the blinkers helped and that he handled Gulfstream.”

Known Agenda's Florida Derby score was not the first time the Pletcher trainee was able to defeat Greatest Honour. He beat the McGaughey trainee by a head while graduating in a 1 1/8-mile maiden race at Aqueduct Nov. 8.

Greatest Honour, who raced inside of horses along the backstretch, found running room entering the stretch but was unable to make a serious challenge while closing to third under Jose Ortiz.

“I thought we were OK on the turn there and he just didn't kick on the way I thought he would,” Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey said. “I thought he ran fine. I think the winner ran a huge race.”

McGaughey said that Greatest Honour will be pointed toward a start in the Kentucky Derby, for which he has 80 qualifying points.

“As of right now, yeah. We just have to see how he is,” he said. “He belongs, as long as he's OK.”

Greatest Honour's jockey was far from discouraged by his mount's first defeat in four starts at Gulfstream.

“He broke a little slow like he always does. I tried to be aggressive but I wasn't fast enough to make it into a nice position, so I had to take him back and drop in. Actually, I had Known Agenda in front of me and I followed him the whole way,” Ortiz said. “At the three-eighths pole I kept following him. I felt like I was in contention at the quarter-pole, but the winner ran a nice race. He was the best horse today, but we'll turn the tables on them on Derby day, that's for sure.”

Trainer Mark Casse said Soup and Sandwich, who earned 40 qualifying points in his stakes debut, would be pointed toward the Kentucky Derby with the hopes that the son of Tapit has earned sufficient points to get into the field.

“I was very pleased, especially if he ever learns what he's doing. [Jockey] Johnny [Velazquez] said he had to fight with him a little. He stayed on his left lead all the way down the stretch. He's like that in the morning, too,” Casse said. “The thing that will help him is it was a little difficult to ship him down from Palm Meadows. It got him a little worked up. He'll run a lot better out of his stall at Churchill Downs.”

Pletcher had previously visited the Florida Derby winner's circle with Scat Daddy (2007), Constitution (2013), Materiality (2014), Always Dreaming (2017) and Audible (2018).

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Curlin Colt Provides Pletcher with Sixth Florida Derby

St Elias Stable homebred Known Agenda (Curlin) upped trainer Todd Pletcher's record of GI Curlin Florida Derby wins to six while taking the race sponsored by his leading sire in impressive fashion Saturday.

“It has so many great meanings, but for me what is so special about this is to win it for St Elias with a horse that they bred,” Pletcher said. “I know how much that means to them, that makes it a little more extra special for us.”

The 5-1 shot saved all the ground early in a midpack fifth through fractions of :23.43 and :47.73. With Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard, he traveled kindly in some traffic approaching the three-furlong marker, tipped out for clear sailing at the top of the lane and kicked away once switching over despite some drifting in the stretch to score by an expanding 2 3/4 lengths over longshot Soup and Sandwich (Into Mischief).

The streaking odds-on Greatest Honour (Tapit) favorite, winner of the GIII Holy Bull S. and GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S., never really threatened while third. “I thought we were OK on the turn there and he just didn't kick on the way I thought he would,” trainer Shug McGaughey said.

As for the winner, Pletcher said, “I was really pleased with the progress he was making up the backside because one of the things we were a little bit worried about was if he got stuck inside, he didn't seem to handle that in [last December's GII] Remsen very well. When he was making progress up the backside and picking off horses while he was inside and behind horses, I had a pretty good feeling at that point that he was running his race today and that it was a matter of finding out how good he is.”

Known Agenda, a narrow and ultra-game maiden winner over Greatest Honour in a key heat at Aqueduct last November, closed out his juvenile campaign with a well-beaten third at a well-backed 9-5 in the GII Remsen S. A disappointing fifth from well out of it as the 3-2 favorite while kicking off his sophomore campaign in Tampa's GIII Sam F. Davis S. Feb. 6, he looked like a new horse with blinkers added and first-time Lasix last time, airing by 11 lengths in a track-and-trip optional claimer Feb. 26.

“We were looking for a couple of things in that last race,” Pletcher said. “One, to see if blinkers made an improvement in his being a little more tactical and secondly, we wanted to see how he handled the Gulfstream surface. I thought we got very good answers to both of those questions. The only thing was we were taking a fairly significant step back in class. It wasn't an overwhelming field, but the way he did it, to win by 11 anytime in a race like that, and [jockey] Irad [Ortiz Jr.] kind of wrapped up on him the last part, I thought it was not only an impressive race but a step in the right direction. It showed us that the blinkers helped and that he handled Gulfstream.”

Ortiz Jr. set the single-season Championship Meet win record in style with his victory aboard Known Agenda in the Florida Derby.

“It means a lot,” Ortiz Jr. said. “We work so hard. It feels so good to get the feedback from the owners and the trainers. They support me. I say thanks to all of them.”

Pedigree Notes:

Known Agenda, a $135,000 RNA as a FTSAUG yearling, becomes the 77th black-type/38th graded winner for the mighty Curlin. He is the 13th Grade I winner for Hill 'n' Dale Farms's leading sire. Pletcher also trained Curlin standouts such as: Vino Rosso, Palace Malice, Curalina, Off the Tracks, et al. “To be honest, he's a horse that reminds us a lot of Vino Rosso,” Pletcher said of the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner. “Personality-wise, obviously being a chestnut son of Curlin, but he's taken a little while to kind of put everything together. We kept seeing talent in the mornings that he wasn't necessarily displaying in the afternoon but we knew it was there.” Byrama–heroine of the 2013 GI Vanity H. for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Simon Callaghan–was acquired privately by St Elias after RNA'ing for $725,000 at that fall's KEENOV sale, and made six more starts the following season for Bill Mott. Byrama is also represented by the 2-year-old filly Breeze Berry (Bodemeister) and an Always Dreaming filly of 2020. She was bred to Kitten's Joy for 2021. Vinnie Viola showed plenty of support for Curlin at last year's KEESEP sale. Along with Mike Repole, Gainesway, John Oxley and Grandview, St. Elias purchased a $1.2-million yearling son of Curlin-Midnight Lucky. St. Elias and Repole, the team behind the aforementioned champion older male Vino Rosso, also partnered up on four additional colts by Curlin for $475,000, $400,000, $350,000 and $250,000.

Saturday, Gulfstream
CURLIN FLORIDA DERBY PRESENTED BY HILL 'N' DALE FARMS AT XALAPA-GI, $770,000, Gulfstream, 3-27, 3yo, 1 1/8m, 1:49.45, ft.
1–KNOWN AGENDA, 122, c, 3, by Curlin
                     1st Dam: Byrama (GB) (GISW, $659,067), by Byron (GB)
                     2nd Dam: Aymara (GB), by Darshaan (GB)
                     3rd Dam: Chipaya (GB), by Northern Prospect
   1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I
   WIN. ($135,000 RNA Ylg '19 FTSAUG). O/B-St. Elias Stables, LLC
(KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $437,100. Lifetime
Record: 6-3-1-1, $541,700. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Soup and Sandwich, 122, c, 3, Into Mischief–Souper Scoop,
by Tapit. O-Live Oak Plantation; B-Live Oak Stud (FL); T-Mark E.
Casse. $161,000.
3–Greatest Honour, 122, c, 3, Tapit–Tiffany's Honour, by Street
Cry (Ire). O-Courtlandt Farms (Donald and Donna Adam);
B-Courtlandt Farm (KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III. $70,500.
Margins: 2 3/4, 3, 1 1/4. Odds: 5.40, 12.10, 0.80.
Also Ran: Nova Rags, Collaborate, Southern Passage, Papetu, Spielberg, Quantum Leap, Jirafales, Sigiloso. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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