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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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Irad Ortiz Jr. Sets New Championship Meet Win Record At Gulfstream Park

Irad Ortiz Jr. set the single-season Championship Meet win record in style Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., guiding St. Elias Stable's homebred Known Agenda to a 2 ¾-length victory in the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa.

It was the first career win in Gulfstream's signature race for the 28-year-old Ortiz and his 138^th during the country's premier winter stand, surpassing Luis Saez's mark of 137 set in 2017-18. Ortiz approached the record in 2018-19, but finished with 135.

“It means a lot. We work so hard. I feels so good to get the feedback from the owners and the trainers. They support me. I say thanks to all of them,” Ortiz said. “When I say all of them, I mean all of them – from the claiming races to the stakes races. We have a lot of respect for Luis. It wasn't easy. He wins a lot of races here, too. We are so happy.”

Ortiz also was tops with 115 wins in 2019-20, and is now only the fourth jockey in history to win at least three consecutive Gulfstream riding titles joining Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, who won five straight from 2011-12 to 2015-16, Jorge Chavez (1999-2001) and Jeff Fell (1977-79).

Earlier Saturday, Ortiz tied the record aboard Joseph Imbesi's Sweet Bye and Bye in the $100,000 Sand Springs. He now has 14 stakes wins at the meet, including Grade 1 triumphs in the Florida Derby and $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational, the latter with Colonel Liam. Both Known Agenda and Colonel Liam are trained by Todd Pletcher.

The three-time defending Eclipse Award winner as champion jockey, Ortiz has posted 43 multi-win days at Gulfstream this winter, including a six-win effort Feb. 6 that fell just one short of the track's single-day record shared by Saez, Tyler Gaffalione and Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey.

Represented by agent Jay Rushing, Ortiz has also registered five five-win days, seven four-win days and nine three-win days during the Championship Meet.

“It means a lot. We ride a lot of races here and I always like to win. We try all the time but we can't win every meet. We try so hard and it's special,” Ortiz said. “My agent does hard work and I get a lot of support from the owners and trainers and I appreciate that. It means a lot honestly. I really like this meet. It's like summer, good weather, and the people here are big fans. They support all the jockeys so I'm really happy.”

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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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War Like Goddess Up In Final Jump To Beat Always Shopping In Orchid

George Krikorian's English Channel filly War Like Goddess came with a relentless run through the stretch and nailed even-money favorite Always Shopping on the wire for a thrilling nose triumph in Saturday's $100,000 Orchid (G3) at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The 57th running of the 1 3/8-mile Orchid for fillies and mares 4 and up on turf was the ninth of 10 stakes, six graded, worth $1.85 million on a blockbuster 14-race program, immediately preceding the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa, one of the country's premier Triple Crown preps.

War Like Goddess ($13.20), making just her fourth career start, gave Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and jockey Julien Leparoux their third win on the program. Mott also won the Cutler Bay with Annex while Leparoux previously won the Pan American (G2) with Churn N Burn.

Unlike Churn N Burn, who won the Pan American on the front end, Leparoux settled War Like Goddess far back in the Orchid, ahead of only one horse as 18-1 long shot Sister Hanan took the nine-horse field through splits of 23.93 seconds, 48.55 and 1:13.83. While Always Shopping ranged up to take the lead entering the stretch, Leparoux tipped War Like Goddess out to the center of the track to make her run, closing furiously to get up in 2:12.34 over a firm course.

Always Shopping, a graded-stakes winner on dirt and turf, was a tough-luck second attempting to give jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. his Championship Meet-record 137^th victory. Sorrel, racing first time in North America, was third.

Leparoux was winning the Orchid for the first time, while Mott earned his fourth Orchid triumph following Dress Rehearsal (2016), Crockadore (1992) and Gaily Gaily (1989).

$100,000 Orchid (G3) Quotes

Winning trainer Bill Mott (War Like Goddess): “Timing was important there. She just got up in the last jump. I just told [jockey] Julien [Leparoux] to let her get her feet under her and make a run. I kept it simple.”

Winning jockey Julien Leparoux (War Like Goddess): “Just in time. I didn't know if I got it or not at the wire. No matter what happened, she ran good. I'm glad I got the win. She's the kind of filly who comes from behind, so on this track you have to worry about that a little bit, but she had a nice kick at the end so she made it fun.”

“I think he probably needed one last time, but today she felt really good, awake before the race. She was traveling throughout the race the whole time and I was happy where I was. I know I was coming very fast to Irad [Ortiz Jr., aboard Always Shopping], but it was a matter of if I had time or not. She was running very hard at the end. She's a nice filly. She's won three races out of four and I think she can improve.”

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