Known Agenda | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Improving’ Known Agenda Records Final Florida Work Before Shipping To Churchill Downs

Known Agenda recorded his first workout since the Florida Derby this Friday, breezing a half-mile in :50.37 in company with Pegasus Turf Winner Colonel Liam at Palm Beach Downs. According to the Daily Racing Form, trainer Todd Pletcher was pleased with what he saw from the 3-year-old son of Curlin.

The St. Elias Stable homebred has been a different horse since the addition of blinkers in a Feb. 26 allowance race at Gulfstream Park, which he won by 11 lengths. In his next start, the Florida Derby, Known Agenda post a 2 3/4-length upset at odds of 5-1.

“I think he's a horse who is improving, and the blinkers have kept him a little more focused and a little more engaged in the race,” Pletcher told DRF. “I think without the blinkers in the Florida Derby he might have been a little intimidated with the position he was in and he might not have made the progress he made from the five-eighths pole to the half-mile pole without them. But experience has also helped him. Time has helped him. The mile and an eighth certainly doesn't bother him. And I believe the added distance in the Derby is something we feel good about for all our horses.”

Pletcher's quartet of Kentucky Derby contenders and Longines Kentucky Oaks runner are scheduled to arrive at Churchill Downs over the course of Sunday afternoon.

Pletcher is scheduled to have his Keeneland-based horses van from Lexington to Churchill Downs Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. and arrive just past noon. His South Florida-based runners are scheduled to arrive later in the afternoon along with his New York-based horses, according to Senior Director of the Stable Area Steve Hargrave.

Among the horses Pletcher is scheduled to send to Churchill Downs are Derby contenders Bourbonic, Dynamic One, Known Agenda and Sainthood and Oaks runner Malathaat.

Todd Pletcher Talks Derby Contenders On Writers’ Room

At one point this spring, it was conceivable that soon-to-be Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher would be faced with the unusual situation of not having a GI Kentucky Derby starter. Things change quickly in racing though, as now the seven-time Eclipse Award winner is likely to have four horses in the gate in Louisville and Wednesday morning, he joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland to talk about his sudden Derby quartet. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Pletcher also talked about what still motivates him to train, his early opinions on the Derby field and the progress racing has made on safety since his last appearance on the show following the 2019 Breeders' Cup.

Regarding his one-two finishers in Saturday's GII Wood Memorial S., 72-1 Bourbonic (Bernardini) and 15-1 Dynamic One (Union Rags), Pletcher said, “In Bourbonic's case, it was what I would describe as a pleasant surprise. He's a horse that's always trained well and we did think getting around two turns and up to a mile and an eighth was going to be to his benefit. I'd be lying if I said we expected him to win. The strategy was, let's let him fall back, make one run. He should get the distance and hopefully [be] picking up the pieces at the end, which he definitely was. I can't tell you I had a $40 win ticket on it.

“In Dynamic One's case, we were expecting him to run well. We've been a little disappointed in what he's done so far because he's always trained liked a good horse. I think he's still learning how to run and finish off a race. He got a little bit lost by himself [in the stretch of the Wood]. I think Bourbonic surprised him a bit. But that type of performance is what we've been seeing from him in the mornings to indicate he's of that quality.”

As for GI Curlin Florida Derby winner Known Agenda, likely to be the shortest price of the Pletcher four, he said, “He's a Curlin. He's bred to be better a little later. What surprised us about him was he was able to be competitive in his debut at 6 1/2 furlongs. Off that one race, he was able to beat Greatest Honour at a mile and an eighth, and they were 20 lengths clear of the third horse. In the Remsen, he was still green and was stuck inside on a sloppy track. Once he got clear late, he put in a good final sixteenth. He left himself too much to do. Same thing in the Sam Davis. So I think the blinkers have made a difference. The exciting thing about the group that we have is, I think they're all horses that are going to improve at a mile and a quarter. They're all horses that are truly looking for that distance.”

When Pletcher was last on the podcast, he spoke bluntly about the catastrophic situation racing found itself in after the spate of fatal breakdowns at Santa Anita. Wednesday, he was asked what progress he's seen since then in the sport and what still needs to be done.

“One breakdown is too many, but we also live in the real world where those things happen,” he said. “I think we've made a lot of improvements. The statistics are showing that the numbers are down. Like I said then, it's not a trainer thing, it's not a jockey thing, it's not a track veterinarian thing. It's an industry thing. We have to do better from the ground up. From the time these horses are born, to the way they're prepped for sales, the way they're treated the whole way. It's everyone's responsibility. Ultimately, it comes down to trainers making the decisions at entry time and race time. I think the industry has recognized as a whole that we all have to do better. That's why I think we're making improvements and hopefully are not going to rest on our laurels of doing better. We've got to keep getting better.”

Elsewhere on the show, the writers reacted to a huge weekend of racing, analyzed the prospective Derby picture and, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, reported on an NFT-based virtual racing game that is rapidly growing in popularity. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

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Essential Quality Extends His Lead In NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll

Undefeated Essential Quality, fresh off a determined victory in the Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 3, maintained the top spot in this week's National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top 3-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll.

Trained by Brad Cox and bred and owned by Godolphin LLC, Essential Quality ran his record to five for five in the Blue Grass. The Eclipse Award-winning two-year-old male of 2020, Essential Quality received 31 first-place votes and 371 points in this week's poll. He is expected to make his next start in the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve on May 1. Concert Tour, winner of the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes, remained in second place for the second consecutive week with five first place votes and 319 points. Concert Tour, bred and owned by Gary and Mary West and trained by Bob Baffert, is expected to be favored in this Saturday's Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. Hot Rod Charlie, winner of the Grade 2 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby on March 20, was third in the poll with one first place vote and 239 points.

Rock Your World, frontrunning winner of Saturday's Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby in California at odds of 5-1, moved up to fourth in the NTRA poll with 238 points. Rock Your World, who was bred by Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally and his wife Deborah, was making his first start on the dirt following two victories on the turf. Rock Your World is owned by Hronis Racing of brothers Kosta and Pete Hronis and Michael Talla's Talla Racing. St. Elias Stable's Known Agenda, winner of the Curlin Florida Derby on March 27, rounded out the top five in this week's poll with 233 points.

Greatest Honour, beaten favorite in the Florida Derby, was sixth in this week's poll with 160 points. Klaravich Stables Inc.'s Highly Motivated, a game second behind Essential Quality in the Blue Grass, was seventh in this week's poll with 151 points. Medina Spirit, beaten favorite in the Santa Anita Derby, was eighth in the poll with 96 points. Life is Good, who is sidelined with an injury and will miss the Triple Crown, was ninth with 69 points, followed by Midnight Bourbon with 35 points.

A Godolphin homebred, Mystic Guide, also retained the top spot in this week's NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll, which saw no change to the top seven placings. Mystic Guide, winner of the Dubai World Cup, remained in the top spot with 24 first place votes and 346 points. Charlatan was second in the voting with seven first-place votes and 320 points. Two-time Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl (six first-place votes, 306 points) remained in third place, followed by Eclipse Champion filly Swiss Skydiver (1 first-place vote, 248 points) and Knicks Go (225 points).

Grade 1 winner Colonel Liam remained in sixth place with 188 points and Idol remained in seventh place with 113 points. The lone change in the top 10 saw Eclipse Champion Gamine jump from 10th to eighth place with 93 points. Maxfield (57 points) and Shedaresthedevil (37 points) rounded out the top 10.

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport's most comprehensive surveys of experts. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Voting in the Top Three-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll concludes following the Belmont Stakes on June 5 and the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through November 6.

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Pletcher Barn Suddenly Flooded With Quartet Of Kentucky Derby Prospects

Calumet Farm homebred Bourbonic, trained by Todd Pletcher and piloted by Kendrick Carmouche, garnered an 89 Beyer Speed Figure and 100 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for his dramatic head score over stablemate Dynamic One in Saturday's Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

The victory capped a sensational day for the Pletcher barn, which successfully debuted promising New York-bred maiden Great Workout on the Wood Memorial undercard and also included a closing second from Haikal in the Grade 3 Excelsior.

Bourbonic, a dark bay Bernardini colt, was sent to post as the longest shot on the board at 72-1 and topped an unlikely exacta over 15-1 stablemate Dynamic One that returned $453 for a $1 wager.

Patiently handled by Carmouche, Bourbonic closed from last of nine runners to edge Dynamic One, who had made the lead at top of the lane after tracking the early foot of the prominent Grade 3 Gotham-winner Weyburn.

“It was a very patient ride,” said Byron Hughes, the New York-based assistant for Pletcher. “That track often plays to frontrunners or horses closer to the pace. Yesterday, it was playing fair and there were some closers. He waited as long as he could and made one run and it paid off.”

A late bloomer, Bourbonic graduated at third asking in a $50,000 maiden claiming mile in December at the Big A and followed with a score against winners in January traveling a one-turn mile at Aqueduct. He entered the Wood Memorial from a runner-up effort in a mile and 70 yards optional-claiming tilt at Parx in February.

While many of the Pletcher-trained Kentucky Derby hopefuls wintered at Palm Beach Downs in Florida, Bourbonic remained with Hughes in New York. He said the added distance was beneficial for the improving dark bay.

“We always thought he wanted more distance and two turns is something he needed,” said Hughes. “It was a good day for the team. He's been a forward training horse here. He loves to train and it's been great to have him up here this winter.”

Repole Stable, Phipps Stable, and St. Elias Stable's Dynamic One earned 40 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for his runner-up effort under Jose Ortiz. The Union Rags chestnut was piloted to a nine-furlong maiden victory in March by Carmouche at Aqueduct.

“He ran a game race,” said Hughes. “I was looking at the Trakus this morning and he actually ran 43 feet more than Bourbonic did. It was a game race and we were happy with his effort.”

Hughes said he was pleased with how both horses came out of the race.

“They both look good. They both ate up last night and are walking around here this morning with a purpose,” said Hughes.

Pletcher also enjoyed a successful Saturday at Keeneland with Kentucky Oaks hopeful Malathaat remaining undefeated after taking the Grade 1 Ashland. Also victorious at the Lexington oval were 3-year-old turf filly Jouster in the Grade 2 Appalachian and well-regarded sophomore colt Ghazaaly, who graduated in the day's opening race.

“It was a big day for us at Keeneland, too. Malathaat is undefeated and looked great doing it,” said Hughes.

Hughes said the barn is excited at their prospects for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby slated for May 1 at Churchill Downs. They currently have four contenders on the leaderboard, including Florida Derby-winner Known Agenda [102 points], Bourbonic [100], Dynamic One [40] and Sainthood [40].

“It's exciting. We went from not having any to having four in two weekends,” said Hughes. “These last shots paid off and the barn is excited for the Derby. All the hard work getting here at 4:30 in the morning, it pays off for everybody.”

Kentucky Derby Leaderboard

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