Todd Pletcher has won more than 5,850 races in his extraordinary training career. One stands out above the rest. That would be the 2007 Belmont Stakes, when big-hearted Rags to Riches became only the third filly to win the famed “Test of the Champion” and the first since Tanya in 1905.
Tag: Legends
Secretariat, the Preakness, and a 39-Year Controversy
Maximum Security’s disqualification in the 2019 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve inspired much controversy, and the debate at times felt like the 1950 Kurosawa film “Rashomon,” where multiple witnesses to an event retell it in vastly different ways. All of us saw the same race, yet so many people have different interpretations of what they saw.
Smarty Jones: An Unlikely Hero and Beloved Fan Favorite
When John Servis was growing up in Philadelphia, he experienced a recurring dream. He pictured himself in the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs, having won the Kentucky Derby as a trainer.
Sunday Silence: The Star No One Wanted
Sunday Silence spent a lifetime in search of respect, on the track and in the breeding shed. In the end, he earned it. “He was very good,” said Shug McGaughey, a Hall of Fame trainer who handled arch-rival Easy Goer. “I ran against him four times and he beat us three times. And I ran a pretty good horse at him.”
