Todd Pletcher was in a chipper mood one morning in his office near Saratoga's Oklahoma training track when I asked him about the Green sisters.
“Which one?” Pletcher replied, wryly.
“The one right outside the door.”
“Oh, the brown-noser,” Pletcher said with a laugh. “Do you want to listen in, Sophie?”
“No,” said the mocking English voice from the other side of the glass door. “I will never say anything nice about you again!”
Meet Sophie Green, the elder of the Green sisters, the younger being Amelia. The two sisters make up an enviable team, with Sophie opting to mainly keep her feet either on the ground or astride the barn pony, Bucky, and helping with runners and medication; Amelia riding some of horse racing's elite. Both put in full days under the Pletcher shedrow.
I had interviewed Sophie for this story several days before and was struck by her answer to my question: “What's the best part of working here for Todd?”
“Todd,” she replied without hesitation. “I have worked in restaurants and it's very much just about the job and making money, whereas here, he knows every horse, he cares about every horse, he knows every person that works for him. So, he is the best boss that I have ever had!”
This seems to be the sentiment of most everybody who has ever worked at the Pletcher barn, a long list of people going back decades, most of whom never leave. Ginny DePasquale has been there from day one. There's Tristan Barry, Byron Hughes, Anthony Sciametta, Juan Aguayo. Former assistants include trainers Michael McCarthy, Jonathan Thomas, George Weaver, Michael Dilger, and Michelle Nihei.
Dawn till dusk, when most exercise and pony riders are napping in the middle of the day–or perhaps downing a couple of cocktails at the all-too-many watering holes in Saratoga–the sisters Green are keeping a watchful eye on the Todd Squad.
Sophie and Amelia Green grew up in Thoroton, just east of Nottingham, England. “A place in the middle of nowhere, that nobody has heard of,” joked Sophie during that overcast morning.
The Green sisters followed the usual protocol for horse-mad girls growing up in rural England: school, ponies, and Pony Club.
“Grandad took us to the tack shop and bought us helmets and after that it was all over,” added Sophie, with one eye on Jack, her Jack Russell.
Both sisters finished school with Sophie opting to go to sixth form college for two years, working part-time in a local pub to pay her way and eventually becoming the manger. Amelia opted instead to follow the horses in Newmarket, first at the British Racing School and then apprenticing for the late Sir Henry Cecil.
Looking to broaden her horizons, Amelia wintered one year at Santa Anita Park. “I loved it,” said Amelia (hardly a surprise–who wouldn't want to trade the frozen tundra of Newmarket heath for palm trees and sunshine in the dead of winter?).
Unfortunately, after Amelia returned home to England, Cecil lost his battle with cancer that June.
“I worked for Lady Jane [Cecil] for a couple of months and then got my visa and went straight back to California to work for George Papaprodromou.
“George was a good boss; George was the best,” said Amelia with a smile, suddenly coming to life recanting tales of her old boss and likening him to a “best friend.”
Papaprodromou even legged her up onto one of his horses, with Amelia winning her first race aboard a horse called Twin Six (Include) in December of 2013 at Betfair Hollywood Park.
“It was surreal, I rode on and off for a couple of years whilst galloping for George,” Amelia said. “I did commit and go to Maryland for three months and that was when, ultimately, I realized I wasn't going to make weight, especially bug weight at 112 pounds. That was not the life I wanted to live.”
Amelia Green compiled a 9-148 record per Equibase.
“I came back to California; George insisted I get my assistant's license. I did that for a couple of years and then just plateaued. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to continue or go back to England. So, I spoke to Michael McCarthy and he said, 'Would you go work for Todd Pletcher on the East Coast?' And I was like, 'Sure, but isn't it hard to get a job there?' I called Todd the next day and he was like, 'Yeah, when do you want to start?'”
“It was obvious right from the start she was a star, an excellent rider, but also very interested in learning more on the ground and a very complete horseperson with ambition who just enjoys it,” said Pletcher.
Americanrevolution is one of Amelia Green's regular morning partners | Sarah Andrew
If you are looking for Life Is Good (Into Mischief), you had better be early as Amelia is the first to the track with him every day. Twenty years ago, Life Is Good would likely have been ridden by a man with his head cranked and bowed over as he is a very tough horse to gallop. But Green has gone for the finesse option and, while he's still not easy, he's a whole lot better than he was.
“He's a special horse, but he's not a cupcake to gallop,” said a now-wry-smiling Pletcher. “So, we have really focused a lot on trying to ration his talent and his speed. She gets along with him very well and has been a huge part of his success.”
Amelia has been around a lot of good horses in her five-year tenure at the Pletcher barn. There is Nest (Curlin) (Amelia is careful to remind me she is just borrowed from another rider, Nora, who didn't make the trip to Saratoga), Americanrevolution (Constitution), Mind Control (Stay Thirsty), Corniche (Quality Road)–whose retirement was just announced–and some unraced 2-year-olds that have not been tested yet.
None, however, as talented as Life Is Good, who now carries the nickname “Scooter.” According to Amelia, “When he first got here, he would just scoot off, but he's so much better now. Did you see him without the draw reins? This time last year there is no way I could have ridden him without them.”
“Is he your all-time favorite horse?” I enquired, already knowing the answer as “Scooter” was burrowing in Amelia's pocket for another peppermint. “Yes, he's the one,” she said.
Interestingly, Amelia admits she wouldn't normally get to ride the colts in England.
“I think it's a very old school thing, the girls are smaller in England and usually ride the fillies. I honestly think I had ridden maybe one or two colts before I arrived in America.”
Enter Winnie, Amelia's dog, who is part Great Dane and who at this moment is chasing Jack (Sophie's dog) down the shedrow past the likes of Mind Control, Capensis (Tapit), Malathaat (Curlin), Dynamic One (Union Rags), Happy Saver (Super Saver), and Chocolate Gelato (Practical Joke), none of which could care less as the feed cart has just arrived, much to the delight of Life Is Good, who is doing his best “Hungry Hippo” impersonation.
Sophie, who much like her sister plateaued working as a manager in a restaurant and was at a crossroads in life when Amelia suggested almost three years ago that she come over and work for Pletcher.
“We really didn't get on that well as kids,” said Sophie, older by just two years.
“So, who's the boss?”
“I am,” jumped in Amelia.
“And she's also the favorite child,” jabbed back a smiling Sophie. “It's OK. I'm used to it!”
Do they often get confused for each other?
“Well, actually,” interjected Sophie, “I get 'Amelia's sister,' not even Sophie. I think a few people have seen me around now so they know we are different but it's still 'Amelia's sister.'”
Is Sophie envious of her speed-queen sister?
“Oh God, no,” said Sophie, almost a little too quickly. “All our lives Amelia was the one who wanted to go fast. I'm quite content going slow. Even skiing she was always the first one down. I'm quite content riding the pony.”
Pletcher echoes the sentiment. “No, I think she's comfortable in her role. She's done a great job with our pony, Bucky, who had special needs when we first got him,” he said. “She's done a great job with some of our flighty fillies as well.”
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