Todd Pletcher | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Rising Star’ Annapolis Wins ‘War’ in Pilgrim

Sunday's GII Pilgrim S. at Belmont featured just four horses, but it was far from boring, as 'TDN Rising Star' Annapolis and GIII With Anticipation S. runner-up Portfolio Company threw it down pretty much from start to finish. Bass homebred Annapolis was pounded down to clear favoritism off a head-turning, fast-finishing 4 1/2-length debut score at Saratoga Sept. 4, and prompted Portfolio Company here through easy splits of :24.34 and :48.96 as Expected pacesetter Doctor Jeff (Street Boss) was ridden with surprising patience after breaking slowly. Annapolis ranged up on even terms with his main rival after a six-furlong split of 1:12.22. Portfolio Company battled back gamely from the fence in the run to the line, but Annapolis always seemed to have a little bit more to give and struck the wire a head in front.

“With only four horses, there wasn't much speed in the race,” noted winning pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr. “The other horse that showed some speed (Doctor Jeff) to the outside of me might be a step below these horses. [Portfolio Company] I've ridden before and he can be tough to handle and likes to get very keen. I knew the pace wasn't going to be very fast, so I just broke well and tried to be close to the pace. I ended up second to the horse I had to try and beat, so I just went from there.

“He fought the whole way to the wire. That was a nice race. The way he did it last time he looked like a nice horse, so we expected him to move forward and he did.”

Added Byron Hughes, assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher: “He broke well and Irad had him in a great spot on the outside. It was a good duel down the stretch and he was able to get a head down at the wire… We were hoping he would break well and help Irad put himself in a good position and see what happened today. I thought [Doctor Jeff] was going to show more speed. He didn't break well and left us alone there on the outside in the clear, so it all worked out.”

This was Pletcher's fourth win in the Pilgrim, which has produced the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner in three of the last five years.

Sunday, Belmont Park
PILGRIM S.-GII, $186,000, Belmont, 10-3, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:41.04, fm.
1–ANNAPOLIS, 120, c, 2, by War Front
            1st Dam: My Miss Sophia (GSW & MGISP, $605,040),
                                by Unbridled's Song
            2nd Dam: Wildwood Flower, by Langfuhr
            3rd Dam: Dial a Trick, by Phone Trick
   'TDN Rising Star' 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES
   WIN. O-Bass Racing, LLC; B-Bass Stables, LLC (KY); T-Todd A.
Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $110,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0,
$165,000. Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk
   Nick Rating: A.
2–Portfolio Company, 120, c, 2, Kitten's Joy–Iteration, by Wild
Again. ($125,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.;
B-Kenneth L. & Sarah K. Ramsey (KY); T-Chad C. Brown.
$40,000.
3–Limited Liability, 120, c, 2, Kitten's Joy–Hold Harmless, by
Blame. O-Stuart S. Janney, III; B-Stuart S. Janney, III LLC (KY);
T-Claude R. McGaughey III. $24,000.
Margins: HD, 5, 3 1/4. Odds: 0.65, 2.35, 5.80.
Also Ran: Doctor Jeff. Scratched: City At Night, Midnight Worker.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:
Annapolis becomes the 100th black-type winner and 56th graded/group winner for his superstar sire–he is the fourth graded winner bred on the War Front–Unbridled's Song cross. Unbridled's Song, perennially at or near the top of the broodmare sire list, is responsible for the dams of 104 graded/group winners.

Originally campaigned by Mathis Stable and Pletcher after selling for $260,000 as a KEESEP yearling, My Miss Sophia took the 2014 GII Gazelle S. and was second in the GI Kentucky Oaks before being purchased by Reynolds Bell, Jr. on behalf of Jon Clay's Alpha Delta Stables for $2.15 million at the Fasig-Tipton November sale that fall.

My Miss Sophia found a new home on the turf at four, and earned a career-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure when finishing a close third in the GII Ballston Spa S. behind MGISWs Dacita (Chi) (Scat Daddy) and Tepin (Bernstein). She was subsequently put in foal to War Front after an abbreviated 2016 campaign, and produced the now 3-year-old Nevisian Sunrise, who was third in June's Wild Applause S. here for her breeder and Portfolio Company's conditioner Chad Brown. Agent Steve Young, meanwhile, paid $4 million for My Miss Sophia while she was carrying Annapolis at the 2018 Keeneland November sale–her price was $200,000 short of sale topper Lady Eli.

A half to the Young-purchased 2015 GI Florida Derby winner Materiality (Afleet Alex) from the family of GISWs Afleet Express and Embellish the Lace, My Miss Sophia lost her Medaglia d'Oro foal in 2020, but produced another War Front colt Apr. 23. She was barren to War Front in her most recent visit to him.

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Gunite Looks to Give Asmussen Second Straight Champagne

Last year Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen captured both the GI Hopeful S. at Saratoga and GI Champagne S. at Belmont with the fleet-footed Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) and he looks to repeat that feat Saturday when he saddles Gunite (Gun Runner) in this year's Champagne. The stallion-making race offers a spot in the gate for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile in November.

A third-out graduate going six panels at Churchill Downs June 26, Gunite finished second behind 'TDN Rising Star' High Oak (Gormley) in the GII Saratoga Special S. Aug. 14. Overlooked at 11-1 in the Sept. 6 Hopeful, the dark bay powered clear to a 5 3/4-length victory over previously undefeated favorite Wit (Practical Joke), becoming the second Grade I winner of the weekend for his red-hot freshman sire.

“He'll be the horse in the field with the most experience so hopefully that does him well,” Winchell Thoroughbreds advisor David Fiske told the NYRA notes team. “Typically, horses that come out of Steve's parents training center in Laredo tend to break well from the gate. Facing all that adversity, that's something some of the other ones haven't faced. Hopefully, he's learned something from all of it.”

'TDN Rising Star' Wit is one of three looking to give newly minted Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher his seventh Champagne win. An ultra-impressive debut winner sprinting over Big Sandy June 5, Wit followed suit with an eight-length demolition of the July 17 GIII Sanford S. at Saratoga and was a clear-cut second in the Hopeful last out.

“He's got learning experience in all three of his races,” Pletcher said. “He's gotten well-accustomed to getting some dirt in his face and dealing with some traffic. We're just hoping for a cleaner start. We tried to break well in his last race, he just grabbed himself a little bit and had to play catch up from there. The track wasn't kind to closers as well.”

His stablemate My Prankster (Into Mischief) enters off a 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy career bow. The bay made a mockery of the field, blowing them away by 10 lengths in his 6 1/2-furlong unveiling at Saratoga Aug. 21, earning a gaudy 92 Beyer Speed Figure.

Rounding out the Pletcher trio is Commandperformance (Union Rags), owned by the stallion-focused partnership of Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable. The bay is still a maiden after a runner-up effort in his six-panel debut at the Spa Sept. 6.

Chad Brown saddles an exciting prospect in 'TDN Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings). The $135,000 FTKOCT buy cruised home to an 8 3/4-length graduation in his career bow going six furlongs at Saratoga Aug. 28. He also notched a 92 Beyer.

“Just off one race, he's going to have to take another step forward, but he was so brilliant with his debut,” trainer Chad Brown said. “We've had horses have success here before doing that–Complexity (Maclean's Music) comes to mind. Off just one race he ran very well in the Champagne and won.”

Completing the field is Kavod (Lea), who will likely be the longest shot on the board off a pair of fifths in the Sanford and grassy GIII With Anticipation S. at Saratoga Sept. 1. He was second in the Tremont S. at this oval June 4.

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High-Class Annapolis Steps Into Stakes Company In Pilgrim

After passing his maiden test with aplomb, regally-bred Annapolis will take on his first stakes endeavor for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher in Saturday's 43rd running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Pilgrim going 1 1/16 miles over the inner turf at Belmont Park.

The Pilgrim, which is named after Joseph Widener's winner of the 1919 Remsen, has seen three of its last five winners go on to capture the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, including Oscar Performance [2016], Structor [2019] and Fire At Will [2020].

Owned and bred by Bass Stables, Annapolis was a stylish winner on debut going 1 1/16 miles over the Saratoga inner turf on September 4. The bay son of prolific sire War Front, and first offspring out of graded stakes winner My Miss Sophia, was eighth down the backstretch and inched his way into contention approaching the far turn, drawing away in deep stretch to a 4 ½-length win. The first-out victory registered a 76 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He trained like he was going to run well in his debut, but it's hard sometimes to win going a mile and a sixteenth first out,” Pletcher said. “He did everything right, settled in well, put in a good run and kicked on. He moved up on a nice field of horses and I couldn't have asked for more on debut.”

Pletcher trained My Miss Sophia during her sophomore campaign, winning the Grade 2 Gazelle by open lengths before running second in the Grade 2 Kentucky Oaks in 2014. After being purchased for $2.15 million at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, My Miss Sophia was transferred to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott for a 4-year-old campaign, where she was twice graded stakes placed on grass.

“We never ran her on the turf, but she was a filly that always trained exceptionally well before her debut and seemed to get better and better,” Pletcher recalled. “She ran a great race in the Kentucky Oaks. She was a good mare and it appears that she's gone on to be a good producer.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will return to the irons from post 3.

Pletcher also entered Repole Stable's Midnight Worker, who makes his turf debut following a stakes-placing.

The son of Outwork, a second-crop sire, was a narrow but game winner on debut in July going six furlongs at Saratoga. He stretched out to two turns for his following effort, garnering black type with a third-place finish in the one-mile Sapling on September 5 at Monmouth Park.

Midnight Worker has acclimated to the Belmont turf with a pair of breezes, including a half-mile on Sunday in 48.44 seconds – the fourth fastest of 20 recorded works at the distance.

Luis Saez will ride from post 2.

Chad Brown will seek his fourth Pilgrim triumph when saddling Portfolio Company, who seeks to build on a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 With Anticipation last out at Saratoga.

Owned by Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables', Portfolio Company was a debut winner on July 17 over a good inner turf at Saratoga en route to the With Anticipation, where he garnered a field best 82 Beyer. Breaking from post 4 under Ortiz, Jr., Portfolio Company was rank heading into the first turn and was placed along the rail down the backstretch before being turned back when confronting pacesetter Coinage.

Brown said the Kitten's Joy colt has been training with a new bit in advance of the Grade 2 Pilgrim.

“We've been working with the horse,” Brown said. “After that debut, he got a little keen with us and Irad had some trouble with him in that race, especially after he didn't break that well and he was trying to catch up. It just was a big mess. We're doing our best to get him to settle and changed some equipment on him. The horse seems to be doing pretty well.”

Joel Rosario will pick up the mount aboard Portfolio Company from post 1.

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Limited Liability, third in the With Anticipation, will attempt to give owner Stuart Janney III and Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey their second collaborative Pilgrim victory after teaming up with Air Support in 2010.

The son of Kitten's Joy was a late rallying 2 ¾-length winner of his July 31 debut over the Mellon turf at Saratoga, before coming off a slow pace and finishing a closing third in the With Anticipation.

Limited Liability added blinkers for a half-mile work in 50.24 over the Belmont inner turf Sunday and will wear them for Sunday's race.

“He wasn't keen with them. I'm just hoping he'll engage a little earlier depending on the pace,” McGaughey said. “Last time, they went three quarters in 15 and we were four lengths off the pace, it's hard to catch up.”

Limited Liability is out of the Blame mare Hold Harmless, whose prolific third dam Meghan's Joy produced Grade 1-winning turf millionaire Ironicus, graded stakes-winning turf millionaire On Leave, dual graded turf stakes winner Quiet Harbor, and Norumbega, a graded stakes winner on dirt.

Jose Ortiz will ride from post 4.

Completing the field are Doctor Jeff [post 5, Jose Lezcano], who makes his turf debut for trainer Rudy Rodriguez; and maiden City At Night [post 6, Kendrick Carmouche], who will attempt to give his jockey, owner Three Diamonds Farm and trainer Mike Maker their collaborative second straight Pilgrim triumph following Fire At Will.

The Pilgrim is slated as Race 4 on Sunday's 10-race card. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

Sunday's program also includes the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette, a one-mile “Win And You're In” qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies; and the Grade 3, $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya for fillies and mares travelling 1 3/8 miles over the turf.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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Second Chances: Uncle Mo Filly Earns Spot in Frizette Off Strong Debut Third

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar.

After storming home with an eye-catching rally to finish a close third on debut at Saratoga, A Mo Reay (f, 2, Uncle Mo–Margaret Reay, by Pioneerof the Nile) will get her shot at the big leagues in Sunday's 'Win and You're In' GI Frizette S. at Belmont Park.

The My Racehorse Stable and Spendthrift Farm LLC colorbearer, off at 6-1 in her six-furlong unveiling for Todd Pletcher Aug. 29 (video), was under a ride and outsprinted in ninth through an opening quarter in :22.46. She finally started to get into the race nearing the quarter pole, but really had her work cut out for her as she was guided eight wide by Luis Saez at the top of the stretch.

The dark bay responded beautifully out in the clear while racing on her left lead down the center of the course, and, after finally switching over in deep stretch, came rocketing home in a field-best :12.60 to finish within a half-length of the highly regarded Gerrymander (Into Mischief). A Mo Reay earned a 71 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

“She made a really impressive move,” said Joe Mishak, MyRacehorse's Racing Operations Manager.

“It took her about three quarters of the race to figure out what the heck was going on. She took a lot of dirt. When the light bulb finally went on, it was really exciting to see her fly down the lane and finish up and just miss that score there.”

A Mo Reay has breezed three times since her debut at Pletcher's Saratoga base, including a four-furlong move in :49.51 (14/35) Sept. 26. She will stretch out to a one-turn mile for the Frizette.

“It's definitely a big jump up in class with a heavy and deserving favorite [Echo Zulu] in the race,” Mishak said. “All of us viewed it as a winning effort, considering how that first race unfolded and the way she finished up. Really, though, the determining factor was listening to Todd's confidence in the filly. He's been really complimentary of her progression since the summer and anytime you have Todd in your corner saying, 'I think we should give it a shot,' you certainly have to give it strong consideration.

He continued, “And at the end of the day, she's got more training under her belt now, gets the added distance, and there should be a fair amount of pace in there. With her running style, she can come flying down the lane again and hopefully that's good enough.”

Bred by T & G Farm of Kentucky LLC, A Mo Reay brought $400,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. She was produced by grassy GIII Miss Grillo S. runner-up Margaret Reay, a half-sister to SW Lezendary (Zensational). This is also the female family of GISW Wonder Lady Anne L (Real Quiet). A Mo Reay is bred similar to Uncle Mo's GISW and promising young stallion Outwork, who is out of an Empire Maker mare.

Previous standouts featured in 'Second Chances' include: GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P. (Honor Code), GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner and Royal Ascot G2 Norfolk S. runner-up Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), MGISW and 'TDN Rising Star' Paradise Woods (Union Rags), GIII Las Virgenes S. heroine Moonlight d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), GII Los Alamitos Futurity winner and MGISP Spielberg (Union Rags), GSW Backyard Heaven (Tizway), and MSW and 'TDN Rising Star' Gidu (Ire) (Frankel {GB}).

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