Todd Pletcher | Horse Racing Free Tips

Grade I Winner Valiance Retired, to Sell at Fasig-Tipton November

Grade I winner Valiance (Tapit–Last Full Measure, by Empire Maker) has been retired from racing and will be offered at Fasig-Tipton's upcoming November Sale Nov. 9 in Lexington, Kentucky. Bluewater Sales will consign the 5-year-old mare for owners Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Martin S. Schwartz, and CHC Inc.

Valiance captured last year's GI Juddmonte Spinster S. at Keeneland in just her second dirt start and followed up that victory with a game second in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff to multiple champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), finishing ahead of another four Grade I winners.

The gray won her first three career starts on turf, including Monmouth's Open Mind S. as a 3-year-old. Trained throughout her career by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, she retires with a record of 9-6-0-1 and career earnings of $809,575.

“Valiance is a top-class race mare and a terrific individual,” commented Pletcher. “She's always been a true professional to train in the morning and was so versatile on the racetrack in the afternoon. She's a good one.”

A $650,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearling, Valiance is out of a dam who scored in the GI the Madison S. and her second dam, Lazy Slusan (Slewvescent), is a multiple Grade I-winning distaffer and millionaire.

“Valiance was a stunning yearling with a royal pedigree and she followed through on the racetrack,” said Aron Wellman, President of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. “She trained with brilliance, ran with brilliance on turf and dirt at the highest level and provided our partners with huge thrills. She's a rare filly who had impeccable breeding, gorgeous looks, immeasurable talent and that intangible killer instinct to win her races. She is an elite mare who offers the complete package and she is cut out to be an exceptional broodmare.”

Added Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, “Valiance is a rare commodity–she's a Grade I winner, her dam is a Grade I winner, and her granddam is a Grade I winner. In addition, she's by Tapit and a beautiful individual. Her potential as a broodmare is unlimited.”

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Grade 1 Winner Valiance Retired, To Be Offered At Fasig-Tipton November Sale

Valiance, a Grade 1 winning daughter of multiple leading sire Tapit, has been retired from racing and will be offered at Fasig-Tipton's upcoming November Sale on Nov. 9 in Lexington, Ky. Bluewater Sales will consign the 5-year-old mare for owners Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Martin S. Schwartz, and CHC Inc.

Valiance took last year's Grade 1 Spinster Stakes in tremendous style, defeating a top-class field that included two other Grade 1 winners. She followed up that victory with a game second in the Breeders' Cup Distaff to multiple champion Monomoy Girl, finishing ahead of another four Grade 1 winners.

In addition to being a Grade 1 winner on dirt, Valiance won her first three career starts on turf, including Monmouth's Open Mind Stakes as a 3-year-old. Trained throughout her career by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, she has career earnings of $809,575.

A $650,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearling, Valiance carries an elite pedigree to complement her outstanding race record and conformation. Her first dam Last Full Measure, by Empire Maker, captured the G1 Madison Stakes. Her second dam, Lazy Slusan, is a multiple Grade 1 winning distaffer and millionaire.

Added Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning: “Valiance is a rare commodity- she's a Grade 1 winner, her dam is a Grade 1 winner, and her granddam is a Grade 1 winner! In addition, she's by Tapit and a beautiful individual. Her potential as a broodmare is unlimited.”

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Kirkpatrick & Co Presents In Their Care: As She Logs Miles Assisting Pletcher, Horses Are Home For DePasquale

Ginny DePasquale never imagined that experience as a well-traveled first-grader would prepare her to play an integral role in trainer Todd Pletcher's Hall of Fame career. Yet that is what happened.

Although DePasquale was born in Philadelphia, she did not remain there long since her father served in the Navy. Her first real introduction to horses occurred when she was three years old and there was a stable across the street from the base in Corpus Christi, Texas. She barely met her first-grade classmates at Corpus Christi before it was back to Philadelphia and on to Jacksonville.

“We traveled all around the country and halfway across the world with him,” DePasquale said.

Wherever they ventured, horses became something to cling to during a childhood in which change was the lone constant. She felt particularly fortunate after the family journeyed to Morocco because there was a stable on the base.

“I used to go to the riding stable all the time when we were in Morocco. I used to spend my days there,” she said. “If my mom was looking for me, she knew where to find me.”

There was never much doubt that DePasquale's career path would lead to horses. She began working with them after high school while raising two children, Kimberly and Darin. She maintained a farm in Pennsylvania for a time before making her way to Florida. A friend told her that Pletcher was looking for a foreman to oversee 25 to 30 horses at Hialeah Race Track.

Pletcher, after graduating from the University of Arizona and working for six years as an assistant to legendary D. Wayne Lukas, had struck out on his own at the end of 1995. DePasquale knew little about him; he knew less about her. They took a chance on each other.

“At the time, you don't know,” she said. “I was so lucky.”

Pletcher got so lucky, too. As his financial backing strengthened and he began to oversee high-caliber stock, the need increased to send them far and wide in pursuit of black type and lucrative purses. Who could he trust to accompany them, to make sure their needs were met and they were made to feel at home in strange surroundings?

DePasquale became the woman for the job – and relished every minute. New people, new places, new things? Old hat for her.

“I always liked to travel. There were times I was gone every single weekend. I'd fly home, unpack, re-pack and was gone again,” DePasquale said of the intense schedule she followed for her first 15 years or so with Pletcher.

With DePasquale returning home with one victory after another, Pletcher rattled off four consecutive Eclipse Awards as the leading trainer in North America from 2004-07. He has an unmatched seven Eclipse Awards overall in addition to two Kentucky Derbies, three Belmont Stakes and 11 Breeders' Cup wins. He smashed the record for purse earnings with more than $413 million – and counting.

Pletcher, 54, emerged as an obvious choice for voters in his first year of eligibility for the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame. He constantly emphasizes the importance of DePasquale and others. He knows he had so many helping hands in receiving the sport's greatest accolade.

“You can't even quantify how much a bunch of people have contributed, especially the assistants,” Pletcher said. “I've been blessed to have some really good ones, some great ones that have been with me for a long time and some others who have branched out on their own and done very well.”

DePasquale, who declined to reveal her age, currently oversees horses that were left behind after the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course so they could continue to train there. She will move to Florida in November. Pletcher typically maintains a robust operation in South Florida at Palm Beach Downs as he perennially vies for honors as the leading trainer at Gulfstream Park's Championship Meet.

Communication among assistants is critical to the sustained success of what has become a massive operation. Tristan Barry remained with DePasquale in Saratoga. Byron Hughes is at Belmont Park. Anthony Sciametta reports in from Florida.

“If everybody is trying to work independently of each other,” DePasquale said, “nothing would get done.”

Every assistant reviews every horse with Pletcher every day.

“He has an unbelievable memory,” DePasquale said. “He knows the horse, the sire, the dam, what race they were in, what horses were in the race against them. Just amazing.”

She never considered moving on.

“He's so easy to get along with,” she said of Pletcher. “In all the years, I've never heard him raise his voice to anyone.”

DePasquale has considered retirement, but it is hard to break away from such a strong team, so many good horses and so much success. She begins each year by saying she would like to work one more season. She has said that for some years now.

Tom Pedulla wrote for USA Today from 1995-2012 and has been a contributor to the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Blood-Horse, America's Best Racing and other publications.

If you wish to suggest someone as a potential subject for In Their Care, please send an email to info@paulickreport.com that includes the person's name and contact information in addition to a brief description of the individual's background.

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Pletcher: Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile Possible Target For Life Is Good, Mind Control

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said he saw just what he had hoped from talented 3-year-old Life Is Good, who secured a third graded stakes victory when defeating elders in Saturday's $300,000 Grade 2 Kelso over a one-turn mile at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

The son of leading sire Into Mischief was never in doubt throughout the journey, commanding the compact field through every point of call under Irad Ortiz, Jr.'s expert engineering and glided home a 5 ½-length winner.

Life Is Good garnered a 99 Beyer Speed Figure for the win.

“We were very pleased with he way he ran. He seemed to settle pretty nicely,” said Pletcher. “He got into a good rhythm and Irad asked him at the top of the stretch to go along and he did. He dropped right down to the rail and I was happy with it.”

Pletcher said Life Is Good, owned by CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm, is a likely candidate for the $2 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on November 5 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

“That's what we had talked about beforehand and yesterday definitely encouraged us to continue that path,” Pletcher said. “I'll talk to all the connections, and we'll firm up a plan, but that's what we talked about before.”

Favored in all five of his career starts, Life Is Good was an impressive three-time winner in California while racing for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, including victories in the Grade 3 Sham on January 2 and Grade 2 San Felipe on March 6, both at Santa Anita. He returned to action in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on August 28 at Saratoga where he was a game second to Jackie's Warrior.

Pletcher took a similar route with 2011 Kelso winner Uncle Mo, who was second in the H. Allen Jerkens [then run as the King's Bishop] off a layoff en route to an in-hand Kelso score.

“I've thought about that, they both were coming back in the same two races off a layoff,” Pletcher said. “They were both talented horses and have speed and ability to carry it over a distance. They were two super star horses.”

Pletcher could arrive at the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile with at least two solid contenders after Mind Control displayed a game effort in the Parx Dirt Mile at its namesake track in Bensalem, Pa., on Saturday. The 5-year-old Stay Thirsty bay registered his first triple digit speed figure in 23 lifetime starts, garnering a 104 Beyer when fending off Grade 1 Met Mile winner Silver State in deep stretch to win by a head.

A graded stakes winner in four straight years, Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stable's Mind Control made his first start going two turns since finishing a distant seventh in the 2018 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs. Nevertheless, Pletcher said he was confident that two turns would not be out of reach.

“He was game,” Pletcher said. “That other horse [Silver State] looked like he had him, but he fought right back. It was good to see him get the win. We thought he would handle two turns and we were happy to see him do it.”

Pletcher said the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile is under consideration but not etched in stone for Mind Control, who also earned an entry into the Breeders' Cup Sprint with a victory in the Grade 2 John A. Nerud – a Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” qualifier.

“I have to talk to [Red Oak Stable racing manager] Rick Sacco. He wanted to run in the Parx Mile to see where we are,” Pletcher said. “I'll give it a few days, talk with Rick and come up with a game plan.”

Mind Control, an earner of over $1.4 million, has won all six of his graded stakes scores at NYRA tracks. Following his juvenile season in 2018, which saw Mind Control garner an upset score in the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga, he secured victories in the Grade 3 Bay Shore at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y., before a triumphant return to the Spa in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial while racing for trainer Gregg Sacco.

After earning Grade 3 wins at Aqueduct in the 2020 Toboggan and Tom Fool, Mind Control snapped an eight-race losing streak in his debut for Pletcher in the John A. Nerud.

Pletcher breezed impressive debut maiden winner Annapolis over the Belmont inner turf in company with dual surface graded stakes winner Always Shopping. Both horses finished their half-mile moves in :48.00 – the second fastest of 20 recorded works at the distance.

A Bass Stables homebred, Annapolis is on target for the $200,000 Grade 2 Pilgrim on October 3.

“He worked great. Hopefully everything goes smoothly this weekend and we'll target the Pilgrim,” Pletcher said.

Annapolis, a bay son of War Front out of graded stakes-winning Unbridled's Song mare My Miss Sophia, was an impressive winner at first asking over Saratoga's inner turf on September 4, where he made up 7 ¼ lengths to secure a 4 ½-length debut win, garnering a 74 Beyer.

Pletcher added that Always Shopping, a Repole Stable homebred daughter of Awesome Again, will eye the $300,000 Grade 3 Fasig-Tipton Waya on October 3.

Also on the work tab for Pletcher was Repole Stable's Midnight Worker, who breezed a half-mile in :48.44 on the inner turf. He could make his debut on grass in the $150,000 Grade 3 Futurity on October 10 at Belmont Park – a “Win And You're In” qualifier for the $1 million Grade 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on November 5 at Del Mar.

“We worked him last week [on the turf] and I thought he worked okay, but I think today he worked better,” Pletcher said. “We're confident after today that he handled it pretty well so that opens up a few options, the Futurity being one, also considering the [Grade 2] Bourbon at Keeneland.”

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Pletcher saddled two juveniles Nest and Overstep to debut scores on Saturday at Belmont.

Nest, a Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, and Michael House-owned daughter of Curlin, was a five-length winner going 1 1/16 miles over the main track in the Saturday opener, producing a 70 Beyer for the score.

The $150,000 Tempted on November 4 at Aqueduct could be an option moving forward, according to Pletcher.

“We're very pleased with the debut,” Pletcher said. “She handled a lot of ground which was good to see. I need to go over it thoroughly with Mike Repole and Aron Wellman [of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners], but probably something like the Tempted would make the most sense.”

Five races later, Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Overstep, a New York-bred son of Into Mischief, dazzled going six furlongs with a 6 ¾-length win over the main track.

Pletcher said the bay colt, bred by Chester and Mary Broman, could target the $250,000 Sleepy Hollow on October 30 for New York-bred juveniles going a one-turn mile.

“I thought he was impressive,” Pletcher said. “He was well in hand the last part. I think something like the Sleepy Hollow would make the most sense for him.”

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