Todd Pletcher | Horse Racing Free Tips

Pricey Valiance Handles Switch From Turf To Slop, Wins Eatontown At Monmouth

Valiance added another dimension to an impressive start to her career, drawing away in mid-stretch over a sloppy track to win Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Eatontown Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

Trained by Todd Pletcher, the $650,000 yearling purchase entered the Eatontown with four wins from six career starts, with five of those races on the grass. She raced once on the dirt but never over a sloppy track.

“I thought she ran great,” said Pletcher. “It definitely seemed like she improved in her training on the dirt so we weren't concerned when it came off. It looks like she handled it really nicely. He (jockey Nik Juarez) rode her very confidently.”

The Eatontown Stakes, originally scheduled for a mile and a sixteenth on grass, was switched to the main track because of early morning rain.

“I wasn't worried about the sloppy track with her,” said Juarez. “I got to ride a race on the dirt with her at Gulfstream. Todd had her in a stakes race in Florida (the Powder Break Stakes on May16) and it came off the grass and she ran on the dirt that day. So I was happy she had a dirt race under her because all of her other starts have been on the grass. I was really confident today.”

Juarez was able to sit tucked in behind dueling leaders Valedictorian and Gotham Gala in the reduced field of five through fractions of :23.85 to the opening quarter, :47.68 to the half mile and 1:12.60 to six furlongs.

Midway through the final turn he nudged Valiance to the outside and she immediately drew even with Gotham Gala, with Valedictorian starting to retreat. Gotham Gala tried gamely to stay with Valiance, but Juarez had plenty in reserve, winning by a widening 1 1/2 lengths. It was another 15 1/4 lengths back in third to Valedictorian.

Final time for the mile and a sixteenth was 1:44.25.

“We had a perfect trip, sitting right behind the speed,” said Juarez. “When we turned for home I was able to tip her out and she was much the best. She just ran away from them. I knew Valedictorian would go out for the lead. So I just wanted to wait with her and let her settle and we were able to do just that.”

Valiance, a daughter of Tapit, paid $3.80 to win as the favorite. The 4-year-old filly, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Martin Schwartz and CHC Inc., started her career 3-for-3 as a 3-year-old, with two of those victories on the turf at Monmouth Park. She is now 5-for-7 lifetime.

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Basin Looks to Remain Perfect at the Spa

Basin (Liam’s Map) is two-for-two at Saratoga so far in his young career and looks to extend that record and return to winning ways in the Spa’s GII Amsterdam S. Saturday, which will be his first start for trainer Todd Pletcher. Previously trained by Steve Asmussen, the bay earned his diploma here at second asking last July and dominated the GI Runhappy Hopeful S. next out in September. Third to now-retired Grade I winner Nadal (Blame) in the GII Rebel S. in March, he was fourth in the nine-panel Oaklawn S. Apr. 11 and checked in second behind ‘TDN Rising Star’ Charlatan (Speightstown) in one division of the GI Arkansas Derby, but was awarded the winning purse when that rival was disqualified from the money for a lidocaine positive. Basin was last seen fading to 10th in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. around two turns at Keeneland July 11.

“He’s been training well and I’ve been pleased with his works,” Pletcher said. “We’ll see how he responds to the cutback in distance.”

Long Weekend (Majesticperfection) won his first three starts of the year by just over 11 1/2 combined lengths, including the Mar. 21 Gazebo S. and Apr. 25 Bachelor S. His only loss this year came when a close third in a sloppy renewal of Belmont’s Gold Fever S. July 10, but he was promoted to second after the DQ of the original runner-up.

“There’s no secret to our game plan,” trainer Tom Amoss said. “He’s very, very fast out the gate and we’re going to try and use that speed. We were a little disappointed with how things turned out at Belmont with the track condition and not breaking well that day, which was very uncharacteristic of him. We thought he fought hard but was certainly compromised right at the start of the race. We’re looking to make amends for that.”

The unbeaten Yaupon (Uncle Mo) takes a step up to black-type company in this event. A narrow debut winner at Churchill June 20, the $255,000 OBSOPN buy wired a track-and-trip optional claimer July 18, earning a 101 Beyer Speed Figure. The dark bay enters this test off a three-panel bullet in :37 flat (1/7) over the Oklahoma training track Aug. 24.

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Pletcher Waiting For Friday Workouts Before Finalizing Plans For 3-Year-Old Trio

Trainer Todd Pletcher originally was pointing Dr Post to the Grade 1, $3 million Kentucky Derby, but said he is keeping his options open and plans on working the horse, along with promising allowance winners Money Moves and Happy Saver, at Saratoga Race Course on Friday morning.

Pletcher said he could determine the next spots for his sophomores by the weekend, with the Grade 2, $150,000 Jim Dandy on September 5 at the Spa and the $100,000 Federico Tesio on September 7 at Laurel Park among the possible spots as well. The Jim Dandy, is one of four graded stakes on the final Saturday of the Saratoga summer meet.

“They are all working tomorrow, and we'll finalize plans probably on Saturday and see who will stay here and maybe who will go to Kentucky,” Pletcher said. “The Tesio on the seventh is a possibility.”

St. Elias Stable's Dr Post was on the Triple Crown trail earlier this year, running second to Tiz the Law in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 20 that served as the series' first leg this year. The Quality Road colt ran third last out in the Grade 1 Haskell on July 18 at Monmouth and has earned enough points to qualify for the Kentucky Derby, with his 80 points and $331,035 in non-restricted stakes earnings putting him in eighth for a race that could fill its customary field size of 20.

But the “Run for the Roses” might not be in play Dr Post, who is 2-1-1 in five career starts, including a win in the Unbridled in April at Gulfstream Park. The move leaves open the possibility of Pletcher, who has saddled more Kentucky Derby contenders than any trainer in history with 54, will not have an entrant in the race for the first time since 2003.

Money Moves and Happy Saver will both face stakes company for the first time in their next respective starts.

Owned by Robert LaPenta and Bortolazzo Stable, Money Moves won his first two starts at Gulfstream Park before running second by a neck to Prioritize going 1 1/8 miles on a fast Saratoga main track in an optional claimer on July 25. The Candy Ride colt earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure for that runner-up effort.

Unraced as a juvenile, the Kentucky bred has flashed the talent that made him a $975,000 purchase at the 2019 Ocala Breeders' Sale.

Wertheimer and Frere's Happy Saver has followed a similar trajectory. Also unraced as a 2-year-old, the son of Super Saver has started his career 2-for-2, posting a 5 ½-length debut win on Belmont Stakes Day going seven-furlongs on Big Sandy before besting an allowance field by four lengths on July 26 at Saratoga going 1 1/8 miles.

“They've run well enough in their allowance races to show they have stakes in their future,” Pletcher said. “We'll see if they can handle the step up in class. I think all three are high quality colts and train accordingly.”

Should Pletcher choose to run any of the trio in the 57th edition of the Jim Dandy, the respective colts will once again be competing at a mile and a furlong. Dr Post is the only one of that group that has not previously raced at the Spa but has registered three works here already entering Friday.

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Jersey-Bred Valedictorian Takes On Talented Field In Eatontown Stakes

In a turf race that features two horses sired in Ireland, one in Great Britain, three from Chad Brown's powerhouse stable and one trained by Todd Pletcher, Kelly Breen will take his best shot with his classy Jersey-bred Valedictorian.

Monmouth Park's leading trainer says it's what she does and has always done – take on top-notch grass distaffers almost every time she races.

With Breen's hope that she may be the lone speed, Valedictorian will look to get back on track in Saturday's $150,000 Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes, the feature on Monmouth Park's 14-race card. She won the race a year ago, one of 12 career victories that have helped her to $737,115 in lifetime earnings.

“I think it's pretty neat having a Jersey-bred to run against all these good mares,” Breen said. “But if she happened to be running as good as she has in the past and she was from Oshkosh I'd still be proud of her.”

Breen will look to get the 6-year-old daughter of Temple City jumpstarted after an 0-for-5 start to her 2020 campaign, with only a pair of third-place finishes to show for it. But three of those starts have been against graded stakes company, including the Grade 1 Just A Game at Belmont Park on June 27.

In her most recent start, the Grade 3 Matchmaker Stakes at Monmouth, she faded to sixth after setting the pace for a good portion of the nine-furlong grass feature. The Eatontown is at a mile and sixteenth.

“There were no easy spots to bring her back this year,” said Breen, who is looking for his third Monmouth Park training title after topping the track's standings in 2005 and 2006. “There were just no spots out there to maybe get her an easy win. So she keeps going up against the best of the best.

“Yes, it's been frustrating but she is still running and her numbers are still good and she's doing well. She looks great. It's just been a lot of tough spots.”

The Eatontown looks to be another tough spot, with the Brown-trained Nay Lady Nay back after winning the Matchmaker on July 18. Tapit Today, also trained by Brown, was fourth in that same race, beaten just a length and three-quarters. His third starter be Noor Sahara, who will be making her third start in the United States after racing in France.

Pletcher, meanwhile, will be represented by Valiance, who is 2-for-2 on Monmouth Park's turf course and 4-for-4 at a mile and a sixteenth during her six-race career.

There's a field of eight entered as well as two main track only alternates.

“We'll see what happens with the weather but I think we could be the speed of the race,” said Breen. “Everything about this race will be helpful to her – the mile and a sixteenth, being back on her home track, which she loves, the chance she could be the speed. All of it. And she is doing well.”

Owned by Epic Racing, Valedictorian shows a 12-6-6 line from 35 career starts. She is 4-for-6 on Monmouth's turf course and 5-for-12 at a mile and a sixteenth.

If the weather has an impact on the race, Breen said it won't affect his mare.

“She ran well on a soft, yielding turf course and if he comes off she has run well in the mud,” Breen said. “She can do it all.”

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