Todd Pletcher | Horse Racing Free Tips

Battalion Runner’s Rudder’s Men Cruises To Win On Debut

6th-Belmont The Big A, $95,000, Msw, 10-22, 2yo, 7f, 1:25.64, ft, 4 1/4 lengths.
RUDDER'S MEN (c, 2, Battalion Runner–Unblemished, by Speightstown) was easily the most popular choice at 1-2 for his debut run after working a bullet four furlongs from the gate in :46 2/5 (1/187) Oct. 7. Campaigned by the same connections as his freshman sire (by Unbridled's Song), Rudder's Men hustled to the front shortly after the break and settled nicely a path off the rail through a sharp opening quarter in :22.53. Kept under wraps until he straightened for home, he responded well to quick urging and sprinted clear of the field, coming into the final furlong with a well-established gap. Classic Legacy (Into Mischief) closed well alongside Classic Catch (Classic Empire) to pick up the pieces but Rudder's Men hit the wire wrapped up 4 1/4 lengths to the good. The third winner from Battalion Runner's first crop of nine foals, Rudder's Men is the first foal out of a half-sister to GISW Yaupon (Uncle Mo) and MGSP Sawyer's Hill (Spring At Last). He has a weanling half-brother by Complexity while Unblemished visited Awesome Slew for the 2023 slew. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $52,250. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O/B-St. Elias Stables, LLC (FL); T-Todd A. Pletcher.

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Trio Of Breeders’ Cup Contenders Work For Todd Pletcher

A day after working many of his 2-year-olds expected for the Future Stars Friday races during the Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov 4. at Keeneland, trainer Todd Pletcher breezed his older horses Friday. The trio, led by MGISW Life Is Good (Into Mischief), champion Malathaat (Curlin), and MGISW winner Nest (Curlin), are expected to compete in the Breeders' Cup Nov. 5.

Shortly after 9 am, CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm's GI Breeders' Cup Classic candidate Life Is Good breezed five furlongs on a fast track in 1:00.40 for his first work since scoring a victory in the GI Woodward S. at Belmont at the Big A Oct. 1. Life Is Good won last year's GI Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar.

“Super,” Pletcher said of Life Is Good's work. “Pretty much what we have come to expect from him. He just does everything so effortlessly. He doesn't look like he is doing anything, but you look at your watch and he comes home in :23 and change.”

Shadwell Stable's Malathaat and Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House's Nest worked together around 7:30 am. They covered a half-mile in :48.60, producing splits of :25.40, :48.60 and out in 1:01, 1:14.20 and 1:28.80.

“We were just looking for more of the same,” Pletcher said. “They are two terrific fillies – kind workhorses and straightforward. It was just a maintenance half-mile with both of them coming off races 12 days ago with a target 15 days from now. Looks like they are holding their form great. Both seem to love the track again this morning.”

Both fillies won Oct. 9 with Malathaat taking the GI Juddmonte Spinster S. at Keeneland and Nest capturing the GII Beldame S. at Belmont at the Big A. The two are both being pointed at the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff.

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Grade I Winner Happy Saver to Stand at Airdrie

Wertheimer and Frere's homebred Grade I winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Happy Saver (Super Saver–Happy Week, by Distorted Humor) will retire to Airdrie Stud in Midway, Kentucky following this year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic, Airdrie Stud announced Friday. He will stand for an initial fee of $12,500 LFSN.

Undefeated in his first five starts, Happy Saver's signature victory came in the historic GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, where he won the race as a 3-year-old in his fourth career start. Most recently, Happy Saver has finished second in each of the last four Grade I races he has contested. Those efforts include runner-up finishes to Flightline (Tapit) in the GI Metropolitan H. and Life Is Good (Into Mischief) in the GI Whitney S., races in which he finished in front of GISWs Olympiad (Speightstown), Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) and Aloha West (Hard Spun), among others.

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher throughout his career, Happy Saver will take a lifetime record of five wins and six graded stakes placings from his 12 lifetime races and earnings of nearly $1.2 million into an expected start in the $6,000,000 GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland Nov. 5.

A regally bred son of the multiple Eclipse Award-winning sire Super Saver, Happy Saver's female family stands as one of the breed's most important. Out of the sprinting black-type Distorted Humor mare Happy Week, Happy Saver's third dam is Broodmare of the Year Weekend Surprise, dam of the champion racehorse and leading sire A.P. Indy, as well as Classic winner Summer Squall.

(Watch Happy Saver's Keeneland work Friday morning)

“Happy Saver has been a priority for our farm since the day we watched him break his maiden in his debut at Belmont,” said Airdrie's Bret Jones. “He won by five lengths that day and ran the same 1:21 and two-fifths as the seven-furlong Grade I Woody Stephens run on the same card at the same distance. It was a `wow' performance and he has validated that early impression by becoming one of the best racehorses in America. He's a direct descendent of Weekend Surprise and when you combine his female family with that of Super Saver's, it's as rich a genetic bank as any horse that will ever retire to stud. He exemplifies the Wertheimer family's best-in-class breeding program and we are so grateful that they have allowed us to partner with them on a stallion that has the speed, class and charisma to be a really special sire.”

“Winning the Jockey Club as an undefeated 3-year-old takes a very special horse, and that's exactly what we've always believed Happy Saver to be,” added Pletcher. “He's a tremendous talent and runs with as much heart as any horse we lead over. He has all the characteristics I think any breeder would look for in a young stallion.”

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Pletcher Juveniles Tune Up for Breeders’ Cup

A host of juveniles from the Todd Pletcher barn gearing up for engagements on Friday of Breeders' Cup championship weekend worked at Keeneland Thursday.

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Forte (Violence) and Harrell Ventures' Lost Ark (Violence), the respective winner and sixth-place finisher in the Oct. 8 GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity, breezed a half-mile together in :49.20 immediately after the track's second renovation break at 9 a.m. Both are candidates for the $2-million GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Keeneland clockers caught the two in fractions of :13.40, :25, and out in 1:02, 1:15.80 and 1:30.20. (Click here for a video of the work).

“That was a pretty standard breeze from them,” Pletcher said. “They're both solid work horses and are always willing. We were just hoping to see more of what they normally do.”

Pletcher was happy with the colts' performances in the Breeders' Futurity.

“We felt like [Forte] handled the added distance [of 1 1/16 miles] and the two turns; he certainly looked like he relished it,” Pletcher said. “Lost Ark had a rough trip into the first turn and that kind of took him completely out of position. He finished up with some interest, so that was encouraging.”

Also working Thursday, GI Frizette S. winner Chocolate Gelato (Practical Joke) worked in company with Florida Sire My Dear Girl S. winner Atomically (Girvin) following the first renovation at 7:30 a.m. Pointing towards the GI NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, the pair clocked the half-mile in :49 flat (11/26).

Fractions for the work, according to Keeneland clockers, were :13.20, :25.20, and out in 1:01.80, 1:15.20 and 1:30.

“I thought it was perfect,” Pletcher said. “Went off nicely, finished up well, good strong gallop out. Both got over the track [as if] they like it. It was a well-executed breeze.”

Thursday's work tab at Keeneland also included GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint contender Slammed (Marking), who worked three furlongs in :36.80 (6/9) for trainer Todd Fincher.

“That was a good way to start the day. She was very happy out there,” said jockey Florent Geroux, who was aboard for the work.

Slammed earned a berth in the F/M Sprint with her victory in the GII Thoroughbred Club of America S. at Keeneland Oct. 8.

Also Thursday, two Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” victors owned by Susan Moulton and trained by Wayne Catalano–Manny Wah (Will Take Charge) and Andthewinneris (Oscar Performance)–returned to the work tab following their victories during Fall Stars Weekend.

Manny Wah, winner of the GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Oct. 7, worked a half-mile in :47.40 for the second-fastest move of 26 at the distance. Manny Wah is headed for the $2-million GI Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint, a race in which he finished fifth in at Keeneland in 2020.

The GII Castle & Key Bourbon winner Andthewinneris worked a half-mile in :48.60 (8/26) with splits of :12.40 and :24.40. Andthewinneris is a candidate for the $1-million GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf that will close Future Stars Friday Nov. 4.

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