OCEANPORT, N.J. — Todd Pletcher is back at the Breeders' Cup in a big way again, and this time he's hoping for better results than last year.
The nation's leading trainer sent out a record 17 horses in 7 of 8 Breeders' Cup races at Churchill Downs in 2006, but he never made it to the winner's circle. His only consolation was nearly $3.5 million in purse money, primarily from three second- and three third-place finishes.
Not good enough for perfectionist Pletcher.
"I would have preferred to win them all," he said.
Pletcher entered 11 horses in six of the 11 Breeders' Cup races at Monmouth Park this weekend, including two morning-line favorites Saturday - Lawyer Ron in the $5 million Classic and Indian Vale in the $2 million Distaff.
He has strong backups, too, with Haskell Invitational winner Any Given Saturday in the Classic and Grade 1-winning fillies Octave and Unbridled Belle in the Distaff.
In the turf races, Pletcher sends out English Channel in the $3 million Turf for the third year in a row to take on 7-5 favorite Dylan Thomas and Honey Ryder and Wait a While are among the top choices in the $2 million Filly & Mare Turf.
Pletcher's other runners are long shots, Icy Atlantic and Host are both 30-1 in the $2 million Mile and The Leopard is 8-1 in the new $1 million Juvenile Turf on Friday.
"From top to bottom, we've got a really, really strong group of horses," Pletcher said. "That's what you hope for, and then you've got to get lucky and have things go your way on race day."
Pletcher is 2 for 41 in the Breeders' Cup, his victories coming in 2004 with Speightstown in the Sprint and Ashado in the Distaff.
Elliott Walden of WinStar Farm, which co-owns Any Given Saturday, feels Pletcher's Class of '07 is ready for final exams.
"As always, he does a great job and works hard at it," Walden said. "I've been around his barn, and it looks like a lot of his horses will be coming up to it the right way, including Any Given Saturday."
Pletcher, a 40-year-old Texan, is having another Eclipse Awardwinning season, with 245 victories from 1,056 starters and leads all trainers with $23.5 million in earnings through Oct. 23.
Pletcher also ended his Triple Crown drought at 0 for 28 when the filly Rags to Riches won the Belmont Stakes. And along the way, he's grown to appreciate his older horses, especially 5-year-old English Channel and 6-year-old Honey Ryder, who will run the final races of their careers Saturday.
"It's sort of the cream of the crop that has provided us will a lot of the success we've had not only this year but the last two, three years," Pletcher said. "You get a little bit sad that they and a couple of others might not be coming back."
Lawyer Ron, formerly trained by Oaklawn Park's Bob Holthus,and Any Given Saturday are in that group. Legal wrangling among owners could lead to early retirement for the 4-yearold Lawyer Ron, who won the Whitney and the Woodward and could be voted Horse of the Year if he wins the Classic.
Sheik Mohammed's Darley Stable takes ownership of 3-yearold Any Given Saturday after the Classic and Walden says it's " 50-50" that the colt will run again. The feeling is a Classic win and the colt would be retired after his fourth straight win, but if he runs well in defeat he could remain in training for next year's $6 million Dubai World Cup.
English Channel and Honey Ryder have provided wins galore for Pletcher. English Channel, a two-time winner of the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic and the United Nations Stakes, has won 12 of 22 races and earned $3.7 million for owner James Scatuorchio; Honey Ryder has won 13 of 32 starts and earned $2.3 million for Glencrest Farm.
A year ago, Pletcher also had to deal with a Breeders' Cup day in which one of his two favorites, Fleet Indian, broke down during the Distaff. His other favorite, Circular Quay, finished second to Street Sense in the Juvenile.
With big chances in the Classic, the Distaff and the Filly & Mare Turf on Saturday, Pletcher is optimistic.
"I feel very good about the collection of horses we have, and I think they are going to run well," he said. "Sometimes, you run well and you have three seconds."Not horsing around
Trainer Todd Pletcher has 11 horses entered in this weekend's Breeders' Cup races at Monmouth Park in Ocean Park, N.J.
FRIDAY JUVENILE TURF The Leopard SATURDAY FILLY AND MARE TURF Honey Ryder, Wait a While MILE Icy Atlantic, Host DISTAFF Octave, Indian Vale, Unbridled Belle TURF English Channel CLASSIC Lawyer Ron, Any Given Saturday
Sports, Pages 26 on 10/25/2007