While he was at Keeneland for Friday’s (Nov 6) first day of the 37th Breeders’ Cup World Championships, trainer Todd Pletcher earned the 5,000th victory of his career at Aqueduct when Repole Stable’s Microsecond captured the seventh race.
“It’s such a great tribute to the whole staff, the whole team,” said Pletcher, who has sent out the earners of more than US$395 million. “A lot of people are dedicated and put in a lot of hard work. But mainly it’s about the horses. We’ve just been blessed to have so many good clients providing us with horses that are capable of performing well, and I’m proud of our team for developing them the best we can.”
Pletcher had horses entered in five Friday races at Keeneland, including three races in the Breeders’ Cup.
“It would have been kind of cool to do it in a Breeders’ Cup race,” he said about reaching the milestone. “But we’ve always said that our goal when we get a horse in is to do the very best we can. So every win counts, and we’re happy to get it.”
Pletcher has been especially successful at Keeneland, where he has won 57 stakes races to lead all other trainers. He has won 235 races here, good for fifth place on the list of the track’s all-time leading trainers.
Pletcher’s former boss, D. Wayne Lukas, is Keeneland’s all-time leading trainer by wins, with 295.
The 53-year-old Pletcher, a seven-time Eclipse Award-winner, has saddled winners of five American Classics and 11 Breeders' Cup races as part of 161 total Grade 1 wins.
