Ever since he began working with horses as a kid, Todd Pletcher always strived to be the best. Along the way, he has not only succeeded in becoming Thoroughbred racing’s all-time leading trainer in purses earned at $354 million and counting, he’s earned the respect of the entire racing industry with his superior horsemanship and the classy manner with which he handles himself.
In just over 20 years, Pletcher has already produced a resume that may never be topped. And he’s still going strong. His statistics are astonishing: a record seven Eclipse Awards in the past 13 years as the nation’s Outstanding Trainer; 10 Eclipse-Award winning horses, including 2007 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches - the first filly to take the final leg of the Triple Crown in more than 100 years; and five Triple Crown race victories, two in the Kentucky Derby with Super Saver in 2010 and Always Dreaming on May 6, 2017; and three in the Belmont with the aforementioned Rags to Riches, Palace Malice in 2013 and Tapwrit in 2017, with his other entry, a one-eyed horse named Patch, finishing third.
For history buffs, it should be noted that Pletcher became the first trainer to win two Triple Crown races with two different horses in the same year since 1996, when his mentor, Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas did it with Grindstone (Derby) and Editor’s Note (Belmont).
Pletcher does much more than train horses. He has a handle on all aspects of the industry, from buying, selling, breeding, safety and, of course, racing at the highest levels of the game. Whether he’s in jeans and a sports shirt at one of his meticulous stables or sporting a tailored suit at the races, he’s hands-on all the time. He’s knowledgeable about every aspect of the sport and insightful to the point of knowing every detail about the status of every one of the 175 horses he has in training.
The son of accomplished trainer J.J. Pletcher, 50-year-old Todd Pletcher not only is a positive spokesman for Thoroughbred racing, but for Corporate America as well.
Victories by his horses in nearly every major race in North America over the years have made Pletcher a recognizable face and household name. And corporations have taken notice of his vast knowledge of the industry and his business and marketing savvy, seeking him out for branding partnerships for top racing events.
His multiple corporate partners include Grey Goose (Vodka) and Ram Trucks. After Always Dreaming won the Derby, Pletcher was presented with a One-of-a-kind special Kentucky Derby Edition Ram 2500 limited truck. Shortly thereafter he announced that he would keep the truck but donate its value to two Thoroughbred aftercare organizations he’s supported throughout the years.
Pletcher’s racing team and Always Dreaming were featured in a nationally-televised Ram Trucks commercial during the NBC Sports telecast of the 2017 Preakness Stakes.
Always Dreaming won the Derby by 2 ¾ lengths in a 20-horse field to win “the greatest two minutes in sports” for his fourth consecutive win. He was beaten in the Preakness and skipped the Belmont Stakes. He was an Eclipse Award finalist for Three-Year-Old Male. Tapwrit won the Belmont by two lengths over favorite Irish War Cry.
With his home base at Belmont Park in New York, Pletcher has stables in California, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, setting a standard of excellence in following the footsteps of Lukas.
Pletcher was born in Dallas, and first began working with horses at the age of seven. He was a hot walker for his dad, at Ruidoso Downs, graduated from the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program in 1989, went to work for Lukas and helped him develop champions Thunder Gulch, Serena's Song and Flanders. He also spent a summer in Hollywood Park working as a groom for Hall of Famer Charlie Whittingham.
He went out on his own in 1995, starting with six horses, and saddled his first winner, Majestic Number, in February 1996 at Gulfstream Park. From there, he was off to the races.
The big breakthrough came in 2004 - two Eclipse Award-winning horses and a first Eclipse as Outstanding Trainer. Ashado won the Kentucky Oaks (considered the Kentucky Derby for fillies), followed by the Breeders' Cup Distaff and was voted the Eclipse as the top 3-year-old filly (A year later, Ashado won another Eclipse as the top older female). Speightstown gave Pletcher another Breeders' Cup win in '04 when he took the Sprint and won the Eclipse Award as the nation's top sprinter. Pletcher was voted the top trainer after leading the earnings list with $17,481,923.
In 2005, he set a single-season purse earnings record with $20,867,842 and won a second Eclipse Award as the nation’s Outstanding Trainer. Among his big wins were the Travers with Flower Alley and the Blue Grass with Bandini.
A year later, he shattered his own earnings record with $27,670,243 and brought home his third consecutive Eclipse Award. On the day he broke the mark, he won the with Fleet Indian, the Flower Bowl Invitational with Honey Ryder, the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational with English Channel and the Fitz Dixon Cotillion Breeders' Cup Handicap at Philadelphia Park with India. He also set a record for stakes wins in a year with 100 and graded stakes wins (57) - the previous mark of 92 was set by Lukas in 1987. He also won the Haskell Invitational with Bluegrass Cat and picked up Eclipse Awards for Wait A While (champion 3-year-old filly) and Fleet Indian (champion older female).
In 2007, Pletcher won his first Triple Crown race, and did it in historic fashion when Rags to Riches won the Belmont. He led trainers in earnings for the fourth consecutive year with $28,116,097 and brought home his fourth consecutive Eclipse Award.
Three years, and many more Grade 1 wins and training titles later, Pletcher reached the ultimate winner's circle for the first time - winning the 2010 Derby with Super Saver, an 8-1 betting choice with Calvin Borel aboard. Later in the year, he won three Breeders' Cup races - the Juvenile with Uncle Mo, the Juvenile Filly Turf with More Than Real and the Juvenile Turf with Pluck. Once again, he topped the earnings leader board with $23,157,098 and took home another Eclipse Award for outstanding trainer.
In 2011, it was the year of Uncle Mo and Stay Thirsty. Considered a Triple Crown threat after an Eclipse-Award winning 2-year-old campaign, Uncle Mo won the Kelso and the Timely Writer before losing in the Wood Memorial. He was then sidelined by a life-threatening illness, but came back and was beaten at the wire in the King's Bishop after a courageous effort. Meanwhile, stable mate Stay Thirsty had picked up the mantle, coming through with wins in the Jim Dandy and the Travers. Among his other stars in '11 were Ogden Phipps winner Awesome Maria, Prioress winner Her Smile, Ballerina winner Hilda's Passion and multiple stakes winners including Caixa Eletronica and Calibrachoa.
Pletcher led all trainers in earnings in 2012 for the third consecutive year with over $20 million. He won 42 graded stakes races, including 10 Grade 1’s, topped by two each by Shanghai Bobby and Love and Pride. Among his big wins were the CashCall Futurity with Violence, the United Nations Stakes with Turbo Compressor, the Cigar Mile with Stay Thirsty, the Hopeful, Champagne and BC Juvenile with Shanghai Bobby, the Remsen and Futurity with Overanalyze and the Wood Memorial with Gemologist. Shanghai Bobby was crowned the 2013 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt.
Palace Malice gave Pletcher his third Triple Crown race win in the 2013 Belmont, winning by 3 ¼ lengths in a 14 horse field that included Preakness winner Oxbow and Derby winner Orb. The colt went on to win the Jim Dandy at Saratoga. Another highly acclaimed colt from the Pletcher barn, Verrazano, blew away the field by an astonishing 9 ¾ lengths in the $1 million Haskell Invitational. He finished the year atop the earnings list again. He had 224 wins from 946 starts for an astounding 24 per cent win clip and his horses finished in the money 57 per cent of the time.
Once again, Pletcher lead the nation in earnings in 2014 with $22,476,736, and was honored with a seventh Eclipse Award as the nation’s top trainer. Among his 240 wins were 62 stakes races (40 of them graded). The nation’s top conditioner reached a major career milestone in May when he passed Lukas for the No. 1 spot on the all-time leading trainers by earnings. He continued to campaign 2013 Belmont winner Palace Malice, adding four more graded stakes wins to the colt’s resume, including the Metropolitan Handicap. His numerous stakes wins included victories with Constitution in the Florida Derby and Danza in the Arkansas Derby. Danza went on and finished third in the Kentucky Derby. Three-year-old filly Stopchargingmaria brought home graded stakes wins in the Black-Eyed Susan, the Coaching Club American Oaks and the Alabama.
The hits kept coming in 2015. Again, Pletcher was the leading money earner with $26,278,647. His horses won 269 races, including 47 graded stakes wins. Stopchargingmaria and Liam’s Map gave Pletcher two wins at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships when Stopchargingmaria crossed the finish line first in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff and Liam’s Map prevailed in the Las Vegas Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
In 2016, Pletcher won 274 races from 1,213 starters for purse earnings of $21,177,262, good for second place on the purse earnings list. Among his stakes winners were Outwork in the Wood Memorial, Destin in the Tampa Bay Derby, Stanford in the Charles Town Classic, Mshawish in the Donn Handicap, Ectot in the Joe Hirsch Invitational, Off the Tracks in the Mother Goose, Sweet Loretta in the Spinaway and Curalina in the La Troienne.
Pletcher closed out 2017 with another record-breaking year. He became the first trainer to win two Triple Crown races, with two different horses, in the same year since 1996, when his mentor, Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas did so with Grindstone (Derby) and Editor’s Note (Belmont). Saddling both the KY Derby winning horse, Always Dreaming and the Belmont Stakes winner, Tapwrit, he finished the year with $22,444,161 in earnings, with 253 wins from 1,053 starts, placing him second best in earnings on the All-American leader board for the year.
In just over 20 years, Pletcher has already produced a resume that may never be topped. And he’s still going strong. His statistics are astonishing: a record seven Eclipse Awards in the past 13 years as the nation’s Outstanding Trainer; 10 Eclipse-Award winning horses, including 2007 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches - the first filly to take the final leg of the Triple Crown in more than 100 years; and five Triple Crown race victories, two in the Kentucky Derby with Super Saver in 2010 and Always Dreaming on May 6, 2017; and three in the Belmont with the aforementioned Rags to Riches, Palace Malice in 2013 and Tapwrit in 2017, with his other entry, a one-eyed horse named Patch, finishing third.
For history buffs, it should be noted that Pletcher became the first trainer to win two Triple Crown races with two different horses in the same year since 1996, when his mentor, Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas did it with Grindstone (Derby) and Editor’s Note (Belmont).
Pletcher does much more than train horses. He has a handle on all aspects of the industry, from buying, selling, breeding, safety and, of course, racing at the highest levels of the game. Whether he’s in jeans and a sports shirt at one of his meticulous stables or sporting a tailored suit at the races, he’s hands-on all the time. He’s knowledgeable about every aspect of the sport and insightful to the point of knowing every detail about the status of every one of the 175 horses he has in training.
The son of accomplished trainer J.J. Pletcher, 50-year-old Todd Pletcher not only is a positive spokesman for Thoroughbred racing, but for Corporate America as well.
Victories by his horses in nearly every major race in North America over the years have made Pletcher a recognizable face and household name. And corporations have taken notice of his vast knowledge of the industry and his business and marketing savvy, seeking him out for branding partnerships for top racing events.
His multiple corporate partners include Grey Goose (Vodka) and Ram Trucks. After Always Dreaming won the Derby, Pletcher was presented with a One-of-a-kind special Kentucky Derby Edition Ram 2500 limited truck. Shortly thereafter he announced that he would keep the truck but donate its value to two Thoroughbred aftercare organizations he’s supported throughout the years.
Pletcher’s racing team and Always Dreaming were featured in a nationally-televised Ram Trucks commercial during the NBC Sports telecast of the 2017 Preakness Stakes.
Always Dreaming won the Derby by 2 ¾ lengths in a 20-horse field to win “the greatest two minutes in sports” for his fourth consecutive win. He was beaten in the Preakness and skipped the Belmont Stakes. He was an Eclipse Award finalist for Three-Year-Old Male. Tapwrit won the Belmont by two lengths over favorite Irish War Cry.
With his home base at Belmont Park in New York, Pletcher has stables in California, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, setting a standard of excellence in following the footsteps of Lukas.
Pletcher was born in Dallas, and first began working with horses at the age of seven. He was a hot walker for his dad, at Ruidoso Downs, graduated from the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program in 1989, went to work for Lukas and helped him develop champions Thunder Gulch, Serena's Song and Flanders. He also spent a summer in Hollywood Park working as a groom for Hall of Famer Charlie Whittingham.
He went out on his own in 1995, starting with six horses, and saddled his first winner, Majestic Number, in February 1996 at Gulfstream Park. From there, he was off to the races.
The big breakthrough came in 2004 - two Eclipse Award-winning horses and a first Eclipse as Outstanding Trainer. Ashado won the Kentucky Oaks (considered the Kentucky Derby for fillies), followed by the Breeders' Cup Distaff and was voted the Eclipse as the top 3-year-old filly (A year later, Ashado won another Eclipse as the top older female). Speightstown gave Pletcher another Breeders' Cup win in '04 when he took the Sprint and won the Eclipse Award as the nation's top sprinter. Pletcher was voted the top trainer after leading the earnings list with $17,481,923.
In 2005, he set a single-season purse earnings record with $20,867,842 and won a second Eclipse Award as the nation’s Outstanding Trainer. Among his big wins were the Travers with Flower Alley and the Blue Grass with Bandini.
A year later, he shattered his own earnings record with $27,670,243 and brought home his third consecutive Eclipse Award. On the day he broke the mark, he won the with Fleet Indian, the Flower Bowl Invitational with Honey Ryder, the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational with English Channel and the Fitz Dixon Cotillion Breeders' Cup Handicap at Philadelphia Park with India. He also set a record for stakes wins in a year with 100 and graded stakes wins (57) - the previous mark of 92 was set by Lukas in 1987. He also won the Haskell Invitational with Bluegrass Cat and picked up Eclipse Awards for Wait A While (champion 3-year-old filly) and Fleet Indian (champion older female).
In 2007, Pletcher won his first Triple Crown race, and did it in historic fashion when Rags to Riches won the Belmont. He led trainers in earnings for the fourth consecutive year with $28,116,097 and brought home his fourth consecutive Eclipse Award.
Three years, and many more Grade 1 wins and training titles later, Pletcher reached the ultimate winner's circle for the first time - winning the 2010 Derby with Super Saver, an 8-1 betting choice with Calvin Borel aboard. Later in the year, he won three Breeders' Cup races - the Juvenile with Uncle Mo, the Juvenile Filly Turf with More Than Real and the Juvenile Turf with Pluck. Once again, he topped the earnings leader board with $23,157,098 and took home another Eclipse Award for outstanding trainer.
In 2011, it was the year of Uncle Mo and Stay Thirsty. Considered a Triple Crown threat after an Eclipse-Award winning 2-year-old campaign, Uncle Mo won the Kelso and the Timely Writer before losing in the Wood Memorial. He was then sidelined by a life-threatening illness, but came back and was beaten at the wire in the King's Bishop after a courageous effort. Meanwhile, stable mate Stay Thirsty had picked up the mantle, coming through with wins in the Jim Dandy and the Travers. Among his other stars in '11 were Ogden Phipps winner Awesome Maria, Prioress winner Her Smile, Ballerina winner Hilda's Passion and multiple stakes winners including Caixa Eletronica and Calibrachoa.
Pletcher led all trainers in earnings in 2012 for the third consecutive year with over $20 million. He won 42 graded stakes races, including 10 Grade 1’s, topped by two each by Shanghai Bobby and Love and Pride. Among his big wins were the CashCall Futurity with Violence, the United Nations Stakes with Turbo Compressor, the Cigar Mile with Stay Thirsty, the Hopeful, Champagne and BC Juvenile with Shanghai Bobby, the Remsen and Futurity with Overanalyze and the Wood Memorial with Gemologist. Shanghai Bobby was crowned the 2013 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt.
Palace Malice gave Pletcher his third Triple Crown race win in the 2013 Belmont, winning by 3 ¼ lengths in a 14 horse field that included Preakness winner Oxbow and Derby winner Orb. The colt went on to win the Jim Dandy at Saratoga. Another highly acclaimed colt from the Pletcher barn, Verrazano, blew away the field by an astonishing 9 ¾ lengths in the $1 million Haskell Invitational. He finished the year atop the earnings list again. He had 224 wins from 946 starts for an astounding 24 per cent win clip and his horses finished in the money 57 per cent of the time.
Once again, Pletcher lead the nation in earnings in 2014 with $22,476,736, and was honored with a seventh Eclipse Award as the nation’s top trainer. Among his 240 wins were 62 stakes races (40 of them graded). The nation’s top conditioner reached a major career milestone in May when he passed Lukas for the No. 1 spot on the all-time leading trainers by earnings. He continued to campaign 2013 Belmont winner Palace Malice, adding four more graded stakes wins to the colt’s resume, including the Metropolitan Handicap. His numerous stakes wins included victories with Constitution in the Florida Derby and Danza in the Arkansas Derby. Danza went on and finished third in the Kentucky Derby. Three-year-old filly Stopchargingmaria brought home graded stakes wins in the Black-Eyed Susan, the Coaching Club American Oaks and the Alabama.
The hits kept coming in 2015. Again, Pletcher was the leading money earner with $26,278,647. His horses won 269 races, including 47 graded stakes wins. Stopchargingmaria and Liam’s Map gave Pletcher two wins at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships when Stopchargingmaria crossed the finish line first in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff and Liam’s Map prevailed in the Las Vegas Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
In 2016, Pletcher won 274 races from 1,213 starters for purse earnings of $21,177,262, good for second place on the purse earnings list. Among his stakes winners were Outwork in the Wood Memorial, Destin in the Tampa Bay Derby, Stanford in the Charles Town Classic, Mshawish in the Donn Handicap, Ectot in the Joe Hirsch Invitational, Off the Tracks in the Mother Goose, Sweet Loretta in the Spinaway and Curalina in the La Troienne.
Pletcher closed out 2017 with another record-breaking year. He became the first trainer to win two Triple Crown races, with two different horses, in the same year since 1996, when his mentor, Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas did so with Grindstone (Derby) and Editor’s Note (Belmont). Saddling both the KY Derby winning horse, Always Dreaming and the Belmont Stakes winner, Tapwrit, he finished the year with $22,444,161 in earnings, with 253 wins from 1,053 starts, placing him second best in earnings on the All-American leader board for the year.