NEWS
Pletcher earns fourth straight Eclipse Award
Posted: Monday, January 21, 2008 11:40 PM
TODD PLETCHER
NTRA photo
Trainer Todd Pletcher set out to accomplish a goal in 2007 that he had never achieved—win an American classic race.
Pletcher saddled a record-tying five starters in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), with Circular Quay finishing the best of his contingent in sixth.
He saddled two contenders in the Preakness Stakes (G1), but it was not until his last-minute decision to enter Rags to Riches in the Belmont Stakes (G1) that his ultimate goal for the year was accomplished.
“Without a doubt, Rags to Riches winning the Belmont was certainly a major highlight and English Channel winning the [John Deere] Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1)—those two races kind of stand out as the biggest highlights,” Pletcher said.
A class of top three-year-old fillies in Rags to Riches, Octave, and Panty Raid—each of whom was named an Eclipse Award finalist in that division—secured seven of Pletcher’s 17 Grade 1 wins for the year.
On November 23, Pletcher surpassed his own single-season earnings mark of $26,820,243, set in 2006. He concluded the year as the leading trainer by earnings with $28,576,097 to capture his fourth consecutive Eclipse Award as outstanding trainer.
“I feel that we had a very productive year—17 Grade 1 wins and 56 graded stakes—we were able to squeak by our earnings record from 2006, so all in all, it was a great year.”
