Contender Status
Trainer Todd Pletcher won his first Belmont Stakes (G1) last year with Rags to Riches, and the four-time Eclipse Award winning trainer hopes to add this year's edition with Ready's Echo.
"We kind of had the Belmont on our radar ever since the race at Keeneland," Pletcher said. "And we got more serious about it after his performance in the Peter Pan.
"He's a colt we've obviously always liked. Historically he has not been a good gate horse, and we did a little more gate work with him. He's just one of those horses. Some horses, you break one time and they're good; with him, we've had to break him several times. The challenge is it's a balancing act. You don't want to interfere with their natural style but you want to get him involved enough early in the race so he doesn't lose interest."
June 1 - Five furlongs breezing in 1:00.91 at Belmont Park, dirt training track fast. Fifth best of 14 workouts at the distance.
May 26 - Four furlongs breezing in :51.04 at Belmont Park, inner turf course firm (dogs up). Best of two workouts at the distance.
Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 7 at Belmont Park
Trainer Todd Pletcher, on how Ready's Echo is expected to run in the Belmont Stakes (G1):
"I don't know if he wants to go this far or not. In some regards [for] horses that get as far back as he tends to, it's not a great running style for the Belmont. On the other hand, one of the keys to getting a mile-and-a-half is you need a horse that will relax. He will do that and then some. The key I think for him is you need to ride him very patiently, wait, wait, wait, and wait some more, and hope that there is some pace up front that will come back to him."