Pletcher discusses past Belmont losses, Festival runners

Trainer Todd Pletcher said his Belmont S. (G1) contenders -- Carpe Diem

(Giant's Causeway), Madefromlucky (Lookin at Lucky) and Materiality (Afleet

Alex) -- walked the shedrow Sunday morning. This is

typical for Pletcher horses who breezed two days prior. The day after the work,

they all jogged on the track.

The trainer indicated that he will announce his finalized rider assignments

on Tuesday.

The Belmont Stakes has been one of the most rewarding

experiences for Pletcher, who earned his first classic victory with the filly

Rags to Riches in the 2007 edition. In 2013, he was back in the winner's circle

following the third leg of the Triple Crown with Palace Malice.

But the Belmont has also resulted in frustration for

Pletcher, who has saddled the runner-up on four occasions -- Bluegrass Cat

(2006), Dunkirk (2009), Stay Thirsty (2011), and Commissioner (2014). And some

of those losses were heart-breakers.

"Commissioner's beat last year was as tough of a beat you

will take in any race, much less a classic," Pletcher admitted. "To essentially lead

every step of the way, except for the last one, that was a tough beat.

"Stay Thirsty's beat was actually pretty tough, too," he

continued. "And Dunkirk, he ran very well, and led most of the way. Our results

overall have been very good (in the Belmont), but we're kind of a length away

from having won four or five of these."

Pletcher's representation will be substantial on Friday and

Saturday. As of Sunday morning, Pletcher had 19 horses, including his three

Belmont probables, slated for stakes action during the Belmont Stakes Racing

Festival.

Among those is Competitive Edge (Super Saver), who will put off facing older horses for now

and instead run against his peers in the $500,000 Woody Stephens

S. (G2) on the Belmont Stakes undercard, according to Pletcher.

Competitive Edge was possible to take on older rivals for the

first time in the $1.25 million Metropolitan H. (G1) but, in light of rider

availability and weight assignments, Pletcher said the bay colt will

enter the seven-furlong Woody Stephens for three-year-olds instead.

As the lone sophomore in consideration for the Met Mile,

Competitive Edge was assigned the field's low weight at 111 pounds.

"With a low weight like that you also have to have a jockey

that you're confident in and can do the weight," Pletcher said. "And with Johnny

(Velazquez) committed to Tonalist, we felt like we'd just face three-year-olds for

now."

Competitive Edge has been unbeaten in his four career

starts, all of which have been at a distance of a mile or less, including a 5

3/4-length victory in the seven-furlong Hopeful S. (G1) last summer at Saratoga

and, most recently, a 4 1/2-length score in the Pat Day Mile (G3) on May 2 at

Churchill Downs.

"His record kind of speaks for itself," Pletcher stated.

"He's been consistently good in all his starts. He's trained very well."

Competitive Edge will likely be joined in the Woody

Stephens by stablemate Two Weeks Off (Harlan's Holiday), according to

Pletcher.

Two Weeks Off, who is also nominated to the $150,000 Easy Goer S. at 1 1/16

miles, has won twice at the Woody Stephens distance, including an impressive

6 1/2-length victory in an April 4 allowance at Keeneland. The dark bay colt made his stakes debut in the 1 1/8-mile Peter Pan

S. (G2), in which

he finished third, 2 1/2 lengths behind Belmont

hopeful Madefromlucky.

"Two Weeks Off had an impressive win on the Beard course

(at Keeneland), which is basically seven furlongs," Pletcher remarked. "In the Peter

Pan, it seemed like he might've been a little too fresh going a mile and an

eighth, he kind of pulled a little bit in the first part. He still ran well for

his first try in a stakes but we figured backing him up to seven-eighths made

sense."

Pletcher said that Velazquez will have the mount on

Competitive Edge, while Javier Castellano is slated to ride Two Weeks Off.

The trainer's other stakes targets are as follows:

		RACE		HORSE
FRIDAY		$250,000 True North S. (G2)		Eastwood (Speightstown)
				Rock Fall (Speightstown)
		$250,000 Belmont Gold Cup		Red Rifle (Giant's Causeway)
				Unitarian (Pulpit)
		$250,000 Tremont S.		Uncle Vinny (Uncle Mo)
		$150,000 Jersey Girl S.		Enchantress (Malibu Moon)
SATURDAY		$1 million Manhattan S. (G1)		General a Rod (Roman Ruler)
				Jack Milton (War Front)
		$1 million Ogden Phipps S. (G1)		Stopchargingmaria (Tale of the Cat)
		$750,000 Acorn S. (G1)		Curalina (Curlin)
		$400,000 Brooklyn (G2)		Micromanage (Medaglia d'Oro)
				Coach Inge (Big Brown)
		$150,000 Easy Goer S.		Stanford (Malibu Moon)
				Nonna's Boy (Distorted Humor)

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