Pletcher Out to Update His Resume

Todd Pletcher has won the Eclipse Award the last two years as the top trainer in the country. He led the nation in stable earnings in both years, won his first two Breeders’ Cup races with Speightstown and Ashado in 2004 at Lone Star Park in Texas and has numerous victories in other significant races around the country.

One thing missing from Pletcher’s resume is a Kentucky Derby victory. He is 0 for 12 in the world’s most famous race, his best finish a second by Invisible Ink in 2001.

Pletcher’s two most likely candidates in the May 6 race are Bluegrass Cat and Keyed Entry.

Both 3-year-olds will be running this weekend. Bluegrass Cat, who has won four in a row since joining the Pletcher barn last year, will be heavily favored in the $250,000 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs.

Keyed Entry, who has won all three of his races, will try to stay unbeaten as he stretches to 1 1/16 miles for the first time in the $200,000 Gotham at Aqueduct.

The Tampa Bay Derby and the Gotham are two of four significant events for 3-year-olds on Saturday. Bob And John heads a field of nine in the $250,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, and Lawyer Ron and Steppenwolfer, the 1-2 finishers in last month’s Southwest Stakes, will tangle with Private Vow in the $300,000 Rebel at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

Owned by breeder WinStar Farm LLC, Bluegrass Cat, a son of Storm Cat, was eighth in his lone start for trainer Elliott Walden last June 4 at Churchill Downs but has been perfect for Pletcher.

Successful in the Nashua at Belmont Park and the Remsen at Aqueduct as a 2-year-old after beating maidens by daylight in his first for his new trainer, Bluegrass Cat was workmanlike in victory in his first race of 2006. The 7-10 favorite in the $121,000 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay, Bluegrass Cat won by 1 1/4 lengths under jockey John Velazquez.

“This horse is a tremendous mover, very athletic,” Pletcher said. “I loved his race in the Nashua as much as any of them. ... It was only his third lifetime start. Coming out of a maiden race into a graded stakes, he was kind of stuck down inside behind horses, and when the time came, he pushed his way through and showed me that he has some of that Storm Cat fighter mentality to him.”

Bluegrass Cat already has won at 1 1/8 miles, in the Remsen, but Keyed Entry hasn’t gone past 7 1/2 furlongs in his three victories at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., and Gulfstream Park. With Velazquez sticking with Bluegrass Cat, Edgar Prado will ride the son of Honour And Glory for the first time in the Gotham.

How far Keyed Entry, who beat First Samurai in the Hutcheson in his most recent start Feb. 4, will run remains to be seen, but Pletcher is confident he will handle the Gotham distance.

“I’ve got no question in my mind he’s going to handle a mile and a sixteenth,” he said. “I’m not even concerned about that. ... As fast as he ran in the Hutcheson, he can coast another sixteenth of a mile. But the key is whether or not he can get a mile and an eighth or a mile and a quarter against the top colts around.

“We’re trying to stretch him out with May 6 in mind. He needs to relax a little bit, and that is going to be the key to his success down the road.”

In the Rebel, Lawyer Ron, a son of Langfuhr trained by Bob Holthus, will be seeking his fifth consecutive victory. The 1-2 favorite in the Southwest in his Oaklawn debut, he won by three-quarters of a length over Steppenwolfer, an improving son of Aptitude.

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Bob And John is one of three horses trainer Bob Baffert is scheduled to run in the San Felipe, a Grade II at 1 1/16 miles and the final major prep for the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 8.

In addition to Bob And John, who is owned by Bob and Janice McNair’s Stonerside Stable, Baffert entered Point Determined and Sky Diving and they will meet Blazing Sunset, New Joysey Jeff, Simon Pure, Refinery, A.P. Warrior and Racketeer.