Pletcher, a former assistant to Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, has trained champions Ashado, English Channel, Fleet Indian, Lawyer Ron, Left Bank, Speightstown and Wait a While, not to mention Rags to Riches, who, in 2007, became one of only three fillies and the first in 102 years to win the Belmont Stakes – and she did that by defeating eventual two-time Horse of the Year Curlin by a head.
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Career Highlights:
- Won Eclipse as Top Trainer 2004-2007.
- 2007: trained three Eclipse winners: Top 3-Year-Old Filly Rags to Riches, Top Older Male Lawyer Ron, and Top Turf Male English Channel.
- 2007: Saddled Rags to Riches to become the first fi lly in 102 years to win the Belmont Stakes, defeating eventual Horse of the Year Curlin.
- 2007: Lawyer Ron won the 2007 Whitney in a Saratoga track record 1:46.64 for nine furlongs.
- Saratoga’s leading trainer in 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
- Set single-year earnings mark for a trainer with $26,820,243 in 2006 and broke that in 2007 with $28,116,097.
- 2006: Set records for stakes wins (100) and graded stakes wins (57), breaking marks set by his former boss, D. Wayne Lukas.
- 2004: Won five races at Saratoga on Aug. 30, 2004.
- Won a record 35 races at Saratoga in 2003 and 2004.
- Won a record 40 races during the 2003 Belmont Spring meeting.
- Presented with the Fourstardave Award for Outstanding Achievement in Saratoga in 1998 and 2003 by the New York Turf Writers Association.
- Presented with the Woody Stephens Award as Outstanding Trainer in 1998, 2002, 2005 and 2006 by the NYTWA, sharing the award with Bobby Frankel in 2002 and John Kimmel in 1998.
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