Pletcher enters trio for Tremont

by Najja Thompson

Always a dominating force in juvenile races, trainer Todd Pletcher will saddle a talented trio in Friday's $150,000 Tremont for 2-year-olds going 5 ½ furlongs at Belmont Park on the second day of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

Leading the charge for Pletcher's contingent is Outshine. Purchased for $625,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland September sale for owners Let's Go Stable and Richard Schibell, the son of Malibu Moon won his debut on an off track on May 17 at Belmont, besting a field of six to win by 2 ¾ lengths.

Social Fan - sired by multiple graded stakes winner Overanalyze, a multiple graded stakes winner for Pletcher - will be making his third start in the Tremont. Adding blinkers in his second start, Social Fan won wire-to-wire against a field of seven on May 4 at Belmont.

Completing the Pletcher triumvirate is Sombeyay, purchased for $230,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland September sale. He enters the Tremont off an impressive 6 ¼-length debut win on April 27 at Gulfstream Park.

"All three are doing well coming into this race," said Pletcher. "Like a lot of these 2-year-old races, everybody's sort of in the same boat coming from a maiden win into a stake race, but they each seemed to break their maidens the way you want to see and we'll see how they've continued to develop."

Pletcher - who has won the Tremont five times, most recently in 2016 with Silver Mission - is a big supporter of the NYRA juvenile stakes series.

"I think New York has developed a really good 2-year-old program," said Pletcher. "With the early maiden races, it gives you the opportunity if you have some really precocious runners, but to me the most important thing was that they brought back the Tremont and Astoria [filly division]. For a while there, if you broke your maiden early it was almost a disadvantage. You didn't have anywhere to run until Saratoga, so to have these two races here really helps the 2-year-old program."

Outshine, will leave from post 4 with Hall of Famer John Velazquez aboard. Social Fan will depart from post 3 with Manny Franco in the irons, and Sombeyay will leave from post 2 with Luis Saez in the irons.

Shipping in from Churchill and expected to arrive at Belmont on Tuesday for owner Whispering Oaks Farm and Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen is Sir Truebadour. Purchased for $300,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale, the son of More Than Ready won his debut on May 17 at Churchill by four lengths, recording a field-high 70 Beyer Speed Figure.

Sir Truebadour will leave from post 6 with Ricardo Santana, Jr. in the irons.

Rounding out the field are Girls Love Me for trainer Anthony Farrior and owner Michael Coombs, Our Braintrust for trainer Cathal Lynch and owner Stanton Smith, Jr., and filly Mae Never No for trainer Wesley Ward and owner Ice Wine Stable.