Pletcher Hopes for Big Day at Aqueduct

As usual, trainer Todd Pletcher is ready for, literally, everything, with runners in each of the four races that make up the $500,000 Guaranteed All-Graded Stakes Pick 4 on Saturday’s card.

His primary runner is WinStar Farm’s 4-for-4 Gemologist, the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the Wood. In the Grade 1 Carter Handicap, he has Calibrachoa, back-to-back winner of the Toboggan and Tom Fool Handicap on the Aqueduct inner dirt course. In the Grade 3 Bay Shore, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds, he sends out Mike Repole’s How Do I Win, and in the Grade 3 Comely for 3-year-old fillies, he has the lightning-fast Broadway’s Alibi, making her first start since a 16 ¾-length score January 29 in the Grade 2 Forward Gal at Gulfstream Park.

Broadway’s Alibi, owned by E. Paul Robsham Racing Stables, developed a hind foot issue in winning the Forward Gal on a sloppy track, Pletcher said, shedding her left, hind frog, “which is sort of unusual.”

After crushing the field in the Forward Gal, Pletcher toyed with the idea of running Broadway’s Alibi against males in the Swale Stakes, but, instead, wound up briefly taking her out of training.

The one-mile Comely will be the furthest she has run in a four-race career, and Pletcher expects a powerful effort.

“The filly’s doing very well,” he said. “Earlier in the year, I thought she would compete in sprint and middle-distance races, but we’re seeing now she might go longer. [Comely opponent] Millionreasonswhy is a top-class filly, and she proved that last year, so this is a quality field.”

Pletcher said the same thing about the Carter, in which Repole’s Calibrachoa is the 4-1 fourth choice of the five betting interests.

“It’s a blend of speed, stalkers and closers,” Pletcher said. “It’s a deep race and a versatile field, and I’m sure they’ll be running beginning to end. I can’t think of a specific race that’s come up this strong [this year], but it’s a marquee race, for sure.”