Pletcher hopes Vino Rosso's 'mind on business' in Travers 2018

Trainer Todd Pletcher said he's hoping for a little more focus out of Grade 1 Travers Stakes contender Vino Rosso when the gates spring in Saturday's Mid-Summer Derby.

Owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable, the chestnut colt by Curlin comes into the 1 ¼-mile Travers off a third-place finish in the 1 1/8-mile Grade 2 Jim Dandy at the Spa on July 28. In that race, Vino Rosso got off to a slow start but closed strongly to finish three-quarters of a length behind fellow Travers contender Tenfold.

Vino Rosso won the Grade 2 Wood Memorial by three lengths in April, his second start with blinkers, and went on to finish a late-closing ninth in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes.

"He had a good gallop this morning. He'll have one more and that's all we can do," said Pletcher on Thursday. "We have an idea of what we'd like to do [in the Travers], we just hope that Vino Rosso cooperates, has his mind on business, and puts himself in a little better tactical position than he did in the Jim Dandy.

"We've changed a few things in his training that are hopefully productive," he added. "Hopefully, the weather stays good and he gets a nice, dry track, which I think he appreciates. I think those things will help."

On the Travers undercard, Zayat Stable's Gidu will make his first start over the main track for the Pletcher barn in the Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial presented by Runhappy.

By Frankel, the gray Irish-bred colt tried two turns on the grass in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame last time out, running off to an early lead before fading in the stretch to finish fourth. That was his first start since shipping to Royal Ascot in June, where he finished sixth in the six-furlong Group 1 Commonwealth, beaten 2 ½ lengths in a field of 22. 

The Ascot trip followed game victories this spring in the Paradise Creek, by a neck at seven furlongs on May 26, and the one-mile Columbia, by 1 ¾ lengths in March.

"We've been considering trying him on the dirt for a while now," said Pletcher. "He's kind of a free-running horse and he was a little bit keen in the Hall of Fame. I think he was a little too headstrong early on. I think if he relaxed, he would've been more effective at a mile and a sixteenth, but seven furlongs seems like an optimal distance for him and the timing is right. 

"The question, obviously, is how well he'll transition to the dirt, but he's always trained well on it. He is out of an Unbridled's Song mare, so his isn't a complete turf pedigree," he added. "We just felt like if we're going to give it a try, we might as well do it in a meaningful race. The thing about running on the dirt is that you don't have to hold them up quite as much and you can kind of let him do his thing."