Pletcher has a runner in each Churchill stakes on Saturday
Only one trainer is represented by at least one entry in each of four stakes at Churchill Downs on Saturday, the final day of the abridged Spring meet.
Todd Pletcher will saddle a runner in the Grade 3 Bashford Manor, the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis and Stephen Foster and the Grade 3 Regret.
Hyperfocus, Another Broad, Fearless and Eve of War all will be looking to claim their first career graded stakes victory on Saturday.
Here is a close look at the four horses Pletcher will send out in Churchill Downs inthe four races:
Hyperfocus Post No. 4
A winner on debut, the $100,000 Keeneland September 2019 yearling purchase had been training at Palm Beach Downs but put in a breeze ahead of the Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs on June 14, going four furlongs in :49.4.
He used the length of the short stretch at Gulfstream Park to put in a strong closing bid to win a maiden special weight race on May 9. Jockey John Velazquez gets the call for Pletcher here.
Race 9: $200,000 Grade 2 Fleur de Lis (5:18 p.m. ET)
Another Broad Post No. 2
Farfellow Farms bought Another Broad from the Keeneland November 2019 sale, plunking down $340,000 for the now 5-year-old Include mare out of a stakes-winning and graded stakes-placed Deputy Minister mare named Dynamic Deputy.
A winner of four races in 17 career starts, Another Broad’s best result in a graded stakes race is a second-place finish in last year’s Grade 3Turnback the Alarm Handicap at Aqueduct in November.
Most recently, she finished fifth in Churchill’s Shawnee Stakes on May 23. Velazquez will be in the irons for the second consecutive race aboard Another Broad.
Race 10: $500,000 Grade 2 Stephen Foster (5:50 p.m. ET)
Fearless Post No. 1
A 4-year-old Ghostzapper gelding that commanded a $725,000 purchase price at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Fearless is coming off a victory against allowance optional claiming company at Churchill Downs on May 30.
In his only try against graded stakes competition, the 3-for-5 lifetime China Horse Club and WinStar Farm gelding finished fifth in the Grade 2 New Orleans Classic Stakes at Fair Grounds in March.
With Velazquez aboard, he will be up against the likes of Tom’s d’Etat, By My Standards and Owendale in the Saturday feature.
Race 11: $100,000 Grade 3 Regret (6:22 p.m. ET)
Eve of War Post No. 9
A homebred for Treadway Racing Stable, this Declaration of War filly won two of her three starts at Gulfstream Park earlier this year before a disappointing finish in the Tepin Stakes at Churchill Downs last month.
Finishing 12th of 13 starters, she looks to make amends for Pletcher in the Regret.
In her most recent victory, she won in gate-to-wire fashion, so look for her to be more forwardly placed in the Regret than she was in the Tepin, where she was sixth at first call.
She has won at the Regret’s 1 1/8 mile distance on the turf previously. Florent Geroux gets the call for Pletcher in the Regret.