Kentucky Derby-winning trainer doesn’t mind his horses being overlooked

Two years removed from when he won his second Kentucky Derby with a horse who went off as the favorite, trainer Todd Pletcher seems almost a forgotten man with two horses in this year’s field.

After Tuesday’s post-position draw, his Cutting Humor and Spinoff were named 30-1 shots, a slight Pletcher attributes mostly to their long layoff since their most recent races.

“Neither one of our horses have run for six weeks, so they’re in the prep races that are the furthest away,” said Pletcher, who won in 2017 with Always Dreaming and 2010 with Super Saver. “We looked at the possibility of running them in between and didn’t feel like another race would necessarily move them forward for this. We’re happy with the six weeks and the schedule they’ve had since then. Now, it’s just a matter of if they’re good enough.”

Cutting Humor set a track record in the Sunland Derby, a mark some critics suggest owed to an unusually fast track.

“I don’t think there’s any question that the track, the surface at Sunland, was very fast, but saying that, it’s not very often you see a 3-year-old in March shade a mile and and an eighth in 1:46.94,” Pletcher said. “That’s a pretty good time.”

As for Spinoff, who earned his Derby spot by running second to By My Standards in the Louisiana Derby, Pletcher said he didn’t mind drawing the No. 19 post.

“I’m hoping ... that some good quality breezes since his last start has him sitting on a peak race,” Pletcher said. “The Louisiana Derby was an important race for him not only to get the points to get in here, but just for the educational experience, as well.”

What a relief

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said Wednesday he finds it refreshing not to come in with a horse that’s the heavy favorite as he did last year with Justify, the Triple Crown winner.

“I think it’s nice to not come in here as the heavy favorite, you can just enjoy the week more,” Baffert said. “Last year we came in here with Justify and we knew it was my race to lose. So I felt a little extra pressure. There are a lot of good horses in here. I think they’re a pretty evenly matched group of horses. You don’t see anybody like really puffing off the screen here. When (2015 Triple Crown winner) American Pharoah came in here, we knew he was from another planet.”

Feeling better

A day after bemoaning his luck by drawing the dreaded No. 1 post for War of Will, trainer Mark Casse said his spirits lifted with a little research.

“I went and I watched 20 Derbys last night from the one hole. I did. And I’ve decided it’s a good post,” Casse said Wednesday morning after watching War of Will gallop under exercise rider Jose Vasquez. “I mean it has won 9 percent of the time which is better than Bob (Baffert)’s 17 (post with Roadster) which has never won — and I told him that, too.”

While no horse has prevailed from the No. 1 position since Ferdinand in 1986, there are eight Derby winners out of the spot. And Looking at Lee finished second from there in 2017.

Patience pays off

After indicating they would point Bodexpress to the Preakness Stakes if he didn’t get in the field at entry time Tuesday, the also-eligible horse’s connections still had him at Churchill Downs on Wednesday.

“We’re hoping he gets in,” said Gustavo Delgado Jr., assistant and son of trainer Gustavo Delgado. “He just jogged today. He’ll gallop tomorrow.”

Sticking around proved to be a wise decision. Bodexpress will now be able to replace scratched Kentucky Derby favorite Omaha Beach in Saturday’s race.

This story was originally published May 1, 2019 at 5:03 PM.