Todd Pletcher Joins The TDN Writers’ Room Podcast Presented by Keeneland

Wandering Eyes · 2026-02-25T19:00:35Z

Only Todd Pletcher could lose the prohibitive early favorite for the GI Kentucky Derby and the 2-year-old champion in Ted Noffey (Into Mischief) and still be stocked with talented horses that are on the road to the first leg of the Triple Crown. Pletcher has GIII Holy Bull Stakes winner Nearly, Sam F. Davis Stakes winner Renegade (Into Mischief) and recent allowance winner Jackson Hole (Nyquist), who will be among the favorites for Saturday's GII Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park. To discuss his plethora of talented colts, their plans going forward, and other top horses in his stable, Pletcher joined this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. He was the Gainesway Guest of the Week.

“We did think a lot of all of those colts,” Pletcher said. “Anytime you lose the two-year-old champ, it's a big blow to the stable and disappointing, but we did have high hopes for several of these colts. In particular, Nearly looked like he was coming up to the Holy Bull in good shape and we're very high on the way Jackson Hole had been training. It gave us optimism. Renegade was coming off a good second in the Remsen and training very well. So, we had high hopes for all of them and now we just have to hope we can continue on and keep them healthy and keep developing.”

Jackson Hole may need to prove more, but it looks like he has a world of potential. After breaking his maiden at Gulfstream, he was sent to the Fair Grounds for an allowance race, which he won by 5 1/2 lengths. The Fountain of Youth will mark his stakes debut.

“I didn't think his debut was as impressive as he had trained in the mornings,” Pletcher said of Jackson Hole. “We were expecting a good effort from him. We think he overcame some immaturity and some greenness. From where I was standing in the grandstand, when he came by me and he had just made the lead, it was as if he didn't know what to do once he made the lead. I thought the race at the Fair Grounds was much more professional. He made the lead and he stayed pretty focused. I still thought that coming down the lane, he kind of saw some footprints and balked just a little bit. But I thought it was a much better effort and a step in the right direction.”

Nearly, who overcame a very fast early pace, was particularly impressive in the Holy Bull. He will go next in the GI Florida Derby, and may be Pletcher's best prospect.

“We loved the way the horse trained before his debut and we were completely dumbfounded that he did not run well first time out,” Pletcher said. “We kind of regrouped and took advantage of the fact that he's Florida-bred and ran in a Florida-bred maiden, which he won very impressively. We came back in the allowance race and, again, he was super impressive. Although the field scratched down to four, we thought, 'Wow, that was impressive.' The time was very good and it was what we expected. We needed to step up, to stretch out. We kind of had three races fairly close together and I was a little concerned about doing too much, but he just kept coming back at us and showing good energy.”

Pletcher also has Class President (Uncle Mo) running in Sunday's GII Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn. In his last start, he ran second in the seven-furlong Swale Stakes. Whether or not he can stretch out to a mile-and-a-sixteenth will be a question he'll have to answer this weekend.

“We feel really good about stretching him out,” Pletcher said. “We were a little frustrated that we didn't get to stretch him out in his second start. In his second start, we intended to go in a one-mile race and when that didn't fill, we had to look for something else. We chose the Swale because it was our best option at the time. He drew the rail in there, which is always a disadvantage, particularly with the way the track was playing. The winner got loose through pretty comfortable fractions and I thought he ran pretty well considering everything kind of seemed stacked against him. He's definitely a horse that we feel like wants more distance and two turns.”

The “Fastest Horse of the Week” was Shining Star (Chi) (Sarah Spirit), who earned a 103 Beyer figure when winning the Feb. 17 Mardi Gras Stakes at the Fair Grounds. The Fastest Horse of the Week segment is sponsored by WinStar, which stands the sire Life is Good

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the PHBA, 1/ST TV, the KTOB and West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss, Bill Finley and Zoe Cadman discussed the ongoing dispute between HISA and Churchill Downs and HISA's claims that Churchill owes it more than $2.4 million in unpaid fees. The panel agreed that there are a lot of unanswered questions when it comes to the dispute. The team also handicapped the major races that will be run this weekend, focusing on the three Derby preps, the Fountain of Youth, the Rebel and GIII Gotham Stakes.

Click here to listen to the podcast or click here to watch.