Pletcher Registers Milestone 5,000th Victory

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Pletcher Registers Milestone 5,000th Victory
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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Trainer Todd Pletcher at the 2019 September Yearling Sale at Keeneland

Todd Pletcher registered a milestone 5,000th victory Nov. 6 at Aqueduct Racetrack when Repole Stable's Microsecond rallied to capture the seventh race, a $72,000 New York-bred allowance, by three-quarters of a length.

Only eight North American-based trainers have won as many as 5,000 races, topped by the late Dale Baird with 9,445 winners. Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen is first among active trainers, entering Friday with 9,069 wins.

"It's such a great tribute to the whole staff, the whole team," Pletcher told pool reporter Alicia Wincze-Hughes at Keeneland, where he is running horses at the two-day Breeders' Cup. "A lot of people dedicated and put in a lot of hard work. Mainly, it's about the horses. We've just been blessed to have so many good clients to provide us with horses capable of performing well. I'm proud of our team for developing them the best we can."

Todd Pletcher 5000th win<br><br /> Aqueduct, November 6, 2020
Photo: Coglianese Photos
Staff of Todd Pletcher pose at Aqueduct to commemorate his 5,000th win from Microsecond

He added another victory to move to 5,001 victories when Shadwell Stable's Malathaat won the Tempted Stakes at Aqueduct. Like Microsecond, she was ridden by Kendrick Carmouche.

"It would have been kinda cool to do it in a Breeders' Cup race," Pletcher said at Keeneland. "We always said our goal when we get a horse in, is to do the very best we can. We're happy to get it. "

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Pletcher, 53, a seven-time Eclipse Award winner, is expected to be immediately elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible after training for 25 years. He began his career in 1996 after working as an assistant for Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas.

Pletcher never set out with the goal of winning a set number of races, but appreciates the accomplishment.

"Once we started to get close, you sort of recognize it, then obviously people are talking about it. So it's kind of at the forefront," he said. "But don't think you start your career thinking, 'I want to win this many races,' or project how many you are potentially gonna win. Like I said, our focus and our goal is always to do the very best we can with each and every horse and I think we've been able to do that."