Aqueduct Stakes Success Earns Pletcher Fall Title

A day after saddling three graded stakes winner at Aqueduct Racetrack, trainer Todd Pletcher closed out the 15-day fall meet Dec. 5 to lead all trainers with 13 wins. Irad Ortiz Jr. earned his eighth riding title at the Big A with 21 wins during the fall meet, and Klaravich Stables claimed the title as leading owner with five wins.

Pletcher scored five stakes wins during the meet, spearheaded by Americanrevolution  capturing the Cigar Mile Handicap Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) Saturday. In addition to his trio of Cigar Mile Day scores, which also included Mo Donegal in the Remsen Stakes (G2) and Nest in the Demoiselle Stakes (G2), he saddled Never Surprised  to victory in the Nov. 26 Gio Ponti Stakes and Classy Edition  in the Nov. 21 Key Cents Stakes.

Pletcher boasted a ledger of 13-8-7 from 52 starts for the meet with earnings in excess of $1.55 million, while winning at a 25% clip. It was his first Aqueduct fall title since 2018, when he tied with Rudy Rodriguez with a dozen victories apiece.

"We've had a good fall," Pletcher said. "We had a solid Belmont meet and we were fortunate enough to have a good Aqueduct meet as well so we're thankful. The main thing is you just want the horses to perform to their capabilities. We're fortunate enough to train horses like these. You want to do the best you can with them and it's gratifying to see them do so well."

Pletcher finished two victories ahead of both Christophe Clement, who captured the 2020 fall meet title at the Big A, and Chad Brown, who won this year's Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park fall titles.

Ortiz, 29, finished the meet with a record of 21-7-12 from 76 starts and earnings of more than $1.44 million, winning at a 27.6% clip. He garnered five stakes victories during the Big A fall meet including a triumph aboard Peter Brant's Serve the King  in the Nov. 20 Red Smith Stakes (G2T) as well as the Key Cents when piloting Classy Edition.

On Saturday, Ortiz added three more stakes victories to his ledger when piloting the Brad Cox-conditioned Lady Rocket  in the Go for Wand Handicap (G3), as well as Mo Donegal in the Remsen and Nest in the Demoiselle.

Despite not riding in New York on Sunday, Ortiz, who was in his native Puerto Rico to ride at Camarero, maintained his lead over all other riders, with Jose Lezcano and Luis Saez tying for second with 17 wins apiece.

Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables captured their fourth owner title on the NYRA circuit this season when taking the Aqueduct fall meet title for the second straight year.

Last year, Klaravich Stables tied with Repole Stable for the 2020 fall meet, each owner earning five wins apiece. Klaravich Stables mimicked that amount of victories this fall meet, which included maiden scores with the Chad Brown-trained Core Conviction  and Marketsegmentation .

Klaravich Stables, NYRA's overall leading owner for the past two years, exited the fall meet with a 5-0-5 record from 17 starts and purse earnings of nearly $260,000.

Live racing resumes on Thursday when Aqueduct will kick off the 56-day winter meet which runs through Sunday, March 27. The winter meet will feature 46 stakes races worth nearly $6 million in purses. First post on the eight-race card is 12:50 p.m. ET.