Patch, Outplay Give Pletcher 1-2 Punch in Alydar
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand
Todd Pletcher-trained Patch wins a May allowance race in his season debut at Belmont Park
Trainer Todd Pletcher will be represented by a pair of runners as he seeks his third victory in the $100,000 Alydar Stakes Aug. 5 at Saratoga Race Course.
Calumet Farm's homebred Patch, the bay Union Rags colt who became famous on the 2017 Triple Crown trail for his uncommonly cycloptic vision, will carry the banner from the Pletcher barn from the outside post 5 in the 1 1/8-mile test. The 4-year-old is exiting a seventh-place finish in the Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) on a warm evening June 16 at Churchill Downs.
"He's been good. I think he's training well. I think we'll draw a line through the Stephen Foster. For a lot of horses, it seemed like a tough night," Pletcher said of the hot and humid evening. "Hopefully he'll rebound with a more Patch-like performance. With a couple races under his belt and a few good works, he should be rounding into form."
Before the Stephen Foster, Patch won his season debut by a neck against allowance company in May. It was his first start since finishing fourth in the West Virginia Derby (G3) last August.
Repole Stable's Outplay will be looking to rebound from a well-beaten eighth-place finish in the 1 1/2-mile Brooklyn Invitational Stakes (G2) June 9 at Belmont Park—his first race beyond 1 1/8 miles. Outplay, by Bernardini , won the Curlin Stakes last summer in his only appearance at the Spa. He began his 4-year-old campaign with a 5 1/2-length win in an optional-claiming allowance race in March and finished seventh in the May 5 Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Twinspires.com (G2) before the Brooklyn.
"I think the mile and a half proved too far for him," Pletcher said. "He was successful here last year in the Curlin, and hopefully getting him back to a mile and an eighth will be helpful."
Also entered in Sunday's Alydar is multiple graded stakes winner and 7-5 morning-line favorite Timeline. The Chad Brown-trained son of Hard Spun most recently finished second in the July 6 State Dinner Stakes at Belmont.
Saratoga Race Course, Sunday, August 05, 2018, Race 10Entries: Alydar S.
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Realm (VA)
Junior Alvarado
118
Barclay Tagg
10/1
2
2Outplay (KY)
John R. Velazquez
122
Todd A. Pletcher
3/1
3
3Timeline (KY)
Javier Castellano
124
Chad C. Brown
7/5
4
4Kurilov (CHI)
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
124
Chad C. Brown
3/1
5
5Patch (KY)
Luis Saez
118
Todd A. Pletcher
5/2
