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Kentucky Derby winner tries luck in UK
GOODWOOD, England - Kentucky-Derby winning trainer Todd Pletcher has become the latest leading American thoroughbred handler to send over a racehorse to plunder England’s coffers.
Pletcher, who has been champion U.S. trainer four times, runs the four-year-old sprinter Starfish Bay at the Glorious Goodwood meeting on Thursday.
Pletcher’s raid comes after an unsuccessful three-pronged American assault on Royal Ascot last month by Wesley Ward, Kenny McPeek and Carl O’Callaghan.
“It’s not as logistically challenging as some might think,” Pletcher told Reuters. “It’s not much different to moving horses from New York to California, which we do all the time.
“Although I’ve never raced in Europe before, I’ve sent horses to Dubai previously so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
European horses have long formed a large raiding party on the U.S. for the lucrative Breeders’ Cup meeting, held this year on the first weekend of November at Churchill Downs.
AMERICAN DIET
But McPeek acted as the trailblazer in the other direction in 2004 when he saddled Hard Buck to finish second to Doyen in Ascot’s King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
The problem lies in the variety of British racing when compared to the American diet of left-handed racecourses on flat tracks.
“American racing is all the same,” continued Pletcher. “I was speaking last week to Jeremy Noseda, who will be looking after the horse in his yard, and he was telling me that Goodwood has a very fast, straight, downhill five-furlong sprint course.
“I’ve never been there, but I don’t think she will have a problem with the track.”
Pletcher gained an insight into all aspects of taking a horse over to Europe when O’Callaghan stayed at his stables en route to the Irishman’s well publicised tilt at Royal Ascot with his sprinter Kinsale King.
O’Callaghan is a former protégée of Pletcher’s, having worked in his stables after a seven-year stint with East Coast trainer John Kimmel.
“Carl made a grand entrance when he came into my stable for the first time,” recalled Pletcher. “He’s an enthusiastic guy and he’s one of those guys that if he’s in the room with you, you know it.
“He mainly worked for me as a work rider, but the one thing I will say about him is that he loved the horses. To him they were everything.”
Ward’s three successes at Royal Ascot last year highlight that American sprinters are very competitive when they come to England.
Pletcher’s fact-finding mission could well be the catalyst that turns the trickle of American raiders into a deluge.
“I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while but needed the right horse. We had a filly we wanted to send over for Royal Ascot but she wasn’t on her A-Game at the right time.
“I’m certainly interested to see how this experiment goes and if we are successful it is something we will keep in mind for the future.”
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