Pletcher Becomes Seventh Trainer to Reach 6,000 Wins

Todd Pletcher registered a milestone 6,000th North American victory Aug. 8 at Saratoga Race Course when Versailles Road won the 14th and final race, an allowance optional claimer, on the card as the sun was about to make its exit. A Hall of Famer and the leading trainer in North American history by purses with approximately $526 million in earnings, he became just the seventh trainer to reach the 6,000-win milestone, joining Steve Asmussen, Dale Baird, Jerry Hollendorfer, Jack Van Berg, King Leatherbury, and Scott Lake. Although it was the end of a long day, there were still fans, fellow horsemen, and New York Racing Association management on hand to congratulate the silver-haired trainer, who in the winner's circle held a sign noting his accomplishment. Versailles Road, a 3-year-old son of Quality Road, was ridden by white-hot Manny Franco and is owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, and Robert LaPenta. "It's a hard business to reflect in much," Pletcher told a gaggle of media surrounding him in the winner's circle. "It's weird how when you get to these big milestones that you start thinking about all the individual, single (wins). They add up. "I was reading something that Robby (Albarado) said—maybe it was in one of his obituaries the other day—he was talking about how he was feeling when he was getting close to 5,000, and maybe got into a little bit of a slump. He started thinking about how important each win might just seem like a normal race that each win is so important to so many people." One of Pletcher's most loyal owners and one that he shared so much success with, Mike Repole, was not on hand for the milestone. Earlier in the week, Repole told BloodHorse, "Someone asked me if I wanted to take out an ad saluting Todd on 6,000. I asked, 'How many does he need?' They said, '12.' I told them it would be next July. Then he won a dirt race (July 31) and he won five races the next day. "It’s what the great ones do, they are great for a long period of time. It’s been 27 or 28 years," Repole added. "When you look at Todd’s worst year it’s better than 90% of the other trainers’ best year. He has the longevity and the consistency. "At the end of the day, he’s a little under appreciated. He has a little Tim Duncan in him. He’s one of the greatest (NBA) players of all time and people took him for granted. He did his job and won championships. No emotion. He just won championships. Todd doesn’t show any emotions. I do it for him." Pletcher, 59, an eight-time Eclipse Award winner, was inducted into the Hall of Fame as soon as he became eligible in 2021 after training for 25 years. He began his career in 1996 after working as an assistant for Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas. Pletcher's latest milestone fittingly came at Saratoga, where he has topped or co-topped the meet standings 15 times. He has 115 graded stakes victories there, including 48 grade 1s. "I was hoping it would happen here. Like I jokingly said—2026—a couple of months ago. It's always special to win here." Overall, he has 844 graded stakes wins at North American tracks, 211 of them grade 1s, and he has led all North American trainers in earnings 10 times. Pletcher also has an additional graded win in Dubai, a victory from Coal Front in the 2019 Godolphin Mile (G2), that is not counted in Equibase statistics or in his 6,000-win milestone figure. Besides Saratoga, he has dozens of training titles between Gulfstream Park, Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack, Keeneland, and Monmouth Park. Pletcher grew up in a racing family, with his father, Jake, being a graded stakes-winning conditioner. He has been further supported by his wife, Tracy, and their children—Hannah, Kyle, and Payton—through his career. When asked what Pletcher planned to do to celebrate the milestone, in typical fashion, the trainer who has a wickedly good sense of humor, wisecracked, "I'm probably going to go to bed. My alarm clock is going to go off pretty soon." Then he added, "I will probably have dinner with the family, and enjoy that."—additional reporting by Bob Ehalt and Byron King