Max horsepower: Pletcher's huge operation riding high

LOUISVILLE -- Trainer Todd Pletcher had a record-tying five entries in last year's Kentucky Derby. He has a foursome headed for Saturday's Derby. They're among more than 160 horses currently in his training operation.

Obviously, the man is a multitasker.

"Hmmm, I guess if I want to be. I leave a lot of the multitasking around the house to my wife. Maybe I'm a good delegator, I don't know," Pletcher, 46, said at his barn on a rainy, muddy Monday morning at Churchill Downs.

Pletcher didn't win the Derby last year. On a sloppy track, his best finisher was third-place Revolutionary. But Pletcher won the 2013 Belmont Stakes with Palace Malice.

Pletcher was the runaway No.1 among trainers last year with purses totaling more than $25.2million. He won a record sixth Eclipse Award as the nation's top trainer.

Pletcher, whose Todd A. Pletcher Racing Stables Inc. is based in Elmont, N.Y., got his start as a 7-year-old hot walker at a track in New Mexico under the direction of his father, trainer Jake Pletcher. He graduated from the University of Arizona's Race Track Industry Program and became an assistant to Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

He opened his own stable in late 1995. According to Equibase, Pletcher's $266.2million in career purses ranks second only to Lukas' $268.4million.

"We have a pretty good system in place that evolves as you're training, and you have to be an effective manager in order to manage a large stable," said Pletcher, who has four assistant trainers listed on his stable's website. "It's a lot of work."

Pletcher again has the most horses in the Derby field this year. Trainer Michael Maker has three.

Pletcher's hopefuls this year include Danza, winner of the Arkansas Derby and No.6 in the Kentucky Derby qualification standings. His other Derby horses are Intense Holiday (eighth in the standings), We Miss Artie (10th) and Vinceremos (18th).

How many horses exactly are in his training operation?

"Right now, as of this minute, 164," Pletcher said. "That includes the ones that got to Saratoga yesterday."

That turns the head of trainer Jimmy Jerkens, who has 23 horses in training. He has one bound for the Derby, Wicked Strong.

"Gee, I don't know how he does it. I just can't relate," Jerkens said of Pletcher. "It's amazing what they do over there. I don't know how they can keep track of everything. … That would drive me crazy to have that many horses all over the place. But they make it work, and they have a system that's just incredible."

But focusing on one horse can be a challenge, too.

"You're looking at him so much you almost start creating problems," Jerkens said. "When you're busy with the rest of your outfit, you're paying attention to your horse up close, but you're not just doting on every little move he makes, which you end up doing when you've got the one horse."

Photo gallery: Prepping for the Derby

No problem for Pletcher. He had four horses in the Derby in 2010 when he won with Super Saver, riddenby Calvin Borel.

But no matter how many horses a trainer has, it's up to the horses.

"I think there's a lot of analogies to sports to what we do," Pletcher said. "The one that I've always said is if you consider me to be the coach, if I don't have the correct athletes to put out there on the field, then it doesn't matter how good of a coach you are. … You've got to bring the athlete first and then hopefully do the right things with the athlete once you get him."

While Pletcher is closing in on Lukas' record for all-time earnings, Lukas has a record 14 wins in Triple Crown races. Pletcher has three, one in the Derby and two in the Belmont.

"Records will be broken forever, but there will never be another Wayne Lukas," Pletcher said. "He pioneered the industry, the way training is done. … His success is unparalleled. Regardless of who wins more races or whose horses earn more money, he'll be considered the greatest."

Going into last year's Derby, Pletcher's front-runner was highly regarded Verrazano. But on a rainy day, he placed 14th.

"Really, the thing that stood out is that the weather went wrong on the day (of the race)," Pletcher said.

"We'd had such a good streak (with all his horses), everything seemed to be going too well. We won the Oaks (for fillies) the day before and the Derby Trial the Saturday before and the Arkansas Derby, Louisiana Derby, Wood Memorial, oh man, it seemed like everything just clicked and clicked and clicked.

"And then it's like, 'Aah,'" Pletcher said. "It changes the complexion of everything, but that's part of the deal."

The Weather Channel's forecast for Saturday was partly cloudy with a high of 65 and 10% chance of rain.

But no matter how many horses trainers control, they don't control weather.

"It depends on when you look at it (the forecast)," Pletcher said. "Literally, every time I look at it, it changes."