LOUISVILLE, Ky. _ Todd Pletcher will tell you straight out that he didn't know if he'd be here for the 2019 Kentucky Derby.
That's an extraordinary statement coming from a man who at age 51 has already started more horses in the Derby than any trainer. But as the calendar turned to this year, Pletcher simply did not see much promise in his 3-year-old crop.
"Absolutely not," he said when asked if he was confident the group would come together. "We didn't have a great 2-year-old crop last year. ... It wasn't a deep group going in, so if you'd have told me in January or February that we were going to have two in the Derby, I'd have said probably not."
It's a testament to Pletcher's feel for guiding his horses to the right prep races that he ended up with two, Cutting Humor and Spinoff, in the Derby field. Both are 30-1 longshots, but given where he stood at the start of the year, Pletcher will take it.
"I think from a talent standpoint, they both stack up really well," the two-time Derby-winning trainer said when asked to compare Cutting Humor and Spinoff to his past entries. "I think both horses give me the indication they'll get the distance, and from a training perspective, we've seen them do things in the morning that are consistent with the horses we've brought here that have done very well."
Cutting Humor set a track record in winning the Sunland Derby on March 24, while Spinoff finished second in the Louisiana Derby despite a wide trip. Pletcher could have brought either back for another prep race but opted to give his contenders six weeks off, an approach he's taken before.
He's not bothered by the pair's thin resumes relative to the top contenders.
"I've been in that position before and I've said, sometimes the worst thing you can have is a really hot hand in January," he said. "It doesn't always pan out."
