Pletcher with formidable quartet for Tremont

by Najja Thompson

The stakes action on the second day of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival presented by NYRA Bets will kick off with the $150,000 Tremont featuring eight 2-year-olds on Friday at Belmont Park.

No stranger to success with juveniles, trainer Todd Pletcher will enter four runners in the Tremont going 5 ½ furlongs - Admiral Jimmy for Siena Farm, Analyze Your Luck and Analyze the Odds for Repole Stable and Salmanazar for Starlight Racing.

Both sired by multiple graded stakes winner Overanalyze - who was also trained by Pletcher and owned by Mike Repole - Analyze Your Luck and Analyze the Odds each made their debuts in New York. Facing a six-horse field, Analyze Your Luck won going five furlongs over an off track on May 5 at Belmont by 2 ¼ lengths. Analyze the Odds made his debut on April 20 at Aqueduct and won by 4 ½ lengths.

Admiral Jimmy, a homebred, won his first start in a field of five on May 3 at Gulfstream Park. Lastly, Salmanazar, a son of Shackleford, took his debut at Keeneland on April 26 to win by 1 ½ lengths from a field of 10.

"We entered four all in the same boat, all have run once and all have won," said Pletcher. "We'll see how it shakes out."

"The Tremont is important for the 2-year-old program in New York and I'm glad to see them bring it back [in 2014]," added Pletcher. "The effort they've made to get the 2-year-old program started a little earlier has paid off based on what I've seen in the entries so far. People are now coming in with their 2-year-olds a little earlier. One of the problems we had for a while was once you broke your maiden you really didn't have anywhere to go. Having the Tremont on the calendar and a couple of New York-bred stakes at the end of the meet gives you some options. It's a good opportunity for some of these more precocious sorts to take advantage of their precocity."

Salmanazar will leave from post 7 under Hall of Famer John Velazquez, Admiral Jimmy will depart from post 2 with Javier Castellano aboard, Analyze Your Luck from post 6 with Manny Franco and Analyze the Odds and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. from the outermost post 8.

Shipping in from Maryland and looking to pick up a stakes win in his second start is He Hate Me for Sagamore Farm. Trained by Horacio DePaz, the son of Algorithms won his debut by 1 ¾ lengths on May 26 at Pimlico.

Drawing the rail, He Hate Me will be ridden by Ricardo Santana, Jr.

Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen will enter Direct Dial for owner Bill Farish. Bred by his owner, he impressively won his debut by 7 ¾ lengths on April 26 at Keeneland.

Rounding out the field is Presence of Mind for Spa City Stables and trainer George Weaver and Wonder How for owner and trainer John Salzman, Sr.