Todd Pletcher heads into the Grade 3 With Anticipation Stakes at Saratoga with three of the five entrants, giving the Hall of Famer a dominant presence in the $225,000 juvenile turf feature.
The With Anticipation is a 1 1/16-mile turf test for 2-year-olds on Saratoga's inner course and is scheduled as part of Saturday's card that also includes the Spinaway Stakes. Previews note that the five-horse field makes the race a compact but high-quality stepping stone toward longer fall turf stakes and potentially Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf aspirations.
Pletcher already owns the record for most training wins in the With Anticipation and now seeks to push that mark further with this trio. Industry coverage describes his group of Liam's Law, High Official and Bold Leadership as the three strongest options on paper among the entrants.
Reports indicate that Liam's Law enters off a maiden victory, giving him valuable experience over turf and stretching out to this two-turn configuration. High Official likewise comes in with a maiden win, suggesting he has already handled the demands of breaking sharply and finishing off his race at Saratoga. Bold Leadership may be the most intriguing of the trio after missing by only a nose in his career debut, a narrow defeat that often signals upside for lightly raced juveniles.
From a handicapping standpoint, having three runners from the same barn in such a short field raises questions about pace dynamics and team tactics. Bettors will have to decide whether to key one Pletcher runner as the main win candidate or to spread among all three while respecting the two outsiders who will likely provide the primary resistance.
Recent editions of the With Anticipation have produced stakes-caliber graduates such as Coinage, who used his win in 2021 as a springboard to a broader graded campaign. Given that profile, a strong performance from any of Pletcher's trio on Saturday would immediately place them on the radar for fall turf stakes in New York and possible national honors later in the season.
