No Pletcher at Arlington this meet

[golfer]

http://drf.com/news/article/103137.html

No Pletcher string at Arlington

Todd Pletcher, a mainstay at the Arlington meet the last two years, won't be sending a string to Chicago this summer, Arlington racing secretary Kevin Greely confirmed Tuesday morning. Pletcher's Arlington string occupied an entire barn, and his horses were regular participants in maiden and allowance races here. Pletcher said he'll instead operate a division at Delaware Park this summer.

"We loved Arlington, we loved the management there, the facilities are world-class, but the bottom line was it's isolated a bit from the main part of our business," Pletcher said Tuesday afternoon. "I thought it weakened our Saratoga division a little bit during that month. Part of the success we've had is moving horses from one place to another, and by going to Delaware it makes it that much easier. It was a really tough decision, though. I put it off as long as I could."

Also choosing Delaware over Arlington for 2009 is trainer Ronny Werner, while trainer Bill Mott will have five stalls here compared to the 24 he had in 2008. But Greely said he believes that the arrivals of several new outfits this year, among them Donnie Von Hemel, whose string will occupy an entire barn, will help offset Pletcher's departure.