SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – By Mike Repole's count, it was going to be a party of 55 at the Jim Dandy celebration dinner at Nove Restaurant Saturday night. Maybe add 20 or so hangers-on who became honorary Repole groupies during a day that the owner won four races.The biggest, of course, was the $500,000 GII Jim Dandy Stakes when Renegade (Into Mischief) came out of left field with a furious rally to win by a half-neck for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.That set off a wild celebration that would last well into the night.“There is a big bill handed to me every night,” Repole, his slick Queens accent working overdrive following the Jim Dandy. “If I go to dinner, I pay for the food, you pay for the wine.”Then a laugh and some back pounding, maybe a high-five or 10.Repole was excited after Renegade came from nowhere to win the Jim Dandy and establish himself as a bona fide contender for the $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes on Aug. 29. He was stoked for Renegade and Ortiz, and he was especially ecstatic for his trainer and good friend Todd Pletcher, who visited the winner's circle five times on Saturday.Pletcher, who started the summer in a Saratoga funk (three wins in his first 22 starts), entered Saturday's card with 12 wins in 48 starts and just three away from career win No. 6,000. Repole was much more excited about Pletcher's day than the Hall of Famer.“On a scale of zero to 10, [he is] 2,000,” Pletcher, the master of the dead pan said.Pletcher could have been doing cartwheels, but that is not his way. He takes everything in stride, always has, always will.“You go through a losing streak, and you go through winning streaks, you have to try and maintain an even keel,” Pletcher, who has won a record 15 Saratoga training titles, said. “I don't know if I am jumping around inside, but I am feeling pretty good.”Pletcher also won five races in one day during the 2004 season.He will spend the next four weeks working on Renegade to give him his fourth Travers win. His other three–Flower Alley (2005), Stay Thirsty (2011) and Fierceness (2024)–also won the Jim Dandy. Stay Thirsty and Fierceness were owned by Repole.Repole co-owns Renegade with Robert and Lawana Low. In the Travers, the team will get a rematch with Golden Tempo (Curlin), who beat Renegade by a neck in the GI Kentucky Derby and 5 1/4 lengths (he was third) in the GI Belmont Stakes.Pletcher was confident his horse would benefit from the eight weeks between the June 6 Belmont Stakes and the Jim Dandy. He had five weeks between the Kentucky Derby and Belmont and Pletcher said Renegade was almost there, but not quite.Before the Jim Dandy, he saw the same Renegade he did before he blitzed the GI Arkansas Derby by four lengths in late March.“I am looking forward to the Travers, whoever is in there,” Pletcher said, sidestepping the question of whether he was looking forward to a rematch with Golden Tempo.Repole was a little blunter.“He is back,” he said about Renegade. “I think he will be the favorite in the Travers. I wish the Travers was next week. The best 3-year-old in the country right now is Golden Tempo; how can you say he's not? We will get our shot in the Travers, and we'll see what happens.”DeVaux Looking Forward to the Next RaceA couple hours after Golden Tempo (Curlin) had his second Saratoga work on the main track Sunday morning, his trainer Cherie DeVaux stood outside her office at the Oklahoma Training Track and the conversation inevitably drifted to Aug. 29.That's the day of the $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes and the next scheduled start for Golden Tempo, the hero of the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes. What is looming is a much-anticipated showdown between DeVaux's horse and Renegade (Into Mischief), the breathtaking winner of Saturday's $500,000 GII Jim Dandy Stakes.DeVaux was at Colonial Downs in Virginia Saturday where she saddled Supercharger (Constitution) to victory in the $500,000 GII Secretariat Stakes. She was able to see the Jim Dandy.“I thought Renegade ran a great race,” DeVaux said. “We have faced him twice and we've come out on top. It was good to see him back and winning.”Golden Tempo (Inside) | Sarah AndrewAnd now the countdown to Golden Tempo-Renegade III.“It's something that gets everyone excited and engaged,” she said. “For us in the industry, it's fun, a good opportunity for everyone to get out there and pick a side and have a vested interest, even if they are not betting.”Owned by Phipps Stable and St Elias Stable, Golden Tempo worked four furlongs in :47.67 (9/149) with jockey Jose Ortiz aboard. He worked in company with 3-year-old stablemate Stirring Words, who was piloted by Ameth Gonzalez.“It was another nice extended work for him,” DeVaux said. “He came back happy, and we will do the same thing next week.”Rodriguez Changes Mind, Phileas Fogg will Skip WhitneyLess than a week ago, trainer Gus Rodriguez was pumped up to see his 6-year-old Phileas Fogg (Astern {Aus}) run in the $1-million GI Whitney Stakes on Saturday.Six days away from the race, Rodriguez has pumped the brakes and decided the Whitney is out.Instead, Rodriguez will wait until the $1-million GI Jockey Club Gold Cup at the new Belmont Park's opening day on Sept. 18.“We looked at everything and decided we wanted more time for the horse,” Rodriguez said at his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track Sunday morning. “I think the last race took a lot out of him.”The last race was a 10-length romp in the GII Suburban Stakes, an effort that earned him a Beyer Speed figure of 107.Phileas Fogg | Sarah Andrew“Usually, when they run a race like that kind of race, I like to give them a month or two months,” Rodriguez said. “More time is better.”It made sense to try the Whitney because the horse, Rodriguez said, was doing well and he has always liked Saratoga. In five career starts at the Spa, he has three wins.The more he thought about it and the more he discussed it with owner Steve Shapiro of Jupiter Stable, the more it made sense to wait.“He would be running against the best of the best,” Rodriguez said, referring to Whitney runners such as Magnitude (Not This Time), Sovereignty (Into Mischief), Baeza (McKinzie), White Abarrio (Race Day) and the champion filly Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro). “He's ok and everything looks good; we just thought it would be better to wait.”Phileas Fogg's best distance is 1 1/4 miles, the same distance as the Jockey Club Gold Cup, a race where he could run into the more-than-formidable Forever Young (Real Steel {Jpn}). The Whitney is 1 1/8 miles.Now that he is out of the Whitney, Rodriguez can play handicapper and give his pick. The winner will be …“[Steve] Asmussen,” he said, selecting Magnitude. “That horse has beat everybody.”The post Saratoga Notebook, presented by NYRA Bets: Pletcher Knows Repole is an Excitable Guy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.