For 21 years, trainer Todd Pletcher helped build television ratings for the Kentucky Derby by bringing dozens of top contenders to the opening leg of the Triple Crown.

In last week’s 151st edition of the run for the roses, Pletcher once again helped the ratings, though in a completely different and far less significant role.

This time, he wasn’t a participant.

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He was part of 17 million viewers who watched the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve on television.

When Repole Stable’s Grande was scratched from the classic, it ended Pletcher’s amazing streak of a record 21 straight years with a Kentucky Derby starter and left him on the outside looking in for the first time since 2003.

“It was a little different for sure. I went back to the hotel and watched the Derby on television. It was different not being in the paddock. Not doing the walkover. Twenty-one years down the tubes,” Pletcher said with a laugh.

Pletcher also holds the record for the most Kentucky Derby starters with 65 from 2000-’24, with 58 of them running during the 2004-’24 streak. It’s a remarkable number made even more impressive by the way the two-time Kentucky Derby winner’s 3-year-olds earned spots in the field through success in prep races as opposed to simply squeezing into the back of the field.

“We had a good run,” Pletcher said. “I hope we can start the streak over next year.”

Wood Memorial Stakes runner-up Grande (Eclipse Sportswire)

As for Grande, the Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by Resorts World Casino runner-up is currently in Lexington undergoing a series of tests, performed by Dr. Larry Bramlage, which have yet to find a significant problem.

“X-rays were good and PET scans we did at Churchill Downs were good. We wanted Dr. Bramlage to give him one more series of tests and after that he’ll be on his way to Saratoga on [May 9],” Pletcher said.

Grande, a son of Curlin, was a vet scratch the day before the Kentucky Derby. At the time, owner Mike Repole said the 3-year-old had been “battling a slight cracked heel this week which has been improving.” Repole said he was “baffled and confused” by the criteria veterinarians use to determine scratches.

Pletcher said Grande is a possibility for the June 7 Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course if all goes well over the course of the next month.

“Everything is in play for Grande with the exception of the Preakness. We’ll get him up there [to Saratoga], see how he does, and take it from there,” the Hall of Fame trainer said.

Update on Pletcher’s trio of older stars

It was mostly great news for Pletcher with his trio of 4-year-old stars on Kentucky Derby weekend at Churchill Downs.

Mindframe, a Maryland-bred son of Constitution owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables, notched his initial Grade 1 win in capturing the May 3 Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Ford, while Repole Stable, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith’s Fierceness, in his first race since a second in the Nov. 2 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, set a track record in winning the May 2 Alysheba Stakes Presented by Sentient Jet in 1:40.66 for a mile and a sixteenth.

On the downside, Pletcher’s Santa Anita Handicap winner Locked finished a disappointing fourth in the Alysheba.

“Those were two big wins there,” Pletcher said. “It was great to get the Grade 1 for Mindframe. We were excited about that.”

Mindframe and Fierceness, a son of City of Light, both will target the June 7 Metropolitan Handicap at the Spa, with the Hall of Fame trainer saying there is a possibility both could start in the famed one-mile showdown.

Fierceness set a record in the Alysheba. (Eclipse Sportswire)

“The Met Mile is in play for both of them. If we decide we need more time, the Stephen Foster [June 28 at Churchill Downs] is a backup. We’ll prepare as if both are going in the Met Mile for the next few weeks and see how things shake out,” Pletcher said.

Pletcher said Locked returned from the Alysheba fine and said the moderate pace — :48.31 for a half-mile — worked against the Grade 1 winner who was sixth and last much of the way.

“Locked came back well and looks very good. The way the track was playing that day and the pace made it hard to have an impact closing from that far back,” Pletcher said. “It was slowly run at the beginning and everyone came home fast. To set a track record that way is pretty unusual. But when you analyze the complexion of the race and how it unfolded, he was just totally up against it. His performance wasn’t that off. It was just circumstantial.”

Pletcher said “everything is on the table” for Locked, which also includes the Met Mile.

Locked, a son of Gun Runner, is owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm. The Alysheba marked the first time in his nine career starts that he was unplaced.