OZONE PARK, N.Y. - A memorable year for Todd Pletcher continued in the most frenzied and fantastic way Saturday at Aqueduct with the trainer winning three consecutive graded stakes, capped by the Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile with the New York-bred Americanrevolution. The combined margin of victory for the three wins was about a length. Americanrevolution won the Cigar Mile by a half-length over stablemate Following Sea after Nest captured the Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle by a neck, and Mo Donegal took the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen by a nose. The three victories, achieved in about a 62-minute span, all came in races in which there was either a stewards’ inquiry or jockey’s objection. The only potentially controversial decision involved Mo Donegal, who did bump with Zandon with an overly aggressive Irad Ortiz Jr. throwing crosses at his horse, and his elbow seemingly touching Zandon’s head. In all three instances, the stewards made no change to the order of finish. :: Bet the races with confidence on DRF Bets. You're one click away from the only top-rated betting platform fully integrated with exclusive data, analytics, and expert picks. The three graded stakes wins capped a 2021 in which Pletcher was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and one in which he trained a likely Eclipse Champion in the 3-year-old filly Malathaat and won a Breeders’ Cup race with the freaky good 3-year-old Life Is Good. Saturday’s three graded stakes wins gave him 33 on the year - tying him for most in that category with Chad Brown - and the most for Pletcher since he won 46 in 2015. Americanrevolution’s victory in the Cigar was Pletcher’s eighth Grade 1 win of 2021, two back of Steve Asmussen, Bob Baffert, Brad Cox and Chad Brown, all of whom have won 10 Grade 1s. “All in all, it was a promising year and to get some of these horses coming back - it’s always great when you get some of your top horses back,” Pletcher said Sunday at Belmont. “Then we need the 2-year-olds turning 3 to step up and what’s exciting, too, is the yearlings we have in the pipeline are arguably as strong as we’ve ever had. You never know, but it's promising.” Four of the five individual horses responsible for Pletcher’s Grade 1 wins this year are expected to race in 2022. Americanrevolution, who gave Pletcher his fifth Cigar Mile victory and earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure, will head to WinStar Farm for a freshening before rejoining Pletcher at Palm Beach Downs in late winter. His calendar will likely include races around two turns. “He’s proven to be a really good horse, he’s one of those that seems like he gets a little better each time,” Pletcher said. “He showed his versatility yesterday backing up to a mile; one turn, two turns, so there are a lot of options.” Pletcher said Following Sea, the Cigar Mile runner-up, will head to Palm Beach Downs this week along with Mo Donegal and Nest. Following Sea will likely target the Grade 1 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct, presumably on April 9. Meanwhile, Pletcher will attempt to plot out a path toward the May 7 Kentucky Derby for Mo Donegal (89 Beyer) and the May 6 Kentucky Oaks for Nest (76 Beyer). Mo Donegal showed some grit in outfinishing a game Zandon by a nose in the Remsen. That he handled 1 1/8 miles at the end of his 2-year-old year bodes well for Mo Donegal, though the Remsen winner hasn’t won the Kentucky Derby since Thunder Gulch in 1995. Bluegrass Cat, who won the Remsen for Pletcher in 2005, finished second to Barbaro in the 2006 Kentucky Derby. Pletcher took it as a positive that Mo Donegal and Zandon finished 9 3/4 lengths clear of the rest of the field. “He’s in the same boat as every 2-year-old turning 3, he needs to continue to improve,” Pletcher said. “Physically, the horse has done really well this fall. You could see him really fill out and grow.” Pletcher said ideally he would look to run Mo Donegal twice before the Kentucky Derby, the first start potentially being the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park on March 5. Nest gave Pletcher his seventh victory - and second straight - in the Demoiselle. Malathaat, last year’s Demoiselle winner, came back this year to win the Kentucky Oaks and Alabama and is a virtual lock to win the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly. Nest’s final time for the Demoiselle was 1:55.07 - 1.46 seconds slower than the Remsen - but she was four to five wide throughout in the race. “She was never really able to tuck in, but she just kept coming,” Pletcher said. “We were confident she could get the distance.” Pletcher said Nest would also likely have two starts before the Kentucky Oaks. Pletcher’s three wins Saturday enabled him to win the Aqueduct fall meet trainer’s title with 13 wins. It was his first outright Aqueduct fall title since 2009. On Monday, Pletcher was headed to South Florida where the bulk of his stable is based at the Palm Beach Downs training center. His more immediate focus is preparing Life Is Good, the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner, toward the $3 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 29 and a showdown with Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Knicks Go. Also, Pletcher is preparing Colonel Liam, a two-time Grade 1 winner in 2021, toward a defense of his Pegasus Turf victory. Colonel Liam, off since an eighth in the Grade 1 Manhattan on June 5, returned to the work tab last Thursday at Palm Beach Downs with a three-furlong move in 38.26 seconds.