Without questioning Pletcher's talent as a trainer, one cannot ignore his lack of success as a Derby trainer.  Certainly not saying Forte's scratch was his fault.....and maybe Tapit Trice was severely compromised by his post, and that in fact, as Todd acknowledged, Kingsbarns was light on seasoning.  Nonetheless, the trainer with the most entries, many of whom were costly at auction and well-bred, wins at a clip well-below his % in other races.

Perhaps the "Todd factor" will be as significant as the UAE Derby winner, and the horses without a 2 yr. old foundation?

Maybe Todd would have won the derby with Forte. We'll never know. Mage only had 3 starts prior. 

Kingsbarns, 3 starts as well and the oldest of the group. Todd wins when the stars align, not so yesterday. Steve Asmussen needs the planets to align for him to win. Next planet alignment....May 29th!....just sayin'

We'll see if Kingsbarns goes to Preakness. List will come out soon on which "Derby survivors" will go to Maryland. 
A consolation prize of sorts, I know, compared to draping your horse in the roses. 

I would imagine Todd will point Kingsbarns to the Belmont

Heard Todd's pointing Tapit Trice to the Belmont.

Hoping King Russell gets to run there. Think he'll do better than in the drby.

There's several who have pedigrees that I think might be good in the BEL,  that I can think of off top of my head:

Dubyuhnell - working well at Palm Beach
Hayes Strike - going in a race this week with Slip Mahoney at Monmouth
Single Ruler - going in an allowance at CD this week
Bluebirds Over- working at GS
Tapit Trice - just ran in KY Derby
Raise Cain - Just ran in KY Derby
Congruent - working at BEL
Two Phil's - Just ran in KY Derby

Also: 
Escapologist - dunno what happened to this one.  Going in a race at CD this week so who knows
Litigate would also be good for that race. Looks to be on the shelf, not working

I would love to see any of these in the race.  I'd put $$ on Congruent, Two Phil's and Dubyuhnell today if they were running this tomorrow, but I haven't checked on what they are up to lately so there's that. 

Looks like Two Phil's not going in Preakness OR Belmont. 

"He added that besides skipping the Preakness, Two Phil's will likely not run June 10 in the final leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes (G1), in favor of a summer "tune-up" such as the Ohio Derby (G3) at Thistledown or the Matt Winn Stakes (G3) back at Churchill.

"(He'll go to) something in June and then we go for the gusto, the Travers (Stakes, G1), the (Jim) Dandy (Stakes, G2), Haskell (Stakes, G1), something like that. And then the dream would be to run in the Breeders' Cup. Maybe he's a Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile or God willing, maybe he's a Classic-type horse."

Somewhere in the future Two Phil's might also try his luck on the turf. Sagan said he is a versatile horse and enjoys taking to different surfaces."

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/268524/derby-runner-up-two-phils-to-bypass-preakness
 

I just read back to myself the plan for Two Phil's. 

Which sounds like "no real plan".   It sounds like the owners are delighted they have a good horse and they want to see where the horse "can take them."

Reality being that any and all graded stakes campaigns that are not G3 or lower, do REQUIRE advance campaign planning and even the very best horse has to be able to maintain their condition.