Intriguing Woodward attracts field of seven
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Even without Whitney Handicap winner Cross Traffic in the lineup, the Grade Woodward hardly lacks star appeal or story lines. The nine-furlong, weight-for-age test, which attracted seven older horses, highlights the final Saturday of the 40-day Saratoga meet. Virtually every member of the Woodward field will be out to prove one thing or another. For Fort Larned, the Woodward represents an opportunity to dismiss doubts that he has lost a step off a stellar 2012 campaign that culminated with a stirring win in the Breeders' Cup Classic. Aside from his monster 6 1/4-length victory in the June 15 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs, Fort Larned has looked lackluster this season, most recently offering no stretch punch when favored in his Whitney title defense earlier this month. "I haven't lost any confidence in him," trainer Ian Wilkes said. "He's had a different schedule than last year -- he hasn't raced as much -- but the objective is still the same: get back to the Classic. I think the whole division is very strong this year, and this race is going to be as tough or tougher than the last one (Whitney)." |
Multiple Grade 2 winners Successful Dan and Mucho Macho Man, both in search
of their first top-level wins, are well acquainted with each other and with Fort
Larned. The older half-brother of Horse of the Year Wise Dan, Successful Dan
threw in a rare clunker behind Fort Larned in the Stephen Foster, but rebounded
to finish a strong second in the Whitney, a performance that earned him 5-2
morning-line favoritism in the Woodward.
"He's training good, he's doing good, he's had super good breezes since then,
everything's good with his legs, and I'm really excited to run him in this
race," trainer Charlie LoPresti said.
Mucho Macho Man, beaten a neck in last year's Woodward and a half-length in
the Breeders' Cup Classic, has not looked as sharp in three outings this season.
Sidelined with a virus over the winter, the five-year-old was a non-threatening
third in a June 14 overnight stakes at Belmont and then occupied the same slot
in the Whitney.
"It's certainly going to be tough, but he's coming into this race better than
he did into the Whitney, because we had run into a couple of problems early in
the year with a bacterial infection and so forth," owner Dean Reeves said. "So
this will be his third race back, and we're looking for him to improve on that
race in the Whitney, and hopefully it'll be good enough to get that group of
horses, which are a fine group, in this coming Woodward."
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Paynter, to the welcome surprise of many, successfully fought off life-threatening bouts of colitis and laminitis to return to the track this season for Bob Baffert. Last year's Haskell Invitational winner and Belmont Stakes runner-up has made two starts this summer, easily taking a seven-furlong allowance at Hollywood and then finishing a close second in the San Diego Handicap at Del Mar. A strong performance Saturday could give Baffert, who also trains division leader Game On Dude, a solid one-two punch for November's Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita. "The Woodward is a great race, pointing to the Breeders' Cup. We're excited about running him. It's a tough field, but he's tough," Baffert said. The seven-year-old Flat Out, a two-time winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Suburban Handicap, has yet to win a major stakes outside the friendly confines of Belmont Park. Flat Out has run well in three previous trips to Saratoga, placing in two editions of the Whitney and once in the Woodward, but Saturday's race might ultimately prove a useful prep for next month's crack at a third Gold Cup triumph. |
Looking to rekindle past glories are longshots Ron the Greek and Alpha.
Winner of the 2012 editions of the Santa Anita Handicap and Stephen Foster, Ron
the Greek's best finish in his past four starts was a a half-length third behind
Game On Dude in the April 20 Charles Town Classic.
Alpha, unplaced in six starts dating to his dead-heat win in the 2012
Travers, seems up against it carrying level weights.
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