Preservationist wins 2019 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga. Who will land the prize this year?
Woodward Stakes race news
The Woodward Stakes is one of the major races in the US horse racing calendar which is run at the Saratoga racecourse. The race is for three-year-old thoroughbreds and older and run over one mile and a quarter, also known as ten furlongs. Unlike some of the top US horse races, the Woodward Stakes is run on the dirt (all-weather) surface.
The grade one listed race is worth $500,000 so all of the top Owners and Trainers will pinpoint this as a key race during the season given the huge prize money for the winner.
History of Woodward Stakes
The Woodward Stakes was first to run in 1954 and since then some notable horses have won the race. Forego was a four-time winner of the race-winning each race from 1974 to 1977 and in 1976 setting a course record of 1 minute and 45 seconds. Therefore it’s not surprising that the leading trainer with the most wins in the race is the Owner of Forego Mr. Lazy F Ranch.
Two jockeys have each won the race six times and they are Angel Cordero Jr and Jerry D. Bailey. Angel won five years in a row in the 1980s and Jerry completed his wins in the 1990s.
In recent years the winning horse has been a four year old which happened every year between 2010 and 2018, however, last year saw Preservationist land the race aged 6 and a first winning ride for Junior Alvarado and also Owner Jimmy Jerkens. The Odds on the Woodward Stakes winner was 3/1 (+300). After landing the race the horse has now retired to stud and am sure will be popular given some notable big race wins and pedigree.
Woodward Stakes 2020
This year’s running of the Woodward Stakes will take place on Saturday 5th September and the likely runners will include Tacitus, Math Wizard, Spinoff, and Moretti.
Starting with Tacitus who is likely to be one of the favorites to win the race, the four-year-old horse performed superbly in his last run at Belmont Park in July, winning the one-mile two-furlong race by eight and a half lengths in superb style. The pre-race favorite justified short odds and won comfortably with Moretti a long way back in second place.
Tacitus has run twice as a three-year-old at Saratoga last year in July and August, however, finished in second place on both occasions which will be a slight concern to the Owner Juddmonte Farms Inc and Trainer William Mott.
The next horse to focus on is Math Wizard. Owner Saffie A Joseph JR will have an eye on this race after the horses’ last run which was a second-place finish at Monmouth Park in July in a race over one mile and a furlong race. Global Campaign was the winner of the race, however, Math Wizard was only beaten by one and a half lengths.
The spinoff is another four-year-old horse likely to run in the Woodward Stakes and the odds are likely to be short on this horse given the recent win at Saratoga racecourse a few weeks ago in a competitive race over one mile and a furlong. Spinoff won by 2 ¾ lengths and looked impressive. Experienced winning trainer Todd Pletcher will be eager to enter the horse in the race as given course experience could well go very close and win the race.
The final horse to preview is Moretti. Although beaten by Tacitus in July, Moretti followed up with a much better performance at Saratoga earlier this month winning a one-mile six-furlong race in style. Although winning over a longer distance than the Woodward Stakes, Moretti likes Saratoga, and should the race be run at a light place, Moretti could pounce in the later stages. Moretti has never been out of the top three in the last six races, so the odds on the Woodward Stakes will be interesting to see who goes off favorite.
Tacitus is likely to go off as the Woodward Stakes favorite, however, this competitive race could land big race winners.
