Wide open 14-horse field vies for supremacy in G1 Woodward presented by NYRA Bets

By Brian Bohl —-

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Gunnevera will return to Saratoga Race Course for the first time since running second in last year’s Travers as he headlines a full field of 14 in Saturday’s 65th running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward, presented by NYRA Bets, for 3-year-olds and up.

One of four graded stakes on the last Saturday card of the Saratoga meet, the Woodward, Race 11 with an approximate post time of 6:47 p.m., will be carried live nationwide on NBCSN as part of its broadcast from Saratoga from 5:30-7 p.m.

Margoth’s Gunnevera is coming off a 6 ½-length win against optional claimers on August 10 at Gulfstream Park in his first race since running eighth in the Group 1, $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 31 at Meydan.
The Antonio Sano trainee will be running for the third time this year after starting his 4-year-old campaign third to Gun Runner in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational on January 27 at Gulfstream. After suffering a foot injury in Dubai, the Dialed In colt was given time off before his comeback three weeks ago. He will now be running at the Spa for the third straight year after winning the 2016 Saratoga Special and running second to West Coast in last year’s Mid-Summer Derby.

Jockey Edgard Zayas, who was aboard for the Travers and his fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic in November at Del Mar, will be aboard from post 9.

Tapwrit will look to improve on a fourth-place effort in the Grade 1 Whitney when he returns to the Spa. The 2017 Grade 1 Belmont Stakes winner will be making his fourth start since running fourth in last year’s edition of the Travers. One of three entrants for trainer Todd Pletcher, Tapwrit returned from a nine-month layoff to run third in an optional claimer at 1 1/16 miles on June 3 at Belmont Park. The 4-year-old Tapit colt then ran fifth after tiring late in the Grade 2 Suburban at 1 ¼ miles at Belmont. Cutting back to the Woodward distance of 1 1/8 miles, Tapwrit stayed near the pace before tiring on a sloppy and sealed track in the Whitney on August 4.
“I thought his two works since the Whitney were good, we’re hoping to catch a fast track and we think part of the reason he tired out in the Whitney was the sealed nature of the track,” Pletcher said. “He’s training where we wanted him to be, now, we need him to step up and run the race he’s capable of. In training, he seems like he’s in as good of form as ever. Hopefully, the surface will make a difference this time.”

Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Robert LaPenta, Bridlewood Farm, Gainesway Stable and Whisper Hill Farm, Tapwrit will be looking for his first win since his “Test of the Champion” triumph and third career graded stakes win overall, joining the 2017 Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez, aboard for the Whitney, will have the return call from post 4.

Pletcher, who is seeking his fourth Woodward win and first since Liam’s Map in 2015, will saddle two other challengers in Rally Cry and Patch.

In his first start since running sixth in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup in October 2017, Rally Cry finished fourth in an optional claimer July 21 at Saratoga.

“He needed that race, it was just a wicked fast past and he chased too hard and flattened out after that,” Pletcher said. “This would be a different pace scenario. He seems to do his best when he’s gathered up in the bridle, and that’s what we’re hoping to do.”

Paul Pompa, Jr.’s Rally Cry finished second to eventual Horse of the Year Gun Runner in last year’s Woodward, which came after the son of Uncle Mo registered a 8 ¾-length score in the Alydar in August 2017 at the Spa, earning a personal-best 110 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He trains exceptionally well, he’s always been an impressive horse to watch train,” Pletcher said. “Rather than put him in another allowance race, we’ll see if he can somehow get the kind of trip he got in the Alydar last year, where he was very impressive. If he runs his ‘A’ race, we feel like he’s capable.”

Hall of Famer Mike Smith will pick up the mount on Rally Cry and will break from the outside post.

Patch, who ran third in last year’s Belmont Stakes, will be aiming for his first stakes win and enters off a third-place finish to Kurilov and Realm in the Alydar on August 5.

Outside of a sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap, Patch has done well at the Woodward distance, running fourth in the 2017 Grade 2 West Virginia Derby and third in that year’s Grade 2 Louisiana Derby.

“I think the mile and an eighth suits him well and hopefully he’s the type of horse who can benefit from a solid pace as well,” Pletcher said. “He’s not the most enthusiastic breeze horse, but he seems to show up at game time.”
Luis Saez will have the call from post 3.

Kurilov ran second in the Alydar, switching to dirt after four consecutive turf starts, including three Grade 1 appearances for trainer Chad Brown. After finishing eighth in the Grade 1 United Nations on June 30 on the Monmouth turf, Brown said.

“It’s a much tougher race now, but the horse seems to be doing well on the dirt,” he said.

The 5-year-old Chilean-bred was a Group 1 winner in his native country, where he made his first 11 starts before first racing in North American in November. After running second to Heart to Heart by a neck in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf on November 10, Kurilov will be going for his first North American stakes win with Jose Ortiz from post 7.

Seeking the Soul won an optional claimer on the Saratoga main track last year, helping to propel him to an impressive fall in which he ran third in the Grade 3 Lukas Classic in September at Churchill Downs before winning the Grade 1 Clark Handicap on the same track in November. After running fifth in the Pegasus World Cup, trainer Dallas Stewart gave the 5-year-old a six-month layoff before returning to run second in the Michael G. Schaefer Memorial July 14 at Indiana Grand.

Seeking the Soul shipped into Saratoga last week, putting in what Stewart said was an impressive work on the Oklahoma training track Friday. Hall of Famer Javier Castellano picks up the mount from post 10.

“He’s doing great; he had a good work here and wasn’t blowing hard [despite it] being a very fast work,” Stewart said. “He’s won here already, so we’re looking forward to running him Saturday.”

Yoshida, who ran fifth in the Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap on August 11 at the Spa in his first race since running fifth in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes in June at Royal Ascot, will be attempting to win at Saratoga for the first time in four starts for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

Yoshida, who won the Grade 3 Hill Prince in October at Belmont, started his year with a win in the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic on May 5 at Churchill. Joel Rosario will ride from the rail.

Hence returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since his sophomore campaign when he won the Downs At Albuquerque Handicap on August 4 for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. The winner of the 2017 Grade 3 Iowa Derby, who ran 11th in last year’s Kentucky Derby and ninth in the Preakness, will be running at Saratoga for the first time since his debut in August 2016, drawing post 5 with Ricardo Santana, Jr. set to ride.

Rounding out the field is a pair of entries for trainer Brad Cox in Term of Art and Leofric from posts 6 and 11, respectively; Sunny Ridge from post 12 with meet-leading Irad Ortiz, Jr.; Discreet Lover , the third-place finisher in the Whitney, from post 8; Imperative, out of post 2; and Zanotti leaving from post 13.