Saratoga: Handicapping the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes

By Rick Francis —-

Saratoga

Race 11) 1&1/8th Mile. Woodward S. Presented by NYRA Bets PRESENTED BY NYRA BETS. Grade I. Purse $750,000 FOR THREE YEAR OLDS AND UPWARD.

Post Time: ( 6:00)/ 5:00/ 4:00/ 3:00 ADVANCED FORECAST: Sunny, High 74, Low 53.

1) Mr. Buff (Kimmel/Lezcano); winner of two straight is always forwardly placed and will be here; loves the course (4 2-1-0).

2) Bal Harbor (Pletcher/Castellano); back-to-back runner-up finishes at Monmouth including a tough beat by a head last out in G3 Monmouth Cup; Hall of Famer Mike Smith had the call in that contest, today it’s Javier Castellano to try and break the current winless streak.

3) Vino Rosso (Pletcher/Velazquez); Grade 1 Gold Cup winner was no match for top two in the Whitney so trainer Pletcher takes the shades off for this (23 percent angle); Curlin colt always works well just may not have enough for the top spot.

4) Mongolian Groom (Ganbat/Saez); 4-year-old has had no success away from the West Coast, that trend continues.

5) Preservationist (Jerkens/Alvarado); battled early in the Whitney only to weaken for the stretch drive and finish fourth; Grade 2 Suburban winner can and will factor in this so don’t be quick to dismiss.

6) Forewarned (St. Lewis/Salgado); Flat Out colt is “Flat Out” overmatched in this and would be a major upset.

7) Yoshida (Mott/Rosario); 2018’s winner closed strongly to place in the Whitney, his best effort since winning this a year ago. 5-year-old’s biggest problem is he hasn’t put together back-to-back board finishes much less winning efforts since a pair of turf starts a year ago; nevertheless when you’ve won a major contest here you’ll be the one to beat next time out.

8) Wooderson (Pletcher/Ortiz, J.); finished up a willing second last out in the Alydar but that winner starts to his outside and was in hand; an exotics player.

9) Tom’s d’Etat (Stall/Ortiz, I.); lightly raced 6-year-old appears to be rounding into the major stakes player connections always thought he could be; following money finishes in both the Alysheba and Foster he he rode home clear in the Alydar; a must in all exotic plays.

Selections: 9, 3, 5, 1.