Belmont Stakes winner Sir Winston to make return in Woodchopper

Belmont Stakes winner to Woodchopper Stakes starter – that’s not a route Triple Crown race winners typically travel, but that’s what’s on the agenda for Sir Winston.

Sir Winston won the Belmont by one length on June 8 and hasn’t started since, but he worked steadily at Casse Farm in Florida in October, November, and on Dec. 1, and posted a half-mile drill in 47.60 Dec. 8 at Fair Grounds, fastest of 94 works at the distance that morning.

“The track seemed fast early on, and he’s not normally a good work horse, but this morning he went quick and did it very nicely,” David Carroll, Fair Grounds-based assistant to trainer Mark Casse, told Fair Ground publicity earlier this week.

The Dec. 28 Woodchopper is a two-turn turf stakes open to 3-year-olds. The age-restricted nature of the race appeals to Sir Winston’s connections since Sir Winston, as much as anything, just needs to get back racing after a long layoff. Sir Winston, by Awesome Again, finished ninth in his lone turf start, and though his synthetic-surface form is better than that, he appears to be at his best in dirt races.

“We’re looking for a good 4-year-old year with him, and the way he’s been so far we have no complaints,” Carroll said. “It’s always exciting having the Belmont winner in the barn.”