Global Campaign downs odds-on Tacitus in Woodward

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - From the time Global Campaign arrived in his barn as a 2-year-old, trainer Stanley Hough had high hopes for the son of Curlin. Some physical issues, mainly his feet, kept Global Campaign from proving to everybody else what Hough thought of him.

That all changed Saturday at Saratoga as Global Campaign, under Luis Saez, took the lead from the start, handled the menacing presence of Tacitus for a mile, then ran away from that rival in the stretch to win the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths. It was another 1 1/4 lengths back to Prioritize in third.

Spinoff was fourth, followed by Math Wizard. Moretti scratched.

It was not only the first Grade 1 win for Global Campaign, owned by WinStar Farm and Sagamore Farm, it was Hough’s first Grade 1 victory since Request for Parole won the United Nations at Monmouth Park in 2004. Hough was retired for six years before returning to training in 2018 to work for Sagamore.

“It was great, honestly. You don’t get many of his talent,” Hough said by phone from Kentucky, where he watched the race. “There are always bumps in the road, but he is that kind of a horse. I’m just so excited, he beat a really good horse and that’s what is so satisfying about it.”

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Tacitus is a multiple Grade 2 stakes winner who has finished second in three Grade 1 stakes including the Belmont, Travers, and now the Woodward.

Global Campaign was coming off a gutsy victory in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup last month in which he made the early lead then came back on again after getting passed in the stretch by Bal Harbour.

Hough didn’t necessarily think Global Campaign needed to be on the lead early, but he did note that in his previous wins he had made the lead at some point well before the finish.

Luis Saez had been aboard for Global Campaign’s first five starts, three of which were wins, including the Grade 3 Peter Pan at Belmont in 2019. Saturday, was his first time aboard the horse since last year’s Jim Dandy, in which he finished third.

Saturday, Saez hustled Global Campaign to the lead out of the gate and was able to set moderate fractions of 24.65 seconds for the quarter, 48.89 for the half-mile, 1:11.90 for six furlongs, and 1:35.42 for a mile. Tacitus, under Jose Ortiz, was within a half-length of Global Campaign for the opening mile.

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Turning for home Saez shook Global Campaign up and Tacitus couldn’t go with him.

“He broke pretty good from the gate today and he was right there,” Saez said. “He controlled the pace. I had a lot of pressure but I wasn’t worried about it. He kept fighting and he never gave up.”

Bill Mott, the trainer of Tacitus, the 3-5 favorite, said his horse was simply second best.

“He couldn’t have ridden him any different the way we mapped it out,” Mott said. “He started going to him at the five-eighths pole and could never get by him. We had no excuse.”

Global Campaign covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.40 and returned $7.80 as the second choice.

Hough said Global Campaign would return to Churchill Downs on Tuesday and would most likely make his next start in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.