Keeneland: Woodford field difficult to separate

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The last time Keeneland hosted a Grade 3 stakes for male turf sprinters, the first five finishers were separated by less than a half-length.

That blanket finish in the Shakertown Stakes last April may not be replicated Saturday in the Grade 3 Woodford Stakes on the Keeneland turf, but fans figure to have a hard time separating the contenders for the 5 1/2-furlong race for betting purposes. Ten older horses who made their respective last starts at seven different racetracks give a melting-pot feel to the 17th running of the Woodford, not to mention a difficult exercise in handicapping.

Great Mills, Stormofthecentury, Spring to the Sky, and Havelock look like the top contenders, with perhaps Great Mills deserving slight favoritism. The Millennium Farms homebred has shown flashes of brilliance when specializing in just these kinds of races, and he is likely to move forward off a needed start at Saratoga.

Stormofthecentury was good enough to win the $350,000 Turf Monster, one of the richest turf sprints in North America, when pulling a 28-1 upset last month at Parx Racing.

Spring to the Sky, based in New York with Bruce Brown, has been in peak form for much of this year and comes off a victory in a second-level allowance race at Saratoga.

Clearly the enigma horse of the group is Havelock, the Silverton Hill homebred who is 3 for 4 over the Keeneland course, including victories in the 2011 Woodford and in that wild conclusion to the Grade 3 Shakertown last spring. The Maryland-bred gelding shows four workouts since returning from an unproductive summer in England.

Rounding out the field are Pirates Vow, Tour Guide, Console, Expecting Cash, Ancil, and Global Power.

The Woodford, named in honor of nearby Woodford County, initially was known as the Nureyev from 1997-2002. It is carded as the first of five straight graded stakes Saturday and the fifth of 10 races overall.

Of the nine graded stakes being run on the opening FallStars weekend at Keeneland, only the Woodford and the First Lady are not Win and You’re In races for the Breeders’ Cup.