Leinster delivers as favorite in Woodford Stakes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Leinster got a perfect trip and remained perfect in graded stakes on his home turf course this year with a half-length victory in the Grade 2, $150,000 Woodford Stakes for turf sprinters Saturday at Keeneland.

This was the third career graded stakes victory for Leinster, who now eyes the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint here at Keeneland on Nov. 7. The 5-year-old Majestic Warrior horse, who is based in Lexington with trainer Rusty Arnold for owners Amy Dunne, Brenda Miley, Westrock Stables, and Jean Wilkinson, finished seventh in last year's renewal at Santa Anita.

Leinster has won 3 of 4 career starts on the Keeneland turf, including the Grade 2 Shakertown at the track's July meeting this year, running 5 1/2 furlongs in a course-record 1:00.86 that day. His only local loss came when he was second by three-quarters of a length in the 2019 Woodford.

Leinster ($7.80), who was sent away favored for this year's renewal under Luis Saez, broke well from post 8 in the field of nine, setting himself up to run in a stalking second just off the hip of Just Might as that one zipped through an opening quarter of 21.90 seconds. The field hit the half in 44.44, with Leinster poking a head in front of the stubborn pacesetter and beginning to edge clear.

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“He broke pretty sharp," Saez said. "We wanted to track somebody. We had a perfect position, and I had a lot of horse. He just took off.”

Meanwhile, second choice Extravagant Kid, who had been sixth after the opening quarter, made a steady rally on the outside under Tyler Gaffalione, coming up a half-length short at the wire as Leinster stopped the clock in 1:01.59.

"He has a tendency to kind of wait on horses when he makes the lead, so I was trying to time it right," Gaffalione said. "We got beat by a really nice horse."

Just Might was another three-quarters of a length back in third, holding off Chaos Theory by a half-length.