Pixelate figures right there with a clean run in Woodchopper
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
It’s not difficult to connect the dots and see Pixelate emerge as a major player Saturday in the $75,000 Woodchopper Stakes on the Fair Grounds turf.
Pixelate got caught well behind a false pace two starts ago in the Belmont Derby and never had a chance to make up ground in a slow-early, fast-late Grade 1. Last out, Pixelate got away slowly in the $150,000 Bryan Station Stakes at Keeneland, then found considerable trouble at the quarter pole before roaring home to finish fourth.
“He had a troubled trip and he wasn’t able to overcome it,” said trainer Mike Stidham.
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Pixelate remains in 3-year-old restricted competition and has found a softer spot in the one-mile Woodchopper, which drew 13 entrants. He’s 4-1 on the morning line but figures roughly half that price when the field is sent on its way.
“He’s training fantastically,” Stidham said. “We’ve been commenting on how well he’s done since he got down to Fair Grounds.”
One mile is on the short side of Pixelate’s distance range, but the last time Pixelate raced as short as one mile, he finished second this past May in the War Chant Stakes at Keeneland, beaten only by Smooth Like Strait, who’s among the divisional leaders, while finishing in front of the highly capable Field Pass.
Mike Maker trains Field Pass, and while that horse isn’t in this field, Maker entered Telephone Talker, Dynadrive, and Bodecream. Bodecream is listed as a shaky 7-2 morning-line favorite after finishing second by a nose in the $100,000 Gio Ponti Stakes and third behind good turf 3-year-olds Get Smokin and Decorated Invader in the Grade 2 Hill Prince, with both races in New York. Telephone Talker looks at least as good. He’s an improving colt with positional pace and surface versatility coming out of three strong Kentucky performances.
The long-term forecast as of Tuesday called for clear weather Saturday, and trainer Joe Sharp, who has Spanish Kingdom in for turf, said Blackberry Wine only would start if the race is rained onto dirt.