War Like Goddess works with eye toward Saratoga
War Like Goddess, who made a successful 5-year-old debut in the Grade 3 Bewitch Stakes at Keeneland on April 29, was kept out of Friday’s Grade 1, $750,000 New York Stakes at Belmont due to a minor physical issue, trainer Bill Mott said.
She returned to the work tab on Monday at Saratoga, going three furlongs in 36.85 seconds over the Oklahoma training track, the fastest of 28 breezes at the distance. It was her first work since the Bewitch.
“After her race at Keeneland, she tied up one morning and we gave her a couple of weeks off,” Mott said while at Belmont on Sunday. “She’s back in training. We initially were going to run in this race, but not if she can’t be at her best.”
Mott didn’t have a specific next race picked out for War Like Goddess, who in 2021 won the Glens Falls and Flower Bowl at Saratoga before finishing third, a half-length behind winner Loves Only You, in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar.
While the Glens Falls (Aug. 6) and Flower Bowl (Sept. 3) are certainly options for War Like Goddess this summer, Mott also mentioned the possibility of running against males in the Grade 1, $750,000 Sword Dancer, a 1 1/2-mile race on Aug. 27.