Weekend GamePlan for Sept. 12, 2026: Picks for Woodbine Mile, E.P. Taylor, Open Mind
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The brutally difficult and demanding Kentucky Downs meet closed Wednesday, allowing Daily Racing Form’s Kentucky correspondent and handicapper to . . . dive straight into Churchill’s meeting.
Day 2 of that meet brings forth five stakes, but, perhaps out of exhaustion, the handicapper settled on the favorite in four of them. Woodbine – that’s where the action is.
Woodbine Mile
A few things made me very curious about the 4-year-old gelding Archivist. First, I had never heard of him. Second, his trainer, Hamad Al Jehani, showed up at Woodbine for two programs last year and won the Singspiel with Haunted Dream and the Canadian International with Silawi.
Al Jehani, like the owner of Archivist, Wathnan Racing, is Qatari. He used to be a jockey and now has 30 horses stabled in a Newmarket yard. Al Jehani is doing very well, and Archivist has turned into a tiger, capable of upsetting Deterministic and Notable Speech. Both of those horses are top-class milers, and Archivist never has run in a Group or Grade 1, but his last-out performance in the Group 3 Strensall was of Group 1 quality.
I watched all the horse’s races and think I’ve gleaned a couple things: He’s not at all a soft-ground horse, and it has been a struggle unleashing Archivist’s native talent.
He started with trainer Michael Stoute while racing for his breeder, the acclaimed Cheveley Park Stud, moving to trainer William Haggas after Stoute retired. After a series of second-place finishes, most over soft ground I don’t think he loves, Archivist put things together last summer. His campaign ended with a good third of 18 in a big York handicap where Archivist just didn’t quite stay 1 5/16 miles in his first try at a trip that far.
Wathnan acquired him sometime thereafter, and Archivist showed up with Jehani for winter racing in Dubai. His second start there was pretty good, and his third, which was very good, marked Archivist’s first race in blinkers. Favored over 27 foes in the Royal Hunt Handicap at Ascot, Archivist went out and laid an egg.
Here’s the thing: He was ridden that day to lead, as had been the case on several previous occasions. That is not what Archivist wants these days. Taken back, he closed strongly and landed an important Goodwood handicap over 17 rivals, and, raised to the Group 3 level, ran off the screen in the Strensall. Archivist never had performed like he did at York, a flat, left-handed course more like North American racing than most in England. It wasn’t just the wide margin of victory, but the absolute ease and confidence with which he cruised into contention that caught the eye. He’s just a 4-year-old and will be properly priced for a Woodbine Mile flyer.
E.P. Taylor
Diamond Rain probably goes favored, but I’d guess she still will offer at least a touch of value – at least if you regard her like I do.
Diamond Rain’s trove of ability didn’t at all jump off the page last year, and it wasn’t until looking deeply into the 2025 E.P. Taylor and watching her run that I understood how good she was. I touted her to win this race a year ago, and she lost by a head with a tough trip to champion She Feels Pretty. Her Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf was strong, but Diamond Rain looked like a horse who would reach her peak at age 5.
That’s now, and I have to believe her easy three-race campaign came with an eye toward this race and a return to the BC Filly and Mare Turf. Diamond Rain approached her peak thumping inferior foes last out at York, and she’ll come very close to it in the E.P. Taylor.
Open Mind
I’m really against Usha here, whose credentials rest on not much more than a shaky 99 Beyer Speed Figure in the La Brea, a race that fell apart as Usha closed from seventh. She’s at base a seven-furlong horse and an inside draw going six furlongs, not even accounting for her blah recent form, is a tough ask.
One might also question the substantiality of Modo’s 97 Beyer from March 21, but she’ll be a better price than Usha, has been pointed to this race all summer, actually is a six-furlong horse, and, from an outside draw, stands to pull an excellent trip.
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