Whitney's prime players will point to Woodward
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - If you thought Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.5 million Whitney was a good race, then you might want to make reservations to be at Saratoga on Aug. 30 for the Grade 1, $600,000 Woodward Stakes.
Led by front-running winner Moreno, the top three finishers from the Whitney as well as beaten favorite Palace Malice are all being pointed to the Woodward, which, like the Whitney, is run at 1 1/8 miles. The Woodward could also mark the return of Lea, the Donn Handicap winner, to the races and attract Zivo, who defeated Moreno in the Grade 2 Suburban last month at Belmont Park.
Moreno, who was hustled to the front Saturday by Junior Alvarado after a slow start, scored a 1 1/4-length victory in the Whitney to earn an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.
Trainer Eric Guillot said Sunday morning that Moreno is not the type of horse who would benefit from a freshening to await a race like the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on Sept. 27.
“The Jockey Club I’d like to make for sure, but he’s the kind of horse who is better to train light, work hard and run then it is to freshen him,” Guillot said.
Moreno earned a career-best 108 Beyer Speed Figure for the Whitney win, but Guillot believes his gelding’s most impressive race came in last month’s Suburban, where he finished second to Zivo
“We had to use our horse, press the whole way. I did all the running and a horse come from way out of the clouds to beat me,” Guillot said.
Eddie Plesa, the trainer of Itsmyluckyday, said he felt a sense of déjà vu to last year’s Preakness Stakes, where the colt finished second. Itsmyluckyday again finished second Saturday, three lengths clear of the rest of the field.
“I was pleased he’s able to run with those top-notch horses,” Plesa said as he drove back to New Jersey and Monmouth Park. “I wasn’t surprised at all. I would have been disappointed and would have been surprised if he hadn’t because I thought he was that good.”
Plesa said Itsmyluckyday came out of the race 100 percent and looked forward to running back in the Woodward.
“We’re going to run against Moreno again and I wouldn’t trade my chances,” Plesa said.
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said “we’ll certainly look at the Woodward” with Will Take Charge, who finished third, 4 1/4 lengths behind Moreno, whom he defeated in last year’s Travers.
“He pulled up really well. He was tired,” Lukas said. “He caught a lot of dirt. You couldn’t even tell he had a blaze on his face at the end there. I thought the scenario of the race didn’t complement us, plus the mile and an eighth is not his best, but I’m not going to make excuses we ran third.”
Trainer Todd Pletcher was looking for but could not find an excuse as to why Palace Malice, the 3-5 favorite in the Whitney, finished sixth, beaten 11 lengths. He entered the Whitney having won all four starts this year, including the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap.
“Cooled out well, scoped clean, temperature’s normal, sound, don’t have a good explanation at this time,” Pletcher said Sunday morning. “You never want anything to be wrong with him but at the same time you want to know why he didn’t fire. I’ll pull some blood work on him later in the week but outside of that I can’t do anything but scratch my head at the moment.”
Pletcher said if the blood work comes back normal, he would likely train Palace Malice as if he were going to run in the Grade 1 Woodward here on Aug. 30.
“That’s what I think you have to do,” Pletcher said. “I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t look at it.”