by Jeff Lowe
A troop of seven older males, headed by two recent Grade 1 winners, will line up against Rachel Alexandra in her latest challenge on Saturday in the $750,000 Woodward Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.
Da’ Tara, the 2008 Belmont Stakes (G1) spoiler, was a late addition to the field, which also includes Whitney Handicap (G1) winner Bullsbay and Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) winner Macho Again.
New York Racing Association oddsmaker Eric Donovan pegged Rachel Alexandra as the 1-to-2 favorite as she pursues her ninth consecutive victory. No three-year-old filly has ever won the Woodward, which first was run in 1954.
“We want to prove she’s a great horse, one for the history books,” said Barbara Banke, the wife of co-owner Jess Jackson. “We pointed her to this race to tackle history, so that’s what we’re doing and it’s going to be interesting to see what happens because it’s a great field.”
NYRA pumped the purse up by $250,000 to help attract Rachel Alexandra and to ensure a larger field for the 1 1/8-mile Woodward, which produced the eventual Horse of the Year three years in a row from 2003 to ’05 (Mineshaft, Ghostzapper, and Saint Liam), champion older male Lawyer Ron in ’07, and Jackson’s Curlin on the way to his second Horse of the Year statue in ’08.
Jackson’s team settled on the Woodward rather than the Shadwell Travers Stakes (G1) against three-year-old males on August 29. Rachel Alexandra beat three-year-old males in the BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (G1) (video) and emphatically in the Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) on August 2 at Monmouth Park (video).
“For all of us involved, this was kind of a new frontier and the timing was good into this race, and she’s come into it very well,” said Scott Blasi, chief assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen. “It’s important for her longevity to space her races out as best we can.”
Bullsbay is the second choice on the morning line at 6-to-1 after notching his first Grade 1 victory in the Whitney on August 8 at 18.80-to-1 (video). Earlier in the summer, he finished fourth to Macho Again in the Stephen Foster (video) and tenth in the Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap (G1).
“I was surprised with the way he won the Whitney,” trainer Graham Motion said. “I mean, I thought he was little bit of an overlay at 18-to-1, but I never expected him to win like that.”
Macho Again won the 2008 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga and the New Orleans Handicap (G2) this March prior to his Stephen Foster breakthrough. He finished 1½ lengths back in the Whitney.
“I'm not saying [Rachel Alexandra] can't swim in the deeper waters but it is a different pool than against straight three-year-old colts, so we'll see what happens. We know that Saratoga, as it is known so well, is the graveyard of favorites,” said Terry Finley, president of owner West Point Thoroughbreds. “We hope that we're in a spot where in 20 or 30 years they're talking about this race in 2009.”
Da’ Tara will join Grade 2 winner Cool Coal Man for Racing Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito and owner Robert LaPenta. Cool Coal Man scored by 12¾ lengths in the Albert The Great Stakes on August 10 at Saratoga (video).
Da’ Tara was eased in that race, his eighth straight defeat since he led at every call and drew away to win the Belmont by 5 ¼ lengths while Big Brown was wrapped up at the top of the lane.
OBS Sunshine Millions Classic Stakes winner It’s a Bird (video), Stephen Foster runner-up Asiatic Boy (Arg), and ’08 Woodward runner-up Past the Point also have been entered in the field of eight.
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer
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For Equibase entries of Saturday's Saratoga card, click here.