NEWS
Pletcher holds pair of aces for Woodward Stakes
Posted: Thursday, August 30, 2007 4:02 PM
LAWYER RON WINNING THE WHITNEY HANDICAP
Adam Coglianese/NYRA photo
by Steve Bailey
Grade 1 winner Lawyer Ron will try for his second straight graded stakes triumph at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday as he takes on seven challengers, including stablemate Magna Graduate, in the $500,000 Woodward Stakes (G1).
Trainer Todd Pletcher will saddle both Lawyer Ron, who won the Whitney Handicap by 4 3/4 lengths in track-record time in his previous start on July 28, and Magna Graduate, a Grade 2 winner with a pair of Grade 3 victories from five starts this season, in the 1 1/8-mile race.
Lawyer Ron has won three of his five starts this season, including the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) on April 7. The four-year-old Langfuhr colt finished third in the Metropolitan Handicap (G1) on May 28 at Belmont Park and second in the Salvator Mile Handicap (G3) on June 23 at Monmouth Park prior to his impressive score in the Whitney, when he ran 1 1/8 miles in a track-record 1:46.64.
“Obviously, we’d love to see Lawyer Ron do as well as he did last time,” Pletcher said. “The horse is more cooperative than he once was, but I don’t know that in every scenario he’d relax as well as he did the other day. He benefited from the outside post and being in the clear.”
This time around, Lawyer Ron will break from the rail under Pletcher’s first-call rider, John Velazquez.
Magna Graduate won the Razorback Handicap (G3) in March at Oaklawn Park and the Excelsior Breeders’ Park Handicap (G3) in April at Aqueduct prior to a strong runner-up finish to Flashy Bull in the Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) on June 16 at Churchill Downs.
The five-year-old Honor Grades horse finished a disappointing sixth of 11 in the Whitney in his previous outing.
“I think Magna Graduate ran a decent race in the Whitney,” Pletcher said. “Unfortunately, he was stuck down inside the whole way, which he really doesn’t like, and then he had to check at the eighth pole, which cost him a placing.”
Fred Bradley’s Grade 1 winner Brass Hat finished eighth in the Whitney after a track-record performance in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race on July 8 at Churchill Downs, his first start in more than a year following a leg injury.
Trainer Buff Bradley said that the six-year-old Prized gelding, winner of the 2006 Donn Handicap (G1), came out of the Whitney in good shape and that the horse’s workouts since have given him the confidence to give him one more shot at the Spa.
"We figured on a few things in that race and maybe we ran him back a little quick after his record-breaking performance," Bradley said. "He was stuck down on the rail for a while, and I don't think he liked that a whole lot.
“He likes to be a little wider and maybe we should have had him a little bit more forwardly placed. That being said, we'll change strategies a little bit and hopefully have a little better shot at them this go-round."
Also entered are Grade 2 winners Sun King and Wanderin Boy and Grade 3 winner Diamond Stripes, who all started in the Whitney; and Grade 1 winners Political Force, who enters off a victory in the Suburban Handicap (G1) on June 30 at Belmont Park and Corinthian, who won the Metropolitan Handicap (G1) on May 28 at Belmont.
Steve Bailey is deputy news editor of Thoroughbred Times
The field, in post-position order with (sire), jockey, weight and trainer:
1. Lawyer Ron (Langfuhr), John Velazquez, 126, Todd Pletcher;
2. Diamond Stripes (Notebook), Edgar Prado, 126, Richard Dutrow Jr.;
3. Magna Graduate (Honor Grades), Garrett Gomez, 126, Todd Pletcher;
4. Sun King (Charismatic), Alan Garcia, 126, Nick Zito;
5. Corinthian (Pulpit), Kent Desormeaux, 126, James Jerkens;
6. Wanderin Boy (Seeking the Gold), Rafael Bejarano, 126, Nick Zito;
7. Political Force (Unbridled's Song), Cornelio Velasquez, 126, Allen Jerkens; and
8. Brass Hat (Prized), Willie Martinez, 126, William Bradley.
