Woodstock Stakes ($125.000 Purse)
WO- For Three Year Olds
Six Furlongs on the Dirt
April 30, 2023

It’s the final week of April, and while trainers are thinking about CD next week, there are still quality races to talk about before we get to that point. The $125.000 Woodstock Stakes might not be near the top of that list, but it still provides a solid racing opportunity for three-year-old sprinters. The race first appeared on the schedule in 2009, and has been annually since, other than in 2014 with consistent purse levels through time. Last year, Mo Mentum Farm picked up the win with Napa, in what turned out to be a solid year for the horse. Napa is still active, but was recently claimed by Fractious, and has not run for that trainer as of yet. The 2023 edition of the Woodstock features eight horses with no real headliner, so it should be a wide open race. Let’s take a look at the field!

#1- Pinnacle Impact (Martyparty, ridden by R M Hernandez)- We begin the look through the field with this Impactful gelding that has won half of the eight races that he has been in, and they are all in overnights. Martyparty has tried to bring him forward into the stake level, but Pinnacle Impact has not been able to step up, with efforts that not only failed to cash a check, but seem quite flat, overall. The potential is there, but it is time for him to have a breakout and show that he belongs at this level. This is a great field for him to do that in, and if he doesn’t, there are no excuses.

#2- Blazin At The Wheel (Gdp Inc, ridden by J Stein)- Blazin At The Wheel heads to Woodstock with the hopes of lighting up his competition in his stake debut. Two back, he broke his maiden at TAM, but not really in the type of field that is going to impress many. A month later, he was off to SA, and ran in an optional claimer there and also picked up a win so he gets a chance to continue climbing the ladder. His SRF’s will not jump out at you, but there really aren’t any here with the real gaudy figures. While I will not be picking him, I certainly feel he is capable.

#3- Roswell (Riggins Racing, ridden by G Boulanger)- Won on debut in December at TAM and was sent stakes racing right after and hasn’t looked back. He did finish third in the $125.000 Pasco Stakes right after but has not done anything since. He would be sold to Riggins for $242.000, and the new trainer had visions of running him in the Fountain Of Youth. That did not go well, nor did the $400.000 Lafayette Stakes right after. He’ll take another step back in purse levels her, but I am not really convinced on him as being beaten by eight lengths is not something you want to see. This is the right spot for him to bounce back, but I couldn’t put virtual money on it.

#4- Higher Rate (Asgar, ridden by L Salles)- Here is another horse that ran in the Lafayette, and he did not finish last while being beaten by eight lengths like Roswell. Higher Rate was much higher in the finishing order, placing second and was only beaten by half a length. That’s promising, but he is also a horse with only one career win. Failed to hit the board in a pair of $100.000 stakes right before the Lafayette, though his effort there has me hopeful that he has turned the corner and follow it up well.

#5- Melodrama (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by K Kimura)- Mo Mentum Farm looks for his second straight win the Woodstock, though Woodstock is a little hard to get excited about right now. He won on debut at MNR, and two starts later, he captured a $50.000 claimer at SA. That’s all good, but a couple of dismal performances that followed are not. Perhaps there are valid excuses, such as one race being too long, and the other showing his dislike for a shadow roll that as of now, will not be back. He won’t have those excuses here. There are others working better, too.

#6- Unwanted Man (Jokerjoes, ridden by D Moran)- This will be his debut for Jokerjoes, who picked up for $85.000 in private sales last month. Up to this point, all five of his races have been against LA-two and, so the simple fact of running in an unrestricted race is new to him. Four of those were LA-bred stakes, and while he did not win any of them, he hit the board in three. He’ll cut back to a sprint after going long in his last two and seems to be in a good spot here to at least get some part of the purse.

#7- Twin Rackets (Alydar Stables, ridden by E J Wilson)- If we were using the past races a horse raced in, then Twin Rackets has everyone beat. But after running fourth in the Champagne, he has done absolutely nothing. Now, there are excuses, stating with always getting double digit posts, it seems. Not the case here, but 7 of 8 shows he just can’t get away from the outside. He starts slowly, and tries to come on late, and while it was working for a while, it has not been lately. This isn’t a Grade 1, but it’s also not a route. His works are good, so he will be ready, and I sense a different tactic could be tried here. Maybe jockey E J Wilson, a three-time Woodstock winner, can get him back on track.

#8- Ferrobomber Laga (Lagastable, ridden by J Crawford)- A horse that knows how to win, doing so in six of his eleven career starts, and he rides a three-race streak into the Woodstock. All of those wins are in stakes, which all came at LRL. Therefore, that means there was no purse, but free track stakes should not be disregarded, so I will not do so. He’s mostly run a mile or more, so the bigger question is not his resume, but whether or not six furlongs is the best distance for him. His works are in line with the others, so he should be a contender.

Prediction: 4-1-6-8

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded