Goodwood Stakes – GI

$300.00 For Three Year Olds And Upward – 1 1/8 Miles – Dirt
Santa Anita Park – September 26, 2026

The Goodwood Stakes (GI) is a Breeders Cup “Win and You’re In” race. The winner is guaranteed a spot in the Classic starting gate should they want it and you can guarantee they will as the race has drawn an even dozen contenders. Yes it is a Grade 1. Yes there is a $300.00 purse. With a month to go until the Breeder’s Cup my guess is the main draw for these twelve is that golden ticket to the big dance. 

1. Demonic Chant (Mo Mentum Farm/V. Espinoza) Since being claimed for $50.00 in February he has put together a solid season with five on the board finishes in six starts for the new barn. Those races include three triple digit SRF speed figure efforts and two G3 placings in his last two outings. Has talent and consistency but has yet to have his breakthrough in a big race and will need his best.

2. Yankee Proud (Rock Creek/J.L. Ortiz) One of only two three year olds in the field. He was purchased for $175.00 in April has a second place finish in an optional claimer to show as his best effort in three subsequent races. Even if you throw out his last race on a muddy track it is hard to find form to make him a threat here. 

3. Test The Waters (Mb Stables/J.R. Velasquez) He won the lucrative G2 CT Classic in his last race and he preceded that with a win in the G3 The PRM Cornhusker Handicap so he is coming into this race as a hot horse. Sits in twenty-fourth to qualify for this year’s BC Classic so likely needs a win today if that is a goal. 

4. Power Grid (The Sidley Stud/P. Lopez) This five year old gelding has won ten of his twenty-five lifetime starts and is a multiple graded stakes winner so the talent and class is obvious. Like Test The Waters to his inside he is on a two race winning streak including the G3 The Iselin Stakes in his last race. 

5. Le Freak (Gdp Inc/B. Curtis) He was purchased for a modest $23.00 in late August and shows up in a big spot for his first start for his new barn. He is a multiple stakes winner but has yet to hit the winner’s circle in a graded event in a few attempts. Has done most of his winning in sprints and seems ambitiously placed here but maybe the new connections have seen something to encourage optimism.

6. Tube (Spankys Barn/T. Gaffalione) He has had a modest four start campaign this season and has a sprint placing in the G3 Fleet Sprint Handicap back in April and an allowance win at Del Mar in his last start as his best results. Working fast in the morning but he would be a surprise.

7. Fawkes (Delta Farms/F. Pennington) Last year’s G1 BC Classic winner has not hit the winner’s circle yet in five starts this year in what has to be considered a disappointing season for him. He has shown flashes of his best with near misses in the G2 New Orleans Classic and the G2 Alysheba but his last two races were head scratchers where he never threatened. Can’t ignore and would obviously be a top pick on his best. Will need the win to get back to defend his Classic win. 

8. Big Dog (John Henry/L. Contreras) The second three year old in the field is lightly raced with seven career races but he is a graded stakes winner having hit the wire first in the G3 IND Derby over the summer. Finished four lengths back in the G1 Travers as a followup to that win but with so little on his resume and having that graded win you have to look at him as an intriguing wild card. 

9. Jerry (Threshold/A.A. Gallardo) He has dipped his toe into top level racing here and there with his best showing being a third place finish in the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup a year ago. He earned his career best 101 SRF speed figure that day and has not replicated that effort in ten races since. He was available for $8.00 in a claiming race at the beginning of August. He won that and followed it up with a five length win in a PA-bred optional claimer so he is on a two race winning streak albeit against modest competition. Seems to be in his best form in some time but hard to pick him. 

10. Barn Breath (Our Athletes/R.L. Moore) His lone win in five starts this season was in an optional claimer at Gulfstream Park in February. He is looking for his first stakes win and although this is not the strongest field ever assembled he would have to show something way above what he has before to emerge as the winner. Gotta be in it to win it though. 

11. Without Warning (TwinTowersRacing/R.M. Hernandez) He was a half length from being the 2025 winner of the BC Classic as a three year old. He had a promising start to his four year old year when he was a winner of the G2 OP Handicap in April but he has not hit the board in three starts since then. Return to form would make him a contender and the nine furlong distance may be more to his liking that the ten furlongs of his last two starts. 

12. Dean Smith (Royalty Stables/R. Santana Jr.) Another in the field who is looking for his first stakes win. He is also looking for his first win in six starts in 2026. He has been working fast which is the best I can find to recommend him but the outside draw doesn’t do him any favors. Has done most of his racing on the grass so maybe the dirt wil be where he finds his breakthrough. 

Test The Waters has the current form to make him the pick with Power Grid to his outside the second choice based on that same current form angle. Make Fawkes third with Without Warning fourth.

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES