The Woodward (Grade 1)- $750.000 Purse
SAR- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
August 31, 2019

Everyone in the game knows how well three year olds have run against older horses, especially this time of year. There was a blip in that domination though: the Woodward. A big reason for this is likely the appeal of the Travers, and why wouldn’t it be? You also have the Pacific Classic this time of year out at DMR. Three year olds have not been that prevalent in Woodward fields, but this year over half the field (7 of 12) were three. Mb Stables, in particular brought a couple of very impressive threes, including Tactical, to take on the older horses, which would be led by Whitney winner, Splash Mountain. After running the nine furlongs, Tactical earns his fourth consecutive race and is simply on a roll right now. Three year olds would go on sweep the trifecta, as well. For Mb Stables, this is a new trophy for his ever expanding collection, and jockey M Franco also wins the race for the first time. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:47.93, a middle of the road such time in the stake’s history. Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :46.88)- Splash Mountain is the quickest out of the gate for trainer John Henry, but after getting a challenge from a couple of outside post horses, Splash Mountain is pulled back just a little bit. Emerging in the lead now would be longshot L A Raw, from D J C Racing Stables. He’ll pull away by a length before Demon starts to reel him in just a little bit for Team 7 Illusions. Splash Mountain is a length off this pace while on the rail, and Zombie City, from Eastern Equine, is fourth and in a stalking position as well. Just off the lead, on each side of Zombie City would be Admiration (Mb Stables) and Ahimsa (Two Hearts One Love). In the middle of the field, running seventh, is our eventual winner, Mb Stables’ Tactical. He is about three lengths from the front. After another length and a half, it’s a group of four, from inside to outside being: Ardetha (Aer Stables), Royal Eclipse (Chili King Stables), Big Universe (Mo Mentum Farm), and Shanghai (D J C Racing Stables) sitting in the money lane. Three more lengths back, running by himself is The Ego Has Landed (TwinTowersRacing).

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.65)- The field moves down the backstretch, and into the turn with L A Raw and Demon now matching strides on the front end. Behind them, things tighten up between the stalkers as well as the four of them; Splash Mountain, Admiration, Zombie City, and Ahimsa. Midway into the turn, it’s starting to look like Ahimsa might be losing touch with them, while Tactical starts to approach these four and looks to come on in between Splash Mountain and Admiration. Behind them, things have not changed. There is still a gap of a couple lengths to that other group of four wide, and The Ego Has Landed remains well back.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- The action intensifies on exit of the turn and into the stretch, The two frontrunners, L A Raw and Demon have been caught, and while they still technically led at this point, their positions were in jeopardy. At this point in the race, I really liked where Splash Mountain was. He seemed to have run smart, and was riding the rail. Now, reaching the top of the stretch, he is within a neck of the race lead. At the same time, Zombie City was making similar progress coming through in the fourth lead and also being with a half length. Both Tactical and Admiration were directly up against these top horses, and the only question for them would be where the openings would appear. Ahimsa was hold on a little better then it was seeming, but the big move at this point came from Shanghai, making an emphatic push as he left the turn and was now about two lengths from the lead. Drawing closer, too, were Ardetha, Royal Eclipse, and Big Universe but they were running into a wall of horses. The Ego Has Landed was still two lengths behind the next closest horse.

(Finish- 1:47.93)- In the stretch, the considerate side of Splash Mountain showed, moving down off the rail just enough to allow Tactical to come on through. When the race reached 0.9 furlongs to go, we would have had a seven horse photo finish for the win. So, who is going to prevail this slightly less then a furlong dash for cash? On the inside, it was Tactical looking the best, and the far outside, it would be Shanghai. The two three year olds were looking good here with Admiration looking to stay in the mix. As the wire got closer, the talent and promise of Tactical would show, and would prevail over Shanghai by half a length, with the same margin to third place Admiration. After that, throw a blanket over them. Zombie City gets the fourth place check, and the rest of the order is Royal Eclipse, Splash Mountain, Ardetha, The Ego Has Landed, L A Raw, Demon, Big Universe, and Ahimsa.

About The Winner- Tactical, trained by Mb Stables and ridden to victory by M Franco, is a three year old colt by Cherokee Sunset, and is out of Unnatural. He was bred in California by Team 7 Illusions as a third quarter two year old, and acquired by Mb Stables in a $75.000 maiden claimer in October 2018. The win is his fifth in nine starts, and his fourth consecutive. He now has three stakes wins, two of which are graded. His career earnings are now $874.010.

Track: Fast
Time: :46⁴  1:10³  1:35³  1:47⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 2 – 10 Paid 40.20
$1 Trifecta: 2 – 10 – 4 Paid 98.80

Scratched: Centerpiece

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES