THE WOODWARD STAKES AT SARATOGA- PRESERVATIONIST REBOUNDS TO WIN

The Woodward Stakes at Saratoga is an important race for older horses and the spoils went to 3-1 shot PRESERVATIONIST who came through after a furious stretch run. Bal Harbour finished second and course specialist Tom’s d’Etat captured the minor honors. The winner was coming off a dull effort in the Whitney when he finished a well beaten fourth behind Mckinzie. Trainer Jimmy Jerkens stuck with regular pilot Junior Alvarado and it paid off for the son of Arch who will now be headed to the Breeder’s Cup Classic at Santa Anita on November 2nd.

His only prior stakes win had been in the Grade Two Suburban, and this victory pushed his career earnings to a respectable $1.087 million for his six wins from ten starts. The scratching of Vino Rosso helped the case of Preservationist who had been working well since the Whitney debacle. Trainer Jerkens was upset with the ride in the Whitney after Alvarado had rushed him to the lead from an outside post.He had posted a quick three furlong work in Oklahoma this week and was obviously razor sharp for this victory.

However he will still have seven lengths to make up on Mckinzie when they meet again in two months, and another concern is how will he handle the shipping. All of his races have taken place in New York State Last year’s winner of the Woodward was Yoshida and he failed to Defend his title despite being in the mix near the end of the race yesterday.