The Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita Park is the featured race on Saturday, September 26. The $300,000 event is for three-year-olds and up and will be contested at 1 1/8 miles on the main track.
With a competitive field that includes several proven stakes performers, the race flow could play a major role in determining the outcome. Here is a look at the field and the key Today’s Racing Digest numbers.
Goodwood Stakes Field
1. Taif (8-1)
Taif is trained by Bob Baffert and will have Emisael Jaramillo aboard for the first time. The five-year-old has made only three career starts, all in maiden company, with a win and two runner-up finishes.
He graduated at a mile and a sixteenth on the turf in his most recent start and now faces a significant class test while switching back to the main track. He did post a bullet workout at Santa Anita on September 19, but he’ll need to run considerably faster to compete with this group.
2. Vodka Vodka (15-1)
Kent Desormeaux returns aboard Vodka Vodka for trainer Aggie Ordonez. The horse has one runner-up finish in four starts at Santa Anita, that coming in the Grade 1 Big Cap earlier this year.
His most recent start was the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien at seven furlongs, where he stumbled at the start and finished seventh. That effort can be forgiven, particularly because it came off a layoff and at a shorter distance.
His previous two dirt-route efforts in stakes company were much stronger, including a 140 final-time rating when he finished second in the Big Cap and a 143 when he won a stakes race at 1 1/8 miles at Sunland Park in April.
At 15-1, he could be worth considering underneath.
3. McAfee (15-1)
McAfee is trained by George Weaver and will be ridden by Hector Berrios. He was cross-entered in the Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs, but the connections are expected to run here.
He enters off a six-length victory in a 1 1/8-mile allowance race at Saratoga. He also recorded a bullet workout on September 19.
The concern is class. He has struggled to win several stakes races in the past, although he has hit the board in some of them. He does have five starts at this distance, with one win, two seconds and a third.
He has early-pressing versatility and could track the pace, but he’ll need another step forward.
4. Original Sin (6-1)
Original Sin has four wins from 10 starts and has been particularly effective this year, winning three of six starts.
He was second in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic last time out, rallying from well back. The pace helped him considerably that day, however, with fractions of 45.40 seconds and 1:10.00 for the first six furlongs.
The cutback to 1 1/8 miles should suit him. He’s two-for-two at the distance and won the Grade 3 Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs at this trip, earning a 144 final-time rating.
The question is whether new rider Kazushi Kimura can keep him closer to the pace.
Read more at Today's Racing Digest
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