Whitney Stakes

A 12 3/4-length winner of a rare 10-furlong allowance with a gaudy 111 Beyer Speed Figure during the Belmont Stakes Festival at Saratoga June 7, Glassman Racing's Arthur's Ride (Tapit) was well-backed at odds of 6-1 in Saturday's GI Whitney Stakes at the Spa despite the presence of GI Met Mile winner National Treasure (Quality Road) and other, proven handicap horses. Making his stakes debut on top of everything else in the Breeders' Cup Classic 'Win and You're In' event, Arthur's Ride was intent on the lead, set a searching...

It's a Grade I bonanza Saturday afternoon at Saratoga Race Course, as the track plays host to a trio of elite-level races--short and long, turf and dirt. The richest of the three events is the $1-million Whitney Stakes, offering the winner a fees-paid berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar on the first Saturday of November. National Treasure (Quality Road) is the 9-5 favorite on David Aragona's morning line and can further tighten his grip on the handicap division with a victory. The $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.-A healthy field of 12 was entered Sunday for the 97th running of the $1-million GI Whitney Stakes, which will be run at Saratoga Race Course Saturday. National Treasure (Quality Road), from Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, will be the favorite as he is ranked as the top older horse in the country in the weekly NTRA poll. Evidently, he is not scaring anyone off. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher has a trio of horses entered in Bright Future (Curlin), Charge It (Tapit) and Crupi (Curlin)....

SARATOGA SPINGS, N.Y. - It's 'Post Time' for the 97th running of the $1-million GI Whitney Stakes. Well, actually, the race is still a week away, but if you are trainer Brittany Russell, you're darn right it's Post Time. As in Post Time (Frosted), the 4-year-old colt that will make a return trip to Saratoga Race Course. Last month, Post Time, owned by Hillwood Stable, LLC, won the race for second in the GI Metropolitan Handicap. Post Time beat Hoist the Gold (Mineshaft) by a neck. No one was going...

Thoroughbred After Alliance will work to advance its initiatives at Saratoga in August, with a presence both at the racetrack for the GI Whitney Stakes weekend, as well as at the sales pavilion for both Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sales. The TAA will be present at the New York Racing Association's  Community Outreach Booth on both Aug. 3 and 4. Patrons and race fans can visit to learn about accredited aftercare. Branded merchandise will also be available at the booth in exchange for a donation, including a limited-edition Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance 'Saratoga'...

West Will Power (Bernardini--Wild Promises, by Wild Event), last-out winner of the GI Stephen Foster S., has been retired from racing after suffering a soft tissue injury, trainer Brad Cox confirmed Tuesday. The news was first reported by Dave Grening of Daily Racing Form. A homebred for Gary and Mary West, West Will Power hit the board in 15 of 17 starts, with seven wins and earnings of $1,745,390. In addition to his victory in the July 1 Stephen Foster, the 6-year-old also won this year's GII New Orleans Classic...

Godolphin's Cody's Wish (Curlin) had his final work ahead of the Aug. 5 GI Whitney S. Sunday at Saratoga, going four furlongs in :48.28 (9/69) over the Oklahoma training track. With Neil Poznansky aboard, the multiple Grade I winner clocked the first quarter-mile in :24 2/5 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:01 4/5 and seven furlongs in 1:27. "I thought it was perfect. If there is such a thing as a perfect work," trainer Bill Mott said. "Neil did a perfect job. The warm-up was good, the breeze went...

Godolphin homebred Cody's Wish (Curlin) tuned up for the Aug. 5 GI Whitney S. with a five-furlong work over the Oklahoma dirt training track in 1:02.81 (10/12) Sunday in Saratoga. Trained by Bill Mott, the 5-year-old was piloted through his breeze by assistant trainer Neil Poznansky, who guided the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner through splits of :26 2/5 and :38 2/5 before galloping out in 1:15 1/5, 1:27 1/5 and 1:41 3/5. "He just let him off the bridle and he picked it right up," said Mott. Cody's...

A half-sister by Triple Crown winner Justify to recent GI Whitney S. winner Knicks Go (Paynter) and a colt by Empire Maker, both consigned by Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services, have been supplemented to next month's Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The colt, catalogued as hip 199B will sell during the auction's first session Sept. 13. He is out of the unraced Tacking (Mizzen Mast), a half-sister to group winner Tajaaweed (Dynaformer) and to the dam of multiple Grade I winner Paradise Woods (Union Rags). The filly, catalogued as 399B, will be offered...

Korea Racing Authority's even-money favorite Knicks Go (Paynter) ran off from a strong field in Saturday's GI Whitney S. to earn an automatic spot in the starting gate for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and reassert himself at the top of the handicap division. Last seen posting a 10 1/4-length bounce-back victory in the GIII Cornhusker H. July 2 after settling for fourth at odds-on in the GI Metropolitan H., the grey opened up some five or six lengths on his competition down the Saratoga backside through a half in...

Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) is headed for the GI Whitney S. on Aug. 7, trainer Kenny McPeek said Wednesday. McPeek said that the EHV-1 quarantine that has affected his barn at Saratoga prompted him to reschedule his plans for Peter Callahan's 4-year-old filly, the winner of the 2020 Preakness against colts. She was originally scheduled to run in the GIII $200,000 Shuvee this Sunday and then the GI $600,000 Personal Ensign on Aug. 28, but the quarantine in his barn has prevented him from entering any horses at Saratoga. He said his...

The New York Racing Association unveiled the stakes schedule for the Saratoga meet, which will feature 76 stakes worth $21.5 million in total purses, including the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup and GI Flower Bowl S., both of which were previously run at Belmont. Both races will be run Sept. 4 and, to accommodate this change, the GI Woodward S. and GIII Fasig-Tipton Waya S. will be moved to the Belmont fall meet. The Jockey Club Gold Cup will be worth a $1 million for the first time since 2016,...