The goal of many people who get involved in thoroughbred racing is to have horses “racing on Saturday afternoon”. The point being Saturday afternoon is when most stakes races are run. Over the last few weeks we (Woodford Racing) have been fortunate to run in two graded stakes.
On Saturday, September 29, Catapult ran in the Grade 2, $200,000 Baltimore/Washington International Turf Cup Stakes, at Laurel Park in Maryland. The race was contested at a mile on the turf and Catapult came second, losing by a length. It was an exciting race and coming second in a Grade 2 stakes race was a significant accomplishment. The following link is a video of the Baltimore/Washington International Turf Cup Stakes.
Yesterday (Saturday, October 14) Engage ran in the Grade 3, $150,000 Futurity Stakes at Belmont Park in New York. The race was contested at 6 furlongs and Engage won by 4 widening lengths. The win in the Futurity was Engage’s second win in three starts to go along with a second in the first race of his career. The Futurity has a storied history and has been won by Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes) Winners Affirmed and Secretariat. The following link is a video of the Futurity.
The win by Engage created quite the “buzz” in just about every racing publication. Below are links to articles that appeared in Thoroughbred Daily News, Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, Paulick Report, and Horse Racing Nation.
Thoroughbred Daily News
Blood-Horse
Daily Racing Form
Paulick Report
Horse Racing Nation
Prior to Engage’s win he was #36 on Horse Racing Nation’s Kentucky Derby Watch List for 2018. One of the horses Engage beat in the Futurity was #20 going into the race so I suspect Engage will be moving on up. It doesn’t cost anything to dream!
