Woodward Handicap at Belmont Park : Easy Goer’s Name Can No Longer Be Dragged in Mud After This Win

Easy Goer Saturday encountered the type of muddy track that had brought about his defeat twice before. This time the conditions didn’t faze him.

The 3-year-old accelerated in the stretch to win the Woodward Handicap at Belmont Park by two lengths over longshot Its Acedemic. It was his fourth consecutive victory and moved him a step closer to the 1989 horse-of-the-year title.

Easy Goer had little to fear from his four rivals in this 1 1/4-mile test; but when morning rain made the racing strip muddy, even his trainer, Shug McGaughey was fretting. “I was worried about it all day,” McGaughey said. “I didn’t know how he’d do over this race track.”

Neither the trainer nor any fan could forget the colt’s loss as the 1-to-5 favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last fall, or his dull second-place finish as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby. If he couldn’t handle the mud Saturday he was going to be vulnerable, because the others in the field were able off-track performers.

And at a couple of stages in the Woodward the favorite did look as if he might be ripe for an upset.

Slew City Slew dashed to the early lead, as expected, and raced to a four-length lead without any real pressure. He was setting a fairly slow pace--a half mile in 48 1/5 seconds--as Its Acedemic and Forever Silver stalked him.

Midway on the backstretch, both Easy Goer and Proper Reality rushed up from the rear of the pack and looked as if they were going to challenge for the lead. But Easy Goer didn’t go past the leaders; instead, Its Acedemic and Forever Silver surged away from him.

But jockey Pat Day wasn’t worried. “We had three-eighths of a mile left, so I wasn’t really concerned,” he said.

Forever Silver and Its Acedemic were vying for the lead as they turned into the stretch, but Day angled to the outside and let the favorite roll. When he did, it became apparent that the outcome of the Woodward had never been in doubt.

Easy Goer accelerated past the leaders with ease and won by two lengths over the 26-to-1 Its Acedemic, with Forever Silver another three-quarters of a length back in third place. Proper Reality was fourth and Slew City Slew last.

The winner covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:01, a time that was respectable but hardly sensational. Despite the mud, the track was firm enough that good sprinters had been able to run six furlongs in 1:09 3/5 earlier in the day. The time would seem to confirm the notion that Easy Goer might not be quite as effective on wet ground as he is on dry.

McGaughey had been determined to run in the Woodward regardless of the conditions because he thought the timing of the race was ideal to prepare Easy Goer for his major objective, the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Gulfstream Park Nov. 4.

And while McGaughey certainly will be worrying about the ideal course for his horse to take in the coming weeks, but one thing he won’t have to worry about any more is mud.