Four Will Go Against Skip Away

With four horses that have earned more than $1 million and a front-runner for horse of the year, Saturday’s $500,000 Woodward Stakes at Belmont Park shapes up as one tough test.

“You could be fourth in here and run a great race,” said Shug McGaughey, trainer of Coronado’s Quest, the lone 3-year-old in a five-horse field.

The entries are headed by Skip Away, the 5-year-old gray who has won eight consecutive graded stakes, including all of six of his starts this season, and is a leading candidate for horse-of-the-year honors.

Also entered in the 1 1/8-mile race are Free House, who has won both his starts as a 4-year-old by a combined 11 lengths; Gentlemen, who has tailed off a bit at age 6 but still formidable; and Running Stag, the top dirt horse in Europe.

“There are so many good horses in this race,” said Sonny Hine, who trains Skip Away for his wife, Carolyn. “You’ve got the best horses, the best trainers, the best riders. It’s going to be a great race.”

Skip Away is the 6-5 favorite under Jerry Bailey for what will be one of his final races. After the Woodward, Hine plans to run Skip Away in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Oct. 10, then defend his Breeders’ Cup Classic title at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6.

Along the way, Skip Away should break Cigar’s record of $9,999,815 and is expected to win the horse-of-the-year title that narrowly eluded him last year.

“He’s really a throwback,” Hine said of Skip Away, who has won 17 of his 35 starts with 10 seconds and five thirds. “He’s a star. He’s done so much.”

Free House won the Bel Air Handicap at Hollywood Park in first start after finishing sixth as the favorite in last fall’s Louisiana Super Derby at Louisiana Downs, then was a four-length winner in the $1-million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 15.

“We can’t ask for anything more from him,” trainer Paco Gonzalez said of the 9-5 second choice under Chris McCarron. “He seems to like it here.”

Gentlemen, who will be ridden by Corey Nakatani, has earned $3.3 million in his 21-race career. But trainer Richard Mandella admits he has “not gotten the best out of him this year.”

Coronado’s Quest, winner of five in a row including the Travers Stakes at Saratoga, will have a new rider, with Pat Day replacing the injured Mike Smith.