The Odds Aren’t Stacked Against Running Stag Anymore

In a year’s time, Running Stag has gone from 48-1 to 2-1 in the Woodward Stakes.

A few victories, the retirements of Skip Away and Gentlemen, and injuries to Silver Charm, Free House, Victory Gallop and Real Quiet, can flip-flop a tote board.

Philip Mitchell, the British trainer who has crossed the Atlantic six times to run Running Stag in the United States, thinks his horse is good enough to battle anyone, but it helps that many of the major older horses are either retired or on the sidelines. This is one of the weakest Woodwards in years.

A surprising third behind Skip Away and Gentlemen in last year’s Woodward, Running Stag goes to the post at Belmont Park today with two victories and two seconds in six starts this year. Half of those races have been on dirt in the U.S. He was second behind Behrens in the Massachusetts Handicap and won in the Brooklyn Handicap at Belmont and the Saratoga Breeders’ Cup Handicap.

Even when Running Stag seemed out of his league last year--after the Woodward, he was beaten in three more U.S. races and finished seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Classic--Mitchell never lost confidence in the Kentucky-bred horse.

“He’s by Cozzene, who’s known for siring late developers,” Mitchell said. “This horse was also a June foal. He’s more street-wise now. He put the record straight [in the MassCap]. Then in the Brooklyn he showed how versatile he is [by coming from off the pace]. He gave us an electrifying burst that day.”

Some of the other Woodward horses--such as Almutawakel, the Dubai World Cup winner, and River Keen and Barter Town, who were second and third, respectively, in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar--are trying to earn their way into the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Gulfstream Park on Nov. 6. But Running Stag, who wilted in the desert when he ran seventh in hot, steamy Dubai, wouldn’t be able to handle the heat and humidity in Florida, and Mitchell already has thrown out the Gulfstream race.

“This is my Breeders’ Cup,” Mitchell said. “The way he’s training, he should be awesome in the Woodward.”

This is the field for the 1 1/8-mile race, in post-position order with jockeys: Black Cash, Edgar Prado; Barter Town, Jorge Chavez; River Keen, Chris Antley; Stephen Got Even, Gary Stevens; Almutawakel, Jerry Bailey; Running Stag, Shane Sellers; and Gander, Pat Day. The 3-year-olds, Stephen Got Even and Gander, carry 121 pounds, five fewer than the others.

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In other stakes at Belmont today, two California fillies, Keeper Hill and A Lady From Dixie, will try to beat Catinca in the $250,000 Ruffian Handicap; and a largely disappointing crop of 3-year-olds is assembled for the $150,000 Jerome Handicap.

Keeper Hill has lost nine consecutive races since winning the 1998 Kentucky Oaks, but was third last month, behind Beautiful Pleasure and Banshee Breeze, in the slop at Saratoga. A Lady From Dixie, winner of the Chula Vista Handicap at Del Mar on Aug. 8, has won five straight when ridden by Antley, who has the mount again today.

The only Triple Crown horse in the Jerome is Vicar, who was badly beaten in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness before losing twice at Saratoga in August. Capsized, who was put on the shelf after running sixth in the Santa Anita Derby, ran two good allowance races at Saratoga. He’ll be ridden by Stevens, who’s unbeaten with him in two starts.

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At Belmont on Sunday, the undefeated 2-year-old More Than Ready goes for his sixth consecutive win in the $150,000 Futurity. His trainer, Todd Pletcher, thinks he deserves to be the early favorite for next year’s Kentucky Derby.

“He’s without a doubt the best horse I’ve ever trained, and he’s as good as any horse I’ve ever been around,” said Pletcher, who worked with many top horses during a six-year stint with trainer Wayne Lukas before forming his own stable in 1996.

Other early standouts in the division are Lukas’ High Yield, who won the Hopeful at Saratoga while More Than Ready was ill, and trainer Bob Baffert’s Forest Camp, a solid winner of the Del Mar Futurity.

“I think we’re the divisional leader,” Pletcher said. “It’s up to them to step up and knock us off the pedestal.”

Horse Racing Notes

Todd Pletcher’s brilliant filly, Circle Of Life, runs Sunday in the $150,000 Matron at Belmont. . . . Scratch Da Hoss from this year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile. Trainer Michael Dickinson said the 7-year-old gelding has had a series of setbacks. Last year, Da Hoss won the Mile at Churchill Downs.