Graded stakes winners Crupi and Tapit Trice will give Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher two chances to win his fifth $400,000 Woodward Stakes (G2) on Saturday at Aqueduct when they face three others in the 70th anniversary edition of the 1 1/8-mile race.
Crupi. NYRA/Coglianese Photo.
Pletcher’s Stars Crupi and Tapit Trice Ready for Aqueduct’s Major Stakes Action
Owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables, the 4-year-old Crupi (the 2-1 second chopice) most recently closed from 10th to finish second to Arthur’s Ride in the Whitney Stakes (G1) on Aug. 3 at Saratoga. Prior to that he was second to marathon specialist Next in the Brooklyn Stakes (G2) on July 5 at Aqueduct and won his first stakes of the year when rallying from 15 lengths back to take the Suburban G2) on June 8 at Saratoga.
“I thought he ran really well in the Whitney and was a good second. He seems like he’s improved this year, as we thought he would,” said Pletcher of Crupi, who also this year was third in the Pegasus World Cup (G1) and then 10th in the Dubai World Cup (G1).
“We always felt like there was talent there – it just took a little while for him to put it all together,” he added.
Since breaking his maiden at eighth asking last July, the Curlin colt is 4-2-1, including victories at the Big A and at the Woodward distance in the Queens County and Discovery last fall.
“He’s always run well here at Aqueduct and hopefully he will again,” said Pletcher.
Pletcher will also send out Grade 1 winner Tapit Trice (5-2), who comes in from a fourth-place finish in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), which followed a winning 2024 debut in the Monmouth Cup (G3) on July 20. That was his first appearance since a third-place effort in the 2023 Travers in a season that included a victory in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at Keeneland and a third in the Belmont Stakes (G1).
“He ran great in the Monmouth Cup and ran steadily in the Jockey Club, so hopefully he can run back to his best,” Pletcher said.
Skippylongstocking Headlines Woodward Stakes Field with Strong Form
The 4-5 monring line favorite is multiple graded stakes winner Skippylongstocking, who enters off a successful title defense in the Charles Town Classic (G2) on Aug. 23.
Fifth in the Whitney Stakes prior to that, Skippylongstocking also ran third in the Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) on June 29, and notched his seventh graded stakes win on April 20 in the Oaklawn Handicap (G2).
“At this stage right now, I think he is probably doing his best,” said trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr., of the 5-year-old, who has earned in excess of $2.9 million. “It is hard to believe he’s getting better, but that is what he’s continued to do, and I feel like he is coming into the Woodward the right way.”
Lending an international flair to the field is Chilean Triple Crown winner Kay Army, 10-for-10 in his native country before joining Hall of Famer Bill Mott’s barn at Saratoga. Kay Army won five Group 1 races last year and has been breezing steadily over the Oklahoma training track at the Spa, including a 5-furlong breeze in 1:02.45 on Sept. 15.
Completing the field is Masqueparade, winner of the 2021 Ohio Derby. Second and fourth to Next in the 1 ¾-mile Birdstone on Aug. 4 at the Spa and the 1 3/8-mile Brooklyn, respectively, the 6-year-old gelding also was third to Crupi in the Suburban.
His lone victory in six starts this year came on March 29 in the Temperence Hill at Oaklawn Park.
For those who bet horse racing online …
The picks: 1 Tapit Trice 2 Skippylongstocking 3 Crupi
The field or the $400,000 Woodward Stakes (G2), from the rail out, with jockey, trainer, odds:
1 Skippylongstocking (Manny Franco), 4-5
2 Crupi (Irad Ortiz, Jr., Todd Pletcher), 2-1
3 Tapit Trice (Dylan Davis, Todd Pletcher), 5-2
4 Masqueparade (Kendrick Carmouche, Rob Atras), 10-1
5 Kay Army (Junior Alvarado, Bill Mott), 99-1