Woodbine Turf Champions Day Preview: Four Grade 1 Races Chase Breeders’ Cup Berths

Woodbine hands out four Grade 1 trophies in one afternoon on Saturday, September 12, and every one of them comes with a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series berth attached. Turf Champions Day starts at 1:00 p.m. ET on the newly renovated E.P. Taylor Turf Course, and this is the first time Woodbine has put four Win and You’re In races on a single card. The headliner is the $1,000,000 Grade 1 Woodbine Mile, but the $750,000 Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes and a pair of $500,000 Grade 1 two year old tests, the Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes and the bet365 Summer Stakes, all matter just as much if you’re tracking the road to Del Mar.

What Turf Champions Day Brings to Woodbine

Four Grade 1s on one card is a rarity anywhere in North America, and Woodbine built this one around its own signature turf course. The E.P. Taylor Turf Course stretches to twelve furlongs around, with a 1,440 foot stretch that runs about 30 percent longer than Belmont’s. That extra room rewards horses that save their turn of foot for the final furlong, which is part of why European raiders have historically traveled well here. Charlie Appleby’s Godolphin runners have won the Woodbine Mile three times in the last four years, including last year’s winner Notable Speech, who went on to add the Breeders’ Cup Mile and the Eclipse Award for champion male turf horse to his resume.

The four Grade 1s split neatly into two threads. The Woodbine Mile and E.P. Taylor Stakes are the open age tests, run at a mile and a mile and a quarter. The Natalma and Summer Stakes are the two year old prep races, each worth a Win and You’re In spot in their respective Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf divisions.

Grade 1 Woodbine Mile: Deterministic Headlines a Loaded Field

The 30th running of the Woodbine Mile carries a $1,000,000 purse over one mile on the turf, and it’s open to three year olds and up. Wise Dan still owns the race record at 1:31.75, set in 2012, a mark that has stood for over a decade.

Trainer Miguel Clement’s Deterministic arrives as the horse to beat. He’s won four straight Grade 1 races, most recently the Fourstardave Stakes at Saratoga on August 8, and he’s expected to keep racing through the end of the year before heading to stud at Lane’s End Farm. Kendrick Carmouche has the mount.

Defending champion Notable Speech returns for trainer Charlie Appleby and Godolphin, again with William Buick aboard. He beat this field last year and heads back in with a Breeders’ Cup Mile and an Eclipse Award added to his page since. Also on the probable list for Godolphin are Opera Ballo and Talk of New York, both nominated but not yet confirmed for a start.

Kevin Attard trains Gas Me Up, a recent winner of the Grade 2 King Edward at Woodbine, with Fraser Aebly named to ride. Archivist, campaigned by Wathnan Racing for trainer Hamad Al Jehani, arrives off a Group 3 win at York. Gran Oriente, trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., was runner up in the Grade 1 Arlington Million and adds another live contender from the American ranks. Jack Sisterson’s Vina Arana, a recent Grade 2 Nassau winner, and David Jacobson’s supplemental entry Pierre, with Javier Castellano riding, round out a field that also includes Irish Aces, Itsastormymonday and Silius.

Entries for the Woodbine Mile close on Wednesday, September 9, so post positions and morning line odds will not be set until Woodbine’s overnight sheet drops later this week. We’ll update this preview with the official post draw and morning line as soon as they’re released. No scratches have been reported from the probable list above as of this writing.

Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes: Appleby’s Last Missing Piece

The E.P. Taylor Stakes carries a $750,000 purse at a mile and a quarter on the turf, and it’s the one Grade 1 on this card that Charlie Appleby has never won at Woodbine. European invaders have taken this race 23 times since the E.P. Taylor Turf Course opened 32 years ago, and Godolphin’s Diamond Rain, who finished second by a head to She Feels Pretty last year, headlines the horses nominated for another crack at it.

Graham Motion has three live possibilities among the nominees: Gimme a Nother, fresh off a win in the Beverly D. at Arlington, Warming, who took the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon at Del Mar, and Vronti, a stakes winner earlier this year at Del Mar. Brad Cox has nominated Fionn, Bless the Broken and Stellify, all Grade 1 caliber fillies and mares, giving the race a genuinely deep American contingent to test the European raiders.

The E.P. Taylor field is drawn from 21 nominations. Woodbine has not yet released a probable starters list for this race, so we’re holding off on naming a final field until it does, rather than guessing at who actually shows up. Check back for the post position draw and morning line once entries close Wednesday.

Grade 1 Natalma Stakes and bet365 Summer Stakes: Two Year Olds Chase Breeders’ Cup Berths

Grade 1 Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes

Woodbine released the field for Saturday’s Natalma, and it’s an 11 horse race for the industry’s top two year old fillies. Embouteillage headlines the group after breaking her maiden at Saratoga, with John Velazquez back aboard for Graham Motion. Runaway Bride enters off a similar debut win, also out of the Saratoga maiden ranks, and gives trainer Whitworth Beckman a live shot at his first Grade 1. Lamirada sits as the home track hope for Josie Carroll, an Ontario bred filly who has already shown she handles Woodbine’s turf. Mark Casse saddles four in the field: Nicki Knows Best, Voyager, Bounce Back, Ez Miss Sassy and Royal Foxtrot, giving him more entries than any other conditioner and a real numbers advantage in a spread bet. De la Renta and Cattrall round out the field for Kevin Attard, and Mo Cookie completes the group for Mike De Paulo. Post time is set for the one mile turf test, with a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf berth waiting for the winner.

bet365 Summer Stakes

The colts’ equivalent drew 12 runners, and three European shippers give this field an international flavor rarely seen in a Woodbine two year old race. Al Hudaiba arrives for Charlie Appleby and William Buick after solid form overseas, and the connections travel to Canada with real confidence behind him. Big Money Man ships in for Christopher Head with PJ McDonald taking the mount, and Sword Salute gives Charlie Johnston and Jamie Spencer a third European hand in the race. On the home side, Mark Casse again shows strength in numbers with four runners: Bounce Back, Play It Again, Nicki Knows Best, Voyager and Speaker’s Speech. Graham Motion sends out Induction, a name to watch as a price play late in the field. Kevin Attard saddles Oscar and Quipster, Whitworth Beckman runs Let Em Know, and Miguel Clement is represented by Oscar. The mile turf test carries a Win and You’re In spot into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, giving both races real stakes beyond Saturday’s purse.

Betting the Card: Format and Angles

All four Grade 1s run on turf, all four pay out a Breeders’ Cup berth to the winner, and all four are worth building an exacta or superfecta around once the fields are official. The Woodbine Mile is the deepest betting race of the day given the mix of established Grade 1 horses like Deterministic and Notable Speech against improving types like Gas Me Up and Vina Arana. The E.P. Taylor sets up as a straight speed versus stalker matchup between Diamond Rain and the Motion and Cox horses. The two year old races are always the hardest to read on official pace figures alone since so few of these horses have raced beyond five or six furlongs on this particular turf course, so lean on recent workouts and pedigree for grass affinity once those fields firm up.

We’ll be back with post positions, morning line odds and a full card breakdown before Saturday.

Bet Turf Champions Day

Four Grade 1s, four Breeders’ Cup berths and a renovated turf course built for closers. Turf Champions Day gives you plenty to work with once the fields lock in this week.

Bet online at app.mywinners.com, on the MyWinners: Racing & Sports app on iOS or Android, or go here to find your nearest MyWinners or Winners venue in CT.