Arzak Looks Like the 'Horse for the Course' in Woodford

If there's anything to the old "horse for the course" saying, Arzak is the horse for the Woodford Stakes (G2T) Oct. 5 at Keeneland. The 6-year-old son of Not This Time, trained by Michael Trombetta, is 2-for-2 over the Keeneland turf. While that's not a big sample, the two wins were big enough—the 2023 Woodford and the Shakertown Stakes (G2T) at the same 5 1/2 furlongs April 6. Arzak then went on from the Woodford win to finish sixth, beaten just two lengths, in the 2023 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) at Santa Anita Park. That record puts to shame the other 11 in the main field, who are a combined 3-for-25 on the local turf. Arzak is one of three in the Woodford field exiting the Sept. 2 Harvey Pack Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. He finished third in that, behind Big Invasion and Our Shot. The latter also is in the Woodford field. Half of the dozen come to Lexington from the Ainsworth Turf Sprint Stakes (G2T) at Kentucky Downs, where they didn't make too much of an impression. Axthelm finished third and Nobals, the reigning Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner, got home fourth in that. Other Woodford contenders Charcoal, One Timer, Gear Jockey, and Coppola finished fifth through eighth, respectively. Familiar trainers are back in the Bluegrass with some familiar sprinters. Larry Rivelli, the long-time champion trainer at Arlington International Racecourse, looks to get Nobals back to the winner's circle after back-to-back fourth-place finishes including the Kentucky Downs effort. Rivelli also saddles One Timer, who finished second in the 2023 Ainsworth Turf Sprint and was intended for the Breeders' Cup before encountering a training setback. He has finished second twice in his preparation for the Woodford. Wesley Ward is represented by No Nay Hudson (IRE). The 4-year-old No Nay Never gelding came off an eight-month layoff to finish fifth in a Saratoga allowance optional claimer in July, then journeyed to Del Mar, where he finished third, beaten less than a length, in the Green Flash Handicap (G3T). Rusty Arnold saddles Gear Jockey, a 7-year-old entire son of Twirling Candy who won the 2023 Ainsworth Turf Sprint before finishing 11th of 12 in the Breeders' Cup after a slow start. As usual at Keeneland meetings, several of the entrants have been training outside Kentucky. Among them are Rivelli's pair, stabled at Hawthorne Race Course; Arzak, in from the East Coast; and Charcoal, from Horseshoe Indianapolis. Xy Speed was a force a bit down the class ladder at Gulfstream Park earlier this year but comes to the Woodford off a fourth-place finish in the Select Stakes at Monmouth Park. The 8-year-old First Samurai gelding looks to add some speed to a race without an overabundance of it but will launch from the outside gate. Three also-eligibles include Hedwig, a Godolphin homebred colt by Maclean's Music who has three wins from six starts, all in turf sprints. He finished seventh in his most recent race, the Franklin-Simpson Stakes (G1T) at Kentucky Downs.