Itsmyluckyday wins the $600,000 G1 Woodward @ Saratoga

When trainer Eddie Plesa left Saratoga the day after the Whitney Handicap, after his horse, Itsmyluckyday, had finished second to Moreno, he was already looking forward to the rematch.

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/>“I wouldn’t trade places with anybody,” Plesa said as he drove back to New Jersey and his base at Monmouth Park. On Saturday, Plesa and Itsmyluckyday got their revenge on Moreno, taking it to him in the early stages of the Grade 1, $600,000 Woodward Stakes and having enough to outfinish him late to prevail by one-half length before a crowd of 29,244 at Saratoga.

Itsmyluckyday had to withstand a claim of foul lodged by Junior Alvarado, the rider of Moreno, for a bumping incident in the stretch but the stewards deemed there was insufficient reason for disqualification.

The victory was the ninth from 19 starts for Itsmyluckyday, owned by Trilogy Stable and Laurie Plesa, and his first in a Grade 1. It was also the first Grade 1 win for jockey Paco Lopez, who earlier on the card won the Grade 2 Prioress aboard New Jersey shipper Stonetastic.

“It’s like when you have a child that does something out of the ordinary that you know he could do, that’s what it felt like,” Plesa said of Itsmyluckyday’s victory. “Horses aren’t your children, but we take great pride in our horses, we take great pride in our craft. He did what he needed to do in a manner that nobody would dispute was spot on and he was the best horse today.”

Plesa equipped Itsmyluckyday with blinkers for the first time on Saturday, hoping to keep his 4- year-old son of Lawyer Ron more focused. In the Whitney, he had veered in and out in the stretch.

Plesa did not want Moreno to get an uncontested lead as had been the case in the Whitney. While Moreno did get the early lead, Lopez had Itsmyluckyday within two lengths of Moreno through a quarter in 24.01 seconds, a half-mile in 47.41, and six furlongs in 1:10.84.

Itsmyluckyday was within a half-length at the top of the stretch and the stage was set for a stirring stretch drive.

The two horses were alongside each other from the three-sixteenths pole to the wire but when Alvarado switched to his left-handed stick, it Moreno came out and initiated contact with Itsmyluckyday, who ultimately came back and bumped Moreno late.

According to Braulio Baeza, the New York Racing Association steward, once Alvarado switched to his left-handed stick, “his horse carried [Itsmyluckyday] wide and he made the initial contact.”

Naturally, Alvarado didn’t see it that way. “I got bumped four or five times,” Alvarado said. “I probably should have thrown myself on the ground to see if he would have got disqualified in this race. It’s unbelievable.”

Lopez, said, “I think the other horse come over and bump into my horse. I didn’t bump into his horse. He took a shot and claimed foul.”

Plesa gave Lopez credit for “a perfect ride.”

“He did what we had talked about. We didn’t want to give Moreno a breather. We didn’t want to have to depend on anyone else,” Plesa said. “And the outcome was Moreno ran a fantastic race and he just came up a little bit short under different circumstances and I think they’re two great horses.”

Itsmyluckyday covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.84 and returned $7.70 as the second choice. Moreno, the slight 5-2 favorite, finished second by 1 1/2 lengths over Prayer for Relief, who was followed, in order, by Stephanoatsee, Last Gunfighter, Long River, Romansh, and Norumbega.