Crude Velocity headlines loaded Woody Stephens at Saratoga

Undefeated Crude Velocity, an eye-catching winner of the Pat Day Mile (G2) in his most recent start, will put his perfect record on the line against eight rivals in the 42nd running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Woody Stephens for 3-year-olds sprinting seven furlongs Saturday at Saratoga.

Trainer Bob Baffert is a three-time winner of the Woody Stephens, with Bayern (2014), American Anthem (2017) and Arabian Lion (2023), tying him with Todd Pletcher and Steve Asmussen for the second-most all time, one behind the late D. Wayne Lukas. All four men are enshrined in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

After going unraced at 2, CSLR Racing Partners’ Crude Velocity won each of his first two races this year, both sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita. He broke tardily on debut March 7 but came with a dramatic late run to get up by a neck over Civil Liberty, who he will see again in the Woody Stephens.

Crude Velocity faced older horses in his next start April 4, overcoming some early bumping to draw away in the stretch to a 6 3/4-length triumph that earned him a 100 Beyer Speed Figure (from Daily Racing Form), one he would match in the Pat Day Mile on the undercard of the Kentucky Derby May 2 at Churchill Downs.

In the Pat Day, Crude Velocity again came away a bit flat-footed but quickly established himself off a demanding pace set by returning rival Englishman with dead aim on the leader racing in the three path. With regular rider Florent Geroux up, Crude Velocity reeled in Englishman past the eighth pole and closed with aplomb to win by 3 3/4 lengths.

“We felt pretty good about him going into the Pat Day. His two prior races were pretty spectacular,” Baffert said. “Englishman, I have a lot of respect for him. To run him down, that was pretty impressive. Those are two good horses. It should be a great race.”

Geroux has the return call from post 6. Crude Velocity breezed four furlongs Sunday at Churchill Downs in 48.6 seconds.

“We’re cutting him back off a pretty strong effort,” Baffert said. “The Woody Stephens is coming up a very competitive race. We didn’t scare anybody off, but he’s doing very well. He breezed today and went really nice. We’re looking forward to it.”

Asmussen is represented in the Woody Stephens by the pair of Obliteration and Stradale. Leland Ackerley Racing, James Sherwood, Jode Shupe and John Cilia’s Obliteration (post 2, John Velazquez) comes into the race off a popular and powerful 3 1/2-length score in the Listed Chick Lang May 16 at Laurel Park on the undercard of the Preakness Stakes.

“We were so proud of the way he ran, and on such a great day, Preakness Day,” majority owner Leland Ackerley said. “We expected him to run well, but the goal all along has been to get him into some Grade 1 races and see how he can do. The Woody Stephens has been an early goal, and it looks like it’s going to be the race of the year. That’s why Grade 1s are hard to get, right?”

The six-furlong Chick Lang was the ninth start and first since a runner-up finish in the Saudi Derby (G3) going one mile Feb. 14 at King Abdulaziz Racecourse for Obliteration. The well-traveled son of Grade 1 winner Violence has already shown an affinity for Saratoga, winning the Sanford (G3) in his second start and finishing second in the Saratoga Special (G2) last summer.

“On paper it looks like it’s going to be a great race, and we’re excited for it,” Ackerley said. “He likes the track, he’s doing great, and we’ll see who he is.”

Kaleem Shah’s Stradale (post 4, Ricardo Santana Jr.) has been third or better in six of his seven starts, two of them wins, including his sophomore debut in a six-furlong optional claiming allowance March 5 at Oaklawn, where he split horses on the far turn and came with a strong late run to win by 3 1/2 lengths. Fifth behind subsequent Preakness winner Napoleon Solo in last fall’s Champagne (G1), he has placed twice in stakes, most recently beaten a neck when second in Oaklawn’s six-furlong Bachelor May 1.

Asmussen’s previous Woody Stephens victories came with Posse (2003), J Be K (2008) and Justin Phillip (2011).

Brunetti Dugan Stables, Black Type Thoroughbreds, Steve Adkisson and Swinbank Stables’ Six Speed (post 3, Irad Ortiz Jr.) cuts back after setting the pace before tiring to 13th in the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby. Winner of the UAE 2,000 Guineas (G3) Jan. 23 at Meydan in Dubai, he captured the seven-furlong UAE 2,000 Guineas Trial Jan. 2 and will be racing first time for Saratoga-based trainer George Weaver after previously being conditioned by Bhupat Seemar.

Weaver likened Six Speed’s disposition to that of Grade 1-winning turf filly Cy Fair, who he also trains and Swinbank Stables shares ownership. Between his Grade 3 win and the Kentucky Derby, Six Speed was a stubborn second in the UAE Derby (G2) contested at about 1 3/16 miles March 28.

“He’s a forward horse, and personality-wise, he’s not too far off from Cy Fair – feisty and likes to go. He worked well on the main track (on Saturday) and he’s been doing well. He’s a good-feeling horse, and if you let him, he’d probably do more than you’d want him to,” Weaver said.

“The horse has got some gas, and he’s given some hints that perhaps he might be better around one turn. He’s got some quality, and even over there in Dubai in the (UAE Derby), he hung around and hung tough late in that race,” he added. “I think he can do a bunch of different distances, but I think at this point in his campaign, we’ll cut him back and see how he does.”

Chris Fountoukis’s speedy Solitude Dude (post 5, Flavien Prat) has won four of his five career starts with stakes victories in the six-furlong Inaugural last December at Tampa Bay Downs as well as the Jan. 31 Listed Swale at Gulfstream Park and April 14 Listed Bay Shore at Aqueduct, both going seven furlongs. All three of his stakes wins came as the favorite.

“He is a very good horse. He has a lot of talent. He has speed, but he can relax and he’s push-button,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “He’s a horse that is very talented. This race has come up very tough and there’s a lot of good horses in there. It’s going to be an exciting race. It’s a high-quality race and you wish you could find an easier spot, but when you have a good horse, this is the kind of race you run in to see how good they are. This will be a test, but we feel at one turn he could be very good.”

Solitude Dude’s sole loss came in his lone try around two turns, the Fountain of Youth (G2) going 1 1/16 miles Feb. 28 at Gulfstream Park where he finished third behind Commandment and Chief Wallabee, both of whom return in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes. The effort produced a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 97 in a race where Napoleon Solo ran fifth.

“He ran well but I think he just got there on his heart. He’s a good horse and he tried his butt off that day. He just got beat by two horses that have more stamina,” Joseph said. “In hindsight, you can say he beat Napoleon Solo that day, too. It was a credible effort going two turns. It was the highest speed figure in his life, but I definitely feel like he’s a one-turn horse.”

Great Friends Stables and Mark D. Davis’s Civil Liberty (post 8, Antonio Fresu) broke his maiden in his fifth and most recent start April 12 at Keeneland, a three-length triumph sprinting seven furlongs. He ran into next-out Grade 1 winner Brant last summer at Del Mar, finishing second on debut and third in the Del Mar Futurity (G1) before closing out his campaign with a fourth to Intrepido in the American Pharoah (G1).

Civil Liberty began this year running second to Crude Velocity in a March 7 maiden special weight prior to his breakthrough triumph. Antonio Fresu has been aboard for all but his 2026 season opener.

“Last year as a 2-year-old, he was smaller and weaker, but he has developed into a nice horse this year. He’s proved that on his first time out in the season, only getting beaten by a head by Crude Velocity,” Fresu said. “Then he came back and ran a really good race, breaking his maiden at Keeneland. I think he’s a proper horse in the making and he’s been working really well. I’m really happy to be his partner again on Saturday. Looking forward to it.”

So, too, is trainer Doug O’Neill, particularly since the maiden win marked Civil Liberty’s first road trip after making his first four starts in Southern California.

“I think we learned that he can travel. You never know until you put them on a plane and run them somewhere else that they can hold their form, and he not only held it, but actually improved. That gives us some confidence, for sure,” O’Neill said. “He continues to train well off his nice maiden win in Kentucky, and him running second to Crude Velocity at Santa Anita really shows how much talent he has. He’s a super cool horse. He’s a funny horse because you work him by himself and he works pretty averagely, and then you put him in company and he’s a different horse. He’s very competitive and very talented.”

Like Crude Velocity, C R K Stable’s Englishman (post 7, Jose Ortiz) made his stakes debut in the Pat Day Mile after winning twice to open his career. He dominated his lone start as a 2-year-old in a seven-furlong maiden special weight at Churchill Downs last September and his 3-year-old debut in a six-furlong optional claiming allowance March 19 at Fair Grounds, scoring by 14 3/4 combined lengths for historic Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Cherie DeVaux.

SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Bashor Racing, Determined Stables, Golconda Stable, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan’s Taj Mahal (post 9, Manny Franco) suffered his first loss when 10th after setting the pace as the favorite in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness for trainer Brittany Russell. Racing exclusively at his home base of Laurel Park, he had won each of his first three starts by more than 12 1/2 combined lengths including stakes wins in the one-mile Miracle Wood and 1 1/8-mile Federico Tesio.

Pin Oak Stud’s Gilded Bandit (post 1, Junior Alvarado) is entered to make his stakes debut riding a two-race win streak since finishing fourth in his career unveiling Feb. 28 at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, he graduated by a half-length going 6 1/2 furlongs April 4 at Keeneland and most recently was a 2 1/2-length optional claiming allowance winner at the same distance on the Kentucky Derby undercard. He has been the regular work partner of Belmont Stakes contender Chief Wallabee in preparation for Saturday’s test.

The Woody Stephens is slated as Race 10 on Saturday’s 14-race program.