Ernesto v. Forego & Woodward
 

Looks like the remnants of Ernesto could be drenching the Spa on Saturday. Get ready to 'cap a wet track!

If it's wet, Funny Cide is a no go in the Woodward...

You know, if FC actually won this race (I know that there is little probability of that...very, very, very little), I would have to "almost" rank it up there with Da Hoss's comebacks.

why is the woodward not at belmont...... and why is it 9 furlongs? what the hell is going on. remember when the great alysheba held off forty niner in the 88 woodward setting a track record....

Yeah.. NYRA moved it to the last weekend at the Spa to make the race more attractive prep for the BC. the thinking is... 1) better timing as a prep and 2) it's two turns now instead of one..

After the JC Gold Cup was hijacked by Belmont and reduced to 12f, there was logical lead-in scheduled, like in 1980 - 6 Sept. 9f Marlboro Cup; 20 Sept, 10f Woodward S; 4Oct, 12f Jockey Club GOld Cup. Note the spacing - 2 weeks. At some point, the Marlboro people wanted a 'more important' race, so the Woodward and Marlboro Cup switched distances. Then, at about the same time, some high-profile trainers started complaining that cutting back from 12f to 10f for the BC Classic was too hard for their horses (or for the trainers?) and Marlboro cut out its sponsorship; the wimps at NYRA reduced the JC Gold Cup to 10f to replace the Marlboro race. And most recently, some of these 'high-profile trainers' complained that the break between the Woodward and Gold Cup wasn't enough (3 weeks last year), so the wimps at NYRA accommodated them. But putting the Woodward back 4 weeks put it before the start of the Belmont meet so it had to be run at Saratoga. BUt then it becomes a replay of the Whitney - they should at least put it back to 10f, IMHO - then the Whitney could serve as a prep for a real G1 race.