Andy Newton
Unbeaten Pat Day Mile winner Crude Velocity will put his perfect record on the line against eight rivals in Saturday’s Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Saratoga.
Crude Velocity heads deep Woody Stephens field at Saratoga
Crude Velocity will step into Grade 1 company on Saturday when the unbeaten Bob Baffert-trained colt lines up in the Woody Stephens Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.
The seven-furlong race, worth $500,000 and restricted to three-year-olds, forms part of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival programme.
NYRA’s official race advance lists nine runners, with Crude Velocity drawn in post six and Florent Geroux retaining the ride for CSLR Racing Partners.
The Beau Liam colt is three from three after wins at Santa Anita and Churchill Downs.
He made his stakes breakthrough in the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on Kentucky Derby day (watch below) – where he defeated Englishman by 3 1/4 lengths over a mile.
WATCH: Crude Velocity Winning The 2026 Pat Day Mile
Baffert told NYRA that Crude Velocity had trained well since that Churchill Downs effort and described the Woody Stephens as a highly competitive race.
“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.”
“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.”
The trainer is already a three-time winner of the race, having scored with Bayern in 2014, American Anthem in 2017 and Arabian Lion in 2023.
Strong rivals give race clear Grade 1 depth
The Woody Stephens has more than one storyline. Englishman, trained by Cherie DeVaux, returns from the Pat Day Mile and is drawn in post seven with Jose Ortiz booked.
He won his first two starts by a combined 14 and three-quarter lengths before finishing second to Crude Velocity at Churchill Downs.
Trainer Steve Asmussen is represented by Obliteration and Stradale.
Obliteration arrives from a three-and-a-half-length success in the Chick Lang Stakes at Laurel Park on Preakness day, while Stradale has finished in the first three in six of his seven career horse racing starts.
“We were so proud of the way he ran, and on such a great day, Preakness Day,” majority owner Leland Acklerley 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 field also includes Solitude Dude, who has won four of five starts and already owns seven-furlong stakes wins in the Swale and Bay Shore.
Six Speed cuts back after contesting the Kentucky Derby, while Civil Liberty, Taj Mahal and Gilded Bandit complete the Woody Stephens line-up.
