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In
winning the nine-furlong, weight-for-age event, Lido Palace joined Sword
Dancer (1959-'60), Kelso (1961, '62, '63), Forego (1974, '75, '76, '77),
Slew o' Gold (1983-'84) and Cigar (1995-'96) as the only horses to win
consecutive runnings of the Woodward. It
also set the Chilean-bred son of Rich
Man's Gold up perfectly for the highlight of Belmont Park's Fall
Championship Meeting, the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I) at 1 1/4
mile Sept. 28. "It
means a lot for the horse, the owners and me to win this race in
back-to-back years," said Hall of Fame trainer and Brooklyn native
Bobby Frankel. But
Lido Palace was under heavy pressure to get the job done. Racing
at the rail close to Express Tour's pace of :23 1/5; :45 4/5 and 1:09
3/5, Lido Palace finally got outside and clear in the stretch. Chavez
had to work him hard as he ever did to get up for the victory in 1:47
3/5. "Obviously,
he likes it outside a little bit better," Frankel said. "He
was bottled up most of the way. I think he was a little too sharp today.
He was laying up close to a quick pace. The inside post bothered me with
this horse. I wanted him to get to the outside at the top of the
stretch. He's a bit of a lazy horse, but when I saw Jorge (Chavez) get
him to the outside, I was confident. He likes to wear down his rivals.
That's what he did last year to Albert the Great." Lido
Palace, owned by Ammerman Racing Stables, delighted most in the crowd of
13,106, who made him the prohibitive Woodward favorite. It was his ninth
win in 20 starts and the $300,000 winners' purse bumped his career total
to $2,188,574. Gander,
a 6-year-old son of Cormorant, who unseated his rider when he stumbled
at the start of the Saratoga Breeders' Cup on Aug. 17, came back to turn
in a monster effort. He also became the fifth-leading New York-bred
money earner, and now trails only Say Florida Sandy, L'Carriere,
Fourstardave and Fourstars Allstar in the category. Gander earned
$100,000 in the Woodward to up his career total to $1,473,688. "I'm
thrilled," said his trainer, John Terranova. "He ran a helluva
race. I thought Lido Palace was the horse to beat, and we got darn
close. He's doing really good. He's still got it. I saw (Jorge) Chavez
starting to ride Lido Palace down inside around the three-eighths pole,
and then he brought him outside. I guess he didn't like being inside. At
the quarter-pole, I thought we were looking real good. I was confident
he was going to fire big." |