Global Campaign Turns Back Tacitus in Woodward
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Joe Labozzetta
Global Campaign wins the Woodward Handicap at Saratoga Race Course
A scratch surely made life easier for Global Campaign Sept. 5 in the $480,000 Woodward Handicap (G1).
Yet even if the defection of the speedy Moretti left the 4-year-old son of Curlin as the best candidate for the early lead among five starters in the 1 1/4-mile test, it did not gift-wrap a victory for him.
For as much as jockey Luis Saez was able to quickly reach the front and set the pace, Global Campaign set honest fractions, and as the field was midway down the backstretch, the favored Tacitus was stalking him, just a half-length behind.
Midway on the final turn, Global Campaign and Tacitus were running side by side, and from there it was a battle of wills.
And Global Campaign won.
After moving clear of the 3-5 favorite at the top of the stretch, Global Campaign kept on motoring and posted a 1 3/4-length victory over Juddmonte Farms' Tacitus in the 67th Woodward at Saratoga Race Course.
"I had a lot of pressure, but I wasn't that worried about it," Saez said. "He kept fighting and he never gave up."
Luis Saez gives the crowd a thumbs up aboard Global Campaign as the two make their way to the winner's circle
Owned by Sagamore Farm and WinStar Farm and trained by Stanley Hough, 4-year-old Global Campaign scored in the Monmouth Cup Stakes (G3) in his previous start. That July 18 victory at Monmouth Park was the first graded stakes win since the 2019 Peter Pan Stakes (G3) for the half brother to grade 1 winner Bolt d'Oro bred by WinStar out of the A.P. Indy mare Globe Trot.
"I gained a lot of confidence in his last race when he took a couple challenges and drew off a bit," Hough said. "I thought that was a good sign. One thing about this horse: If he's ever gotten to the lead at some point or another, he's won the race. The only time he hasn't won, he never got the lead. I think he's definitely cut out for this distance."
Purchased for $250,000 by Sagamore Farm from the Select Sales consignment at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Global Campaign scored his sixth win in nine starts and lifted his earnings to $781,080.
He was plagued with minor foot issues throughout a 3-year-old campaign that ended July 27 after a third-place finish in the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga.
For Tacitus, the loss resurrected memories of his 3-year-old campaign a year ago, when he finished either second or third for trainer Bill Mott in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), Jim Dandy Stakes, Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1), and Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1).
He seemed to have put all those competitive losses behind him in his previous start when he registered an 8 3/4-length victory in the Suburban Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park, but Saturday, as the 124-pound highweight, he settled for a third second-place finish at the Spa to go along with the Travers and Jim Dandy.
"He ran well. It looked like the way it was going to unfold on paper in the first part of the race. We were where we wanted to be. We were within range of the winner, we put pressure on him, but we couldn't get by him," said Mott, who indicated the Oct. 10 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park would likely be next for the homebred son of Tapit .
Global Campaign, the 5-2 second choice who carried 122 pounds, set fractions of :24.65, :48.89, and 1:11.90 on the front end and led by a half-length at the quarter pole before extending to a 1 1/2-length lead at the eighth pole that did not shrink from there.
The final time for the 10 furlongs was 2:01.40.
"I'm more than satisfied," Hough said. "He beat a good horse. We're all excited. It's a great win. That's what the game is all about. You try to develop horses that will go on and be a sire, and I believe he'll make a good one."
William Clifton's Prioritize, a 5-year-old son of Tizway trained by James Bond, was third, 1 1/4 lengths behind Tacitus.
Spinoff and Math Wizard completed the order of finish.