'19 Belmont Winner Sir Winston Back Aug. 19 at Woodbine

Three-year-old Essential Quality , aimed for the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) Aug. 28, isn't the only Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) winner poised for action this month.

The 2019 Belmont victor, Tracy Farmer's Sir Winston , returns in the sixth race at Woodbine Aug. 19, a CA$108,700 allowance optional claimer, his first start since freshened after going off form last summer. The 5-year-old homebred Awesome Again  horse has been training steadily in Canada for his first start since finishing a distant fourth in the Champions Day Marathon Overnight Stakes Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance last September at Churchill Downs.

In the spring of last year, the colt traveled to Dubai, only to return to America without starting, after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1).

"When he got back, we ran him a few times but he just didn't have the same energy or desire," said Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. "So we sent him home to Shadowlawn (Farm), which is Tracy Farmer's farm. And so we gave him a bunch of time, and we feel like he's training very well."

Casse said he chose to return Sir Winston at Woodbine in Thursday's 1 1/16-mile synthetic race due to the track offering multiple allowance conditions for some of its races that allow horses winless in the past year to compete with second-level allowance competition.

"I do this all the time with a lot of my better horses that haven't won in a while or have been off," Casse said. "I send them there just for that reason. A lot of times I'll run them there and then they're ready to run in stakes."

Sir Winston is a four-time winner from 15 starts, last victorious in January 2020 at Aqueduct Racetrack. He is 2-for-3 on the synthetic Tapeta surface at Woodbine, having won a maiden race and the Display Stakes there as a 2-year-old in 2018.

Sir Winston is 5-2 on the morning line in the six-horse field. Listed just below him at 2-1 is fellow graded stakes winner Special Forces , who has been out of action for trainer and co-owner Kevin Attard since capturing the Autumn Stakes (G2) at Woodbine in November 2019. Soli Mehta also owns the gelding.

Antonio Gallardo rides Sir Winston, while Kazushi Kimura is on Special Forces.

Both of their mounts are late runners that could be disadvantaged by an apparent absence of pace in the field. My Silencer  (5-1), also trained by Casse, and Malibu Mambo  (7-2) are two of the speedier runners in the lineup that would benefit from easy fractions.

Post time for Thursday's sixth race at Woodbine is 3:42 ET.