Belmont Winner Sir Winston Triumphant in Return

Tracy Farmer's Sir Winston  put a forgettable 4-year-old campaign behind him in his first start at age 5, winning the sixth race at Woodbine Aug. 19, a CA$108,700 allowance optional claiming race, by two lengths.

The 2019 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner, unraced since last September, returned ready, closing from fourth and outfinishing favored Special Forces . He raced 1 1/16 miles under jockey Antonio Gallardo on Tapeta in 1:43.50, which followed slow early fractions of :25.24, :49.98, and 1:13.68.

The third choice in the betting in the six-horse field, he returned $11.70 for a $2 wager.

Special Forces , another comebacking graded stakes winner, was a clear second, 2 1/4 lengths ahead of Malibu Mambo  in third. Special Forces proved a stubborn foe for Sir Winston to put away until the final eighth of a mile.

Hall of Famer Mark Casse trains millionaire Sir Winston, a chestnut whose other post-Belmont win in five prior starts came when he took an allowance optional claiming race at Aqueduct Racetrack in January 2020. He ended his 2020 season with a fourth-place finish in the Champions Day Marathon Overnight Stakes Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance late last summer at Churchill Downs.

Casse chose to bring the son of Awesome Again  back at Woodbine, noting that horses that are winless for a year are eligible to return in second-level allowance races there. Sir Winston had also won at Woodbine twice previously, including the Display Stakes as a juvenile.