Heavily favored Quality Road drew away in the stretch and cruised to a 4 3/4-length victory in the $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday.
The Todd Pletcher-trained Quality Road, a 3-10 favorite ridden by John Velazquez, ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:50 and earned $450,000 for owner Edward P. Evans.
Quality Road paid $2.60, $2.10 and $2.10. Runner-up Mythical Power returned $5.90 and $4.40 and Tranquil Manner earned $4.60 to show.
The Woodward was Quality Road's fourth win in five starts this season, third in a Grade 1 race, and follows a narrow defeat at the hands of Blame, who was not in the Woodward's field of seven, in the Whitney Invitational at Saratoga on Aug. 7.
''This is the race we expected,'' Pletcher said. ''He's proven before he's a top class horse and he proved it again today. It went exactly like we talked about in the paddock. I have total confidence in John if he needed to call an audible, he's always got that backing from me. But it's nice when Plan A works.''
Earlier at Saratoga, Here Comes Ben and rider Alex Solis rallied in the stretch and overtook Big Drama in the closing strides to score an upset in the $250,000 Forego Stakes and earn $150,000 for owners Marianne and Brandon Chase.
The Charles Lopresti-trained 4-year-old ran 7 furlongs in 1:22.50 for his first Grade 1 victory. He paid $21.80, $8.50 and $3.70. Big Drama earned $6.70 and $3.30 and Vineyard Haven returned $2.20 to show.
