Lawyer Ron wins $500,000 Woodward Stakes

12th victory in 24 career starts for 4-year-old colt

	Jockey John Velazquez poses aboard Lawyer Ron after winning the 54th Woodward Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday.
Mike Groll / AP

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updated 8:22 p.m. ET Sept. 1, 2007

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Lawyer Ron pulled away in the stretch and won the $500,000 Woodward Stakes by 8 1/4 lengths at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, moving to the top of the handicap division.

“I think he’s arguably one of the top older horses in training,” winning trainer Todd Pletcher said.

Lawyer Ron added the Grade 1 Woodward to his win in the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap on July 28, a race in which the 4-year-old colt earned an automatic spot in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Monmouth Park on Oct. 27.

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Lawyer Ron’s next stop could be the Jockey Club Gold Cup, where he likely will be challenged by Preakness winner Curlin and several other top 3-year-olds.

“He does fine with time between races but he tends to get headstrong,” said Pletcher, who has been working on getting Lawyer Ron to relax in his races. “I think he thrives on the action and he prefers to be running. Obviously he’s also capable of running fast fractions and continuing on. Now we’ll see how he matches up against the top 3-year-olds.”

Lawyer Ron has 12 victories in 24 career starts for Hines Racing LLC.

Lawyer Ron paid $3.50, $2.60, and $2.10, while Sun King was second and returned $7.70 and $4.70. Diamond Stripes paid $3.50 to show.

Earlier, Midnight Lute took the lead going into the final turn and won the $250,000 Forego Stakes.

The 4-year-old son of Real Quiet won the 7-furlong event in 1:21.06 and now has four wins in nine starts for owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman.

Midnight Lute, trained by Bob Baffert, paid $7.20, $4.60, and $3.70. Benny the Bull paid $8.80 and $5.80, and Attila’s Storm returned $4.90 to show.

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