The $1 million, Grade 1 Whitney Stakes Saturday at Saratoga Race Course is one of the most important races in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic division as well as one of the marquee summertime races in U.S. horse racing. The 1 1/8-mile dirt race is a “Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series qualifier for the Longines Classic, giving the race winner an automatic berth to the $6 million Classic to be held Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park.

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Winners of the Whitney often go on to assemble careers worthy of consideration for the Racing Hall of Fame, and this prestige has endured ever since the race was first held nearly a century ago. Past winners include stars such as Discovery (1934, 1935, 1936), War Admiral (1938), Gallorette (1948), Tom Fool (1953), Kelso (1961, 1963, 1965), Carry Back (1962), Dr. Fager (1968), Alydar (1978), Slew o’ Gold (1984), Lady’s Secret (1986), Personal Ensign (1988), Easy Goer (1989), Awesome Again (1998), Medaglia d’Oro (2003), Invasor (2006), Blame (2010), Honor Code (2015), Gun Runner (2017), Knicks Go (2021), and Life Is Good (2022).

The 96^th Whitney Stakes is headlined by fan favorite Cody’s Wish, currently ranked first in the Breeders’ Cup weekly poll of Longines Classic contenders. The Curlin horse, who won the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile last year, will put a six-race winning streak on the line Saturday afternoon at the Spa. The Whitney will be televised nationwide on FOX as part of a three-hour “FOX Saratoga Saturday” program with a scheduled post time of 5:42 p.m. ET.

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Read on for information on all of the 2023 Whitney Stakes contenders.

Eclipse Sportswire

1. Zandon (9-2 morning-line odds)

Jockey: Joel Rosario

Trainer: Chad Brown

Owner: Jeff Drown

Career record: 11 starts – 2 wins – 5 seconds – 3 thirds

Career earnings: $1,720,000

Earnings per start: $156,364

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 110

Pedigree: Upstart – Memories Prevail, by Creative Cause

Age: 4

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: This one-dimensional closer has continued to cash checks by hitting the board in big races over the past year but hasn’t won since taking the 1 1/8-mile Toyota Blue Grass Stakes in April 2022 at Keeneland. Since then, he’s finished second in four of seven starts, including in his last outing when he checked in 3 ¼ lengths behind Cody’s Wish in the June 10 Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap. He’s also finished third twice (including in last year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve) and fourth once in that span. So, it’s a good bet that Zandon will show up and run his race in Saturday’s Whitney, but his best efforts have not been good enough to win against top-flight competition and it’s doubtful that he’ll take another leap in talent at this stage of his career. Joel Rosario, who rode Zandon to a decent runner-up finish in the Pennsylvania Derby last fall, gets back aboard for the Whitney, and he pairs well with the horse as he’s a top-rank finishing jockey. Expect Zandon to sit near the back of the field early in the Whitney and then grind through the stretch and make up enough late ground to vie for third or possibly second if the pace is fast enough. Rosario has won the Whitney twice, including two years ago on eventual Horse of the Year Knicks Go.  

Bet Zandon in the Whitney Stakes

Janet Garaguso/NYRA

2. Charge It (5-1)

Jockey: John Velazquez

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Owner: Whisper Hill Farm

Career record: 10 starts – 4 wins – 3 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $717,600

Earnings per start: $71,760

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 114

Pedigree: Tapit – I’ll Take Charge, by Indian Charlie

Age: 4

Color: Gray or roan

Running style: Pacesetter/press the pace

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Charge It has arguably the best chance to topple Cody’s Wish in the Whitney Stakes, although unlike his rival he hasn’t been able to sustain consistently good form. The exquisitely bred son of Tapit who is from the family of Take Charge Lady, Will Take Charge, and several other multiple graded stakes winners, has shown flashes of brilliance, winning last year’s Dwyer Stakes by 23 lengths and in his last start posting a dominant 4 ¾-length victory in the 1 ¼-mile Suburban Stakes at Belmont Park on July 8. On the other hand, he’s lost twice as the post-time favorite earlier this year and was well-beaten by Cody’s Wish, Zandon, and White Abarrio in the Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap two starts ago when finishing fifth. This colt may prefer longer distances than the one-turn Met Mile and his forwardly placed running style gives him an advantage in this short field. He’ll be sent to the lead under John Velazquez and will have to run the best race of his career to win the Whitney. Trainer Todd Pletcher has won the Whitney four times, including last year with Life Is Good. Four-time Whitney-winning jockey John Velazquez was aboard Pletcher’s three other winners in 2002, 2007, and 2013.

Bet Charge It in the Whitney Stakes

Coady Photography

3. Giant Game (20-1)

Jockey: Luis Saez

Trainer: Dale Romans

Owners: West Point Thoroughbreds and Albaugh Family Stables

Career record: 10 starts – 3 wins – 2 seconds – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $530,0500

Earnings per start: $53,050

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 105

Pedigree: Giant’s Causeway – Game for More, by More Than Ready

Age: 4

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Pacesetter/press the pace

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Trainer Dale Romans added Giant Game to the Whitney field last weekend after a pair of horses from Ken McPeek’s barn were withdrawn from consideration. This Kentucky shipper has been highly regarded since his 2-year-old season in 2021, when he finished third in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by TAA. Giant Game was soundly defeated in two Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve preps early in 2022, however, and did not make another start until 10 months later when he surfaced at Gulfstream Park and made three starts with two runner-up finishes. His subsequent two starts have been the best of his career, as Giant Game won both a 1 3/16-mile allowance race at Churchill Downs in May and then the 1 1/8-mile Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap last month in gate-to-wire fashion. After Martin Garcia piloted Giant Game to those wins, Luis Saez gets aboard Saturday; both are among the best front-end riders in the business. Look for Saez to send his mount to the front and keep Charge It company during the early stages of the Whitney. If a pace duel materializes, that will boost Cody’s Wish’s chances of winning and also help deep closers Zandon and Last Samurai. On the other hand, if Giant Game somehow ends up alone on the lead and can set a soft pace, he’s got enough stamina in his pedigree and is in good enough form to finish in the top three at appealing odds. Dale Romans won the 2004 Whitney with Roses in May.

Bet Giant Game in the Whitney Stakes

Eclipse Sportswire

4. Last Samurai (15-1)

Jockey: Flavien Prat

Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas

Owner: Willis Horton Racing

Career record: 27 starts – 6 wins – 5 seconds – 4 thirds

Career earnings: $2,178,614

Earnings per start: $80,689

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 119

Pedigree: Malibu Moon – Lady Samuri, by First Samurai

Age: 5

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Last Samurai was announced as a Whitney starter last weekend by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, who for the breadth of his legendary career has been a proponent of the “you can’t win if you don’t enter” school of thought and has many trophies to show for it. This throwback horse reached peak form earlier this year with back-to-back wins in the Grade 3, 1 1/16-mile Razorback Handicap and Essex Handicap, both at Oaklawn Park, followed by a near-miss in the 1/8-mile Oaklawn Handicap where he finished a nose behind Proxy in second. Since then, Last Samurai has posted back-to-back fourth-place efforts in the Alysheba Stakes Presented by Sentient Jet and the Stephen Foster Stakes and was no threat to the winners in either race. He has posted triple-digit Equibase Speed Figures in all five of those starts, however, and the 119 he earned in the Essex, where he defeated subsequent Stephen Foster winner West Will Power, is the highest among the Whitney starters. Look for Last Samurai to trail in last place for at least six furlongs under first-time rider Flavien Prat before moving up and finding room in the far turn to set up his rally. He’s a longshot to win but his best effort can land him in the exacta against this short field. “The Coach” has won two editions of the Whitney, in 1986 with the Hall of Fame filly Lady’s Secret and also in 1990.

Bet Last Samurai in the Whitney Stakes

Eclipse Sportswire

5. White Abarrio (6-1)

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

Trainer: Rick Dutrow Jr.

Owners: C Two Racing Stable and Antonio Pagnano

Career record: 13 starts – 5 wins – 1 second – 3 thirds

Career earnings: $1,276,350

Earnings per start: $98,181

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 111

Pedigree: Race Day – Catching Diamonds, by Into Mischief

Age: 4

Color: Gray or roan

Running style: Stalker/closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: After posting a Grade 1 win on in last year’s 1 1/8-mile Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa, White Abarrio never delivered on that early potential, failing to make an impression in marquee races such as the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (16^th), TVG.com Haskell Stakes (seventh), Pennsylvania Derby (fifth), and Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by Baccarat (eighth). He has done his best running over the past year in races held at one mile or shorter, including his most recent start when he made up some late ground to finish third behind Cody’s Wish and Zandon in the Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap, aka the Met Mile, on June 10. That was his first start for new trainer Rick Dutrow after exiting Saffie Joseph Jr.’s barn, and it would be surprising to see Dutrow earn his first graded stakes win since 2012 with this colt given the level of competition White Abarrio will be facing Saturday. Getting Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard for the first time is a definite plus. The three-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey is the runaway leader in wins at the current Saratoga meet, and he’s won three out of the last five editions of the Whitney, including last year on Life Is Good.

Bet White Abarrio in the Whitney Stakes

Angelo Lieto/NYRA

6. Cody’s Wish (1-2)

Jockey: Junior Alvarado

Trainer: Bill Mott

Owner: Godolphin

Career record: 13 starts – 9 wins – 1 second – 3 thirds

Career earnings: $2,328,530

Earnings per start: $179,118

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 116

Pedigree: Curlin – Dance Card, by Tapit

Age: 5

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker/closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Saturday’s Whitney is the first step toward determining whether this superior racehorse stays on target to contest the 1 ¼-mile Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic in November or instead aims for a repeat win in the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Cody’s Wish has won six stakes races in a row, all of them either at seven furlongs or one mile, and has defeated some of the best horses in training over the last year and a half, including Jackie’s Warrior and Cyberknife. In his last start, the Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap June 10 at Belmont Park, he stormed from near the back of the field in the one-turn race to win going away by 3 ¼ lengths over Zandon, with White Abarrio third and Charge It fifth. Cody’s Wish has made only two starts at distances longer than a mile in his 13-race career, finishing third in his second start way back in July 2021 in a 1 1/8-mile race and then second by a neck in the 1 1/16-mile Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes in March 2022, which was the race preceding his current win streak. Trainer Bill Mott expressed confidence that Cody’s Wish will be able to excel in a two-turn, 1 1/8-mile race such as the Whitney, and the horse’s pedigree bears that out as he’s a son of Breeders’ Cup Classic and Dubai World Cup winner Curlin and the Tapit mare Dance Card, who won a Grade 1 stakes at 1 1/8 miles. He’s the class of this field and has shown the ability to sit just off the early pace or stay farther back. Look for regular jockey Junior Alvarado to employ the former strategy and position Cody’s Wish close to probable pacesetters Charge It and Giant Game through the backstretch. If this fan favorite can indeed handle stretching out to a mile and an eighth, there’s a good chance his connections including the Dorman family from Kentucky (whose son Cody’s Wish is named after) will be rejoicing once again in the winner’s circle sometime around 6 p.m. Saturday evening. Hall of Famer Mott is having a solid Saratoga meet so far and is seeking his first Whitney win. Alvarado won this race in 2014.

Bet Cody’s Wish in the Whitney Stakes