Ten Things You Need to Know About the 2026 Woodbine Mile
Notable Speech, left, and Deterministic, right, are two of the leading contenders for the $1 million Woodbine Mile Saturday at Woodbine. (Eclipse Sportswire)
The Woodbine Mile is one of the most important races for turf milers in North America, featuring a $1 million purse, a qualifying spot in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile Presented by PDJF, and an impressive list of past winners.
The race initially was a dirt race for 3-year-olds held at either 1 ¼ miles or 1 1/8 miles and won by the likes of Dance Smartly (1991) and Skip Away (1996) over the first nine editions, before it shifted to a one-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and older in 1997, renamed the Woodbine Mile. After two years with that name, the race was rebranded the Atto Mile and regained Grade 1 status in 1999. It has remained a top-level grass mile test since, with a name change back to the Woodbine Mile in 2006.
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Geri won the 1997 edition of this race and then shipped to Hollywood Park and ran second in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Since then, five horses have won the Woodbine Mile and its Breeders’ Cup companion in the same calendar year: Wise Dan in 2012 and 2013, World Approval in 2017, Modern Games in 2022, Master of The Seas in 2023, and Notable Speech last year. Court Vision and Hall of Famer Tepin won both races in different years.
Notable Speech returns for the 2026 edition and will try to join Hall of Famer Wise Dan as a repeat winner of the Woodbine Mile. He faces a tough assignment in a race expected to draw top North American turf horse Deterministic, a winner of his last six starts.
The Woodbine Mile offers the winner an expenses-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Mile via the “Win and You’re In” Challenge Series spot and headlines the Ontario track’s Turf Champions Day card. The slate also includes a trio of additional Grade 1 races that are Breeders’ Cup preps: the $750,000 E. P. Taylor Stakes, $500,000 bet365 Summer Stakes, and $500,000 Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes.
Watch all of the day’s action on FanDuel TV and read on for information on all of the probable starters for this year’s race in alphabetical order. The Woodbine Mile Cheat Sheet will be updated with post positions and morning-line odds on Wednesday, Sept. 9.
Archivist wins Strensall Stakes (Eclipse Sportswire)
Archivist
Jockey: TBA
Trainer: Hamad Al Jehani
Owner: Wathnan Racing
Career record: 14 starts – 5 wins – 4 seconds – 2 thirds
Career earnings: $402,148
Top Equibase Speed Figure: N/A
Pedigree: Dubawi – Provenance, by Galileo
Age: 4
Color: Chestnut
Running style: Stalker
Analysis: The 4-year-old Dubawi gelding has won three of his last four starts and enters the Woodbine Mile off a career-best effort when winning the Group 3 Sky Bet Strensall Stakes by 7 ½ lengths Aug. 22 at York Racecourse in England. He’s run in the top three 11 times in 14 lifetime starts and has only had one truly poor outing in his career, which came three starts back when he faded badly late at Royal Ascot. This race represents a class test for Archivist as his first try in a Grade/Group 1 race, but he’s in very good form and European invaders have won three of the last four editions of this race. An intriguing contender in his North American debut who could offer attractive odds.
Deterministic wins Fourstardave Stakes (Eclipse Sportswire)
Jockey: Kendrick Carmouche
Trainer: Miguel Clement
Owners: St. Elias Stable, Ken Langone, C. Steven Duncker, and Vicarage Stable
Career record: 16 starts – 10 wins – 3 seconds – 1 third
Career earnings: $3,047,265
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 120
Pedigree: Liam's Map – Giulio's Jewel, by Speightstown
Age: 5
Color: Dark bay or brown
Running style: Press the pace
Analysis: Deterministic enters the Woodbine Mile in absolute peak form with three wins in as many starts in 2026 and riding a six-race winning streak that began with a Grade 2 win in May 2025. He’s put up elite Equibase Speed Figures during the streak ranging from a 112 to the career-best 120 he earned for winning the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Manhattan Stakes two starts back at Saratoga. Deterministic most recently won the Grade 1 Fourstardave Stakes by 1 ½ lengths at this one-mile distance, and really the only concern is that he has never competed at Woodbine. It is often said that horses are not machines, but since switching to turf Deterministic has eight wins, two seconds, and a third from 11 starts on grass. Perhaps not a machine but a turf monster. A logical win candidate who should be on all of your exacta and trifecta tickets.
Gas Me Up wins King Edward Stakes (Michael Burns photo)
Jockey: Fraser Aebly
Trainer: Kevin Attard
Owners: Exline-Border Racing, Michael Jawl, Aaron Kennedy, and Tom Zwiesler
Career record: 14 starts – 6 wins – 2 seconds – 1 third
Career earnings: $626,050
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 117
Pedigree: Hard Spun – Chic Thrill, by Smart Strike
Age: 6
Color: Dark bay or brown
Running style: Stalker/closer
Analysis: He posted a game victory by a nose Aug. 15 in the Grade 2 bet365 King Edward Stakes, the local prep for the Woodbine Mile at this distance. Gas Me Up won that race a year ago as well before running third behind Notable Speech in the 2025 Woodbine Mile and then finishing seventh, beaten by four lengths, in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile Presented by PDJF. He’s a talented gelding at his best, although perhaps a cut below the top contenders, and a quality option to use when filling out exacta and trifecta tickets. Trainer Kevin Attard won this race in 2020 with Starship Jubilee.
Irish Aces wins April 2025 race at Keeneland (Coady Media)
Jockey: Pietro Moran
Trainer: Brendan Walsh
Owner: Pocket Aces Racing
Career record: 18 starts – 4 wins – 4 seconds – 4 thirds
Career earnings: $653,442
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 116
Pedigree: Mshawish - Nimble Foot, by Danehill Dancer
Age: 6
Color: Chestnut
Running style: Stalker/closer
Analysis: The Woodbine Mile is a tough assignment for a 6-year-old gelding seeking the first graded stakes win of his career, but he comes into the race off promising efforts in Grade 2 races on the grass at Woodbine. He was second by a half-length in the bet365 Connaught Cup at 7 ½ furlongs on July 19 before finishing third by a head behind Woodbine Mile entrant Gas Me Up in the bet365 King Edward Stakes Aug. 15. He just missed in a blanket finish among the top three in the King Edward, and if you like winner Gas Me Up, you probably should also give a long look to Irish Aces at what figures to be an even better price. A powerful finisher and a live longshot.
Itsastormymonday
Jockey: Rafael Hernandez
Trainer: Don MacRae
Owner: La Huerta Inc.
Career record: 9 starts – 5 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds
Career earnings: $136,985
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 99
Pedigree: Get Stormy – Heir of Light, by The Factor
Age: 4
Color: Bay
Running style: Stalker/press the pace
Analysis: The Woodbine Mile looms a major class test for Itsastormymonday, who will be making his first start in a stakes race after back-to-back wins at the allowance-optional claiming level on the turf at Woodbine. I applaud trainers and owners for taking a shot in a big spot with a racehorse who is doing as good as ever, but it’s hard to envision Itsastormymonday winning against this group of talented turf milers. He would need to boost his top Equibase Speed Figure by 15 points just to be in the hunt for a top-three finish, but perhaps he will rise to the occasion at what figure to be enticing odds in the Woodbine Mile.
Notable Speech wins 2025 Woodbine Mile (Eclipse Sportswire)
Jockey: William Buick
Trainer: Charles Appleby
Owner: Godolphin
Career record: 18 starts – 9 wins – 1 second – 1 third
Career earnings: $3,995,726
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 122
Pedigree: Dubawi – Swift Rose, by Invincible Spirit
Age: 5
Color: Chestnut
Running style: Stalker/closer
Analysis: Trainer Charlie Appleby and jockey William Buick have enjoyed a ton of success in recent years with Godolphin runners shipping to the United States and Canada for Grade 1 races, including teaming to win the Woodbine Mile in three of the last four years. Notable Speech seeks a repeat victory in this race after winning last year’s edition by 1 ¾ lengths. He followed with a 1 ½-length score at Del Mar in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile Presented by PDJF and took home the Eclipse Award as 2025 champion turf male. He lost his season debut in April at Keeneland, but has won two of three races since and enters the Woodbine Mile off a 2 ¾-length romp in the Group 1 Sky Bet City of York Stakes Aug. 22. Notable Speech will vie with Deterministic for favoritism and he probably will need to reel that one in late to win this race for the second straight year.
Pierre gallops at Woodbine (Michael Burns Photo)
Pierre
Jockey: Javier Castellano
Trainer: David Jacobson
Owner: Lawrence P. Roman
Career record: 19 starts – 4 wins – 5 seconds – 4 thirds
Career earnings: $271,910
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 108
Pedigree: Tapiture – Archerette, by Arch
Age: 5
Color: Bay
Running style: Stalker
Analysis: Pierre has flashed consistent form in 2026 with two wins, a second, and one third in five races. He won back-to-back starts at Woodbine in May and June, taking a 1 1/16-mile allowance-optional claiming race by 2 ¾ lengths on the all-weather surface followed by a one-length victory at the same distance on turf. Pierre most recently earned a new career-top 108 Equibase Speed Figure with a runner-up finish by a nose in a one-mile allowance race Aug. 27 at Saratoga and returns to Canada for his first try in a graded stakes race. In his two previous starts in stakes, Pierre was unplaced in the 2024 King’s Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, both Canadian classics, but this will be the best competition he has faced to date. He’s trending in the right direction but would nonetheless need to run the race of his life to secure a top-three finish.
Silius
Jockey: John Velazquez
Trainer: Christophe Ferland
Owner: Wertheimer et Frere
Career record: 21 starts – 8 wins – 5 seconds – 2 thirds
Career earnings: $323,558
Top Equibase Speed Figure: N/A
Pedigree: Dubawi – Silasol, by Monsun
Age: 4
Color: Chestnut
Running style: Press the pace
Analysis: French invader Silius already has raced seven times this year and he was beaten by only two lengths in his lone 2026 unplaced finish. His three wins include a Group 3 win by a neck in the Prix Messidor July 19 at Chantilly, and prior to that he was second in a pair of group stakes at Longchamp. The Dubawi colt has a little more tactical speed than the other two European entrants and he’s a honest racehorse who rarely runs a bad race. Notable Speech will be the main attraction for most bettors among the foreign contingent, but Silius ships over with a big shot to surprise and he could be a nice value bet given the short prices expected on the top two. No jockey has won this race more than Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who has five Woodbine Mile wins and picks up the mount on Silius.
Vina Arana wins Nassau Stakes (Michael Burns photo)
Jockey: Adam Beschizza
Trainer: Jack Sisterson
Owners: Sterling Stables and MHM Stables
Career record: 13 starts – 3 wins – 0 seconds – 3 thirds
Career earnings: $267,468
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 104
Pedigree: Make Believe - Sunset Dazzle, by Teofilo
Age: 5
Color: Bay
Running style: Closer
Analysis: Vina Arana will face males for the first time since shipping to the United States in August 2024. She was a dominant winner of the Grade 2 Nassau Stakes at this one-mile distance at Woodbine July 19 before finishing fifth most recently in the $1,676,500 Never Say Die Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Sprint Stakes Aug. 29 at Kentucky Downs. Stretching back out to a mile and returning to Woodbine should help — some horses just don’t care for the unique turf course at Kentucky Downs —and the price should be appealing on this 5-year-old Irish-bred Make Believe mare. Make no mistake, this is a tall task for Vina Arana, but if she runs as well as she did in the Nassau she could be a candidate for a top-three finish.
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