Free Woodbine Mile 2020 PPs now available
A dual surface Grade 1 winner, an undefeated 3-year-old who had Kentucky Derby aspirations and a star mare who is a fan favorite headline this year's intriguing Woodbine Mile field. It is rare to have a field featuring runners with such diverse backgrounds, which makes this G1 race one of the best turf races of the year.
The varying prep races that these runners exit also makes this a challenging race to handicap. To help better sort out this wide-open affair, we turn to our friends at Brisnet for free past performances.
Mark Casse's War of Will has been listed as the 2-1 morning line favorite after his win in the Maker's Mark Mile (G1) at Keeneland.
Not only do Brisnet's Power Power Rankings find War of Will vulnerable in this spot, but they highlight the only mare in this race as a complete standout. Starship Jubilee seems to be better than ever at 7 years old.
She has won half of her 36 career turf starts and loves Woodbine's surface. Though she has been facing females, it could be argued that she exits the best competition as she just ran in the Diana (G1), which featured a pair of Breeders' Cup winners in Rushing Fall and Sistercharlie and a Breeders' Cup hopeful in Mean Mary.
She has not raced at one mile in a long time, but her 8: 5-2-0 record indicates that it might be her best distance.
Regardless of her tremendous accomplishments, it is important to see how she stacks up class-wise facing males.
Interestingly enough, it is Mark Casse's other runner, March to the Arch, who leads the way in this category. The usually consistent gelding seemed to be straying off form before a dominant performance in the King Edward at Woodbine last time out over this distance. Brisnet values this swiftly run race as a key prep as Admiralty Pier, who ran second, ties with War of Will for the second highest class mark in here.
Many bettors will be intrigued by the upside that 3-year-old Shirl's Speight offers, but the class ratings show that this runner would have to take a massive step up to win a race like this against older in just his third lifetime start. He could be a future star, but this seems like a little too much, too soon for this runner who was considering a run in the Kentucky Derby earlier this month.
War of Will clearly figures in this race, but he will likely be bet like a standout when he is far from that. March to the Arch and Starship Jubilee offer better value and either could easily pull off a mild upset.
Take a closer look at the Woodbine Mile PPs below, with the option to go full screen in the lower right corner of the window. Visit our free past performances page to view free stakes PPs all weekend from Woodbine and Belmont Park.