2025 Amsterdam Stakes Preview at Saratoga Race Course

Key Takeaways:

• Macho Music brings graded class and raw speed, but the rail draw forces his hand and could leave him vulnerable late.
• Garamond cuts back in distance for Chad Brown and should get a perfect stalking trip under Prat.
• T Kraft ran best of the Woody Stephens also-rans and fits well at 6 ½ furlongs with tactical speed.
• Gunmetal has upside off a key allowance win, but still needs to prove it at this level.

Three-year-old sprinters take the spotlight in the Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam at Saratoga Race Course on Friday, July 25. The race, a prestigious event in its own right, is also the local prep for the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens, the top sophomore sprint of the summer in Saratoga Springs.

Originally run in 1993 as the Screen King Stakes, it was moved to Saratoga the following year and was renamed for the upstate town of Amsterdam, New York, in 1998. Across its history, winners have included standouts like Distorted Humor (1996), City Zip (2001), Kodiak Kowboy (2008), Quality Road (2009), Caleb’s Posse (2011), Mind Your Biscuits (2016), and Jackie’s Warrior (2021).

The 2025 edition of the Amsterdam Stakes drew a field of eight. Proven stakes winners in the field include Pat Day Mile (G2) winner Macho Music, Swale winner Gate to Wire, Jimmy Winkfield winner T Kraft, Carry Back winner Mati Gol, and Maxfield runner-up Smoken Wicked, a multiple stakes winner against Louisiana-breds. However, several of their foes are lightly raced, improving, and ready to show their skills against more seasoned company.

2025 Amsterdam Stakes Information

• Race Date: Friday, July 25
• Track: Saratoga Race Course
• Post Time: 5:53 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: 6 ½ furlongs on the dirt
• Age/Sex: 3-year-olds
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

Amsterdam Stakes Draw and Odds

This is the field for the 2025 edition of the Amsterdam Stakes, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and official morning-line odds.

Amsterdam Stakes Prep Race Results

The Amsterdam Stakes field comes out of five different races. Four were last seen in the Woody Stephens (G1) on June 7 over the Spa main track. All four from that race were also-rans who will try to bounce back from out-of-the-money efforts. T Kraft flattened to fifth, Gate to Wire rallied mildly for sixth, Macho Music set the pace but weakened to seventh, and Gunmetal was never involved and finished tenth and last.

The other rivals come out of four different stakes races. The only runner last seen in graded company was Uncaged, who tracked early but weakened to seventh behind Sovereignty in the Belmont (G1). Mati Gol rallied from midfield to win the Carry Back at Gulfstream on July 4, making him the only last-out winner in the field. Smoken Wicked was second to Verifire in the Maxfield Stakes on June 29 at Churchill Downs. Garamond, who rounds out the field, turns back in distance after finishing a weakening sixth in the Pegasus at Monmouth on June 14.

Amsterdam Stakes Contenders

Here is a closer look at each of the runners in the 2025 Amsterdam in order of post position.

1. Macho Music: The class of the field, he followed up a blowout win against Florida-breds at Tampa Bay Downs in March with an impressive frontrunning score in the Pat Day Mile over the Churchill Downs slop on Derby day. That makes him the only horse in this field with a graded-stakes win. He tried to do the same in the Woody Stephens next out, but the cavalry descended down the lane and he flattened out to seventh. The rail is thorny because it forces him to send, and there are some others outside who can show speed. However, Macho Music does shape as the speed of that speed, in addition to having the class edge. In short, he could do this, but won’t be value if he ends up a short-priced favorite.
2. Garamond: This Chad Brown trainee cuts back under a mile for the first time since his winning debut. Though his allowance win at the one-turn mile two back came on the front end, he showed a stalking gear in his winning debut, a dimension that stands to help him in this. Though he lost as the heavy favorite in the Pegasus at Monmouth last out, he has plenty of upside on the turn back to a sprint, especially for Brown and returning rider Flavien Prat, high-percentage connections who reliably show up in big races.
3. Smoken Wicked: With 12 races already, he is the grizzled old vet of this bunch. He can run well in extended one-turn races, but the biggest question is class. He has won a couple of Louisiana-bred races and even hit the board in some listed races against open sophomores, but he has usually fallen short in graded company. To be fair, his best graded-stakes outing came over this course and distance, a third behind Showcase in last year’s Saratoga Special. But his winning efforts have come when he could get on or close to the lead, and he’d need to be on his best to keep up with Macho Music early and then stay on late.
4. T Kraft: It took this Bill Mott charge a while to figure it out, but he graduated in January at Aqueduct—sixth asking—and clicked off a three-win streak. He followed the maiden score up with an allowance victory at Friday’s distance, and then a neck win in the Jimmy Winkfield. That streak was snapped in the Woody Stephens, where he ran fifth as a 36-1 outsider. But, he still finished best of the four horses from the Woody Stephens who come into this race. And, he shapes as the horse most likely to keep the closest tabs on Macho Music up front. He is likely to be a good middle price—something very bettable given his running style, recent daily racing form, and ability at 6 ½ furlongs.
5. Gate to Wire: This Todd Pletcher trainee graduated on the lawn last year at the Spa but has been on the dirt ever since a try in the seven-furlong Swale in January resulted in a five-length score. He has, however, been off the board in three graded starts since. This race is a class drop compared to those last three, and he is by Munnings, as good of an extended-sprint sire as you’ll find in the stud book nowadays. However, he will probably need to find some of that tactical speed he showed on and off earlier in his career, as his recent deep-closing style is unlikely to get the right setup.
6. Gunmetal: With just four races, he is tied with Garamond for having the least experience in this field. It’s still hard to tell what he is: he won a six-furlong sprint at Fair Grounds on debut and won an allowance at the same distance at Keeneland, a race that graded out well when third-place finisher Retribution came back to win the Chick Lang at Pimlico. However, he has been well beaten in a pair of stakes tries going seven furlongs. Nothing in the pedigree suggests the six furlongs versus seven is a huge distance limitation—he’s by Gun Runner out of a Speightstown mare from the family of Paynter and Tiznow, after all. But, it could be an experience or class question, and he’s going to have to prove he can at least go fast enough to keep tabs on Macho Music and then see out the trip.
7. Mati Gol: He may be the only last-out winner in the field, winning the Carry Back earlier this month, but he has a lot to prove in this spot. He has never raced outside of Gulfstream Park, and whether Gulfstream Park horses can take their form elsewhere is always a hit-or-miss proposition. And, he doesn’t need to just take his best, but rather run the new fastest race of his life to be a factor against the foes he faces here. The pace versatility is a plus, and he could get a clean trip from this near-outside gate … but he’s going to need to stay at or above that huge morning line to be worth a flyer.
8. Uncaged: He has been well beaten for trainer Todd Pletcher in his last two starts, the 1 ⅛-mile Peter Pan (G3) and the 1 ¼-mile Belmont. Being by Curlin out of a Pioneerof the Nile mare, his pedigree reads as a distance horse—but his two wins have both come at one-turn, a six-furlong maiden tilt at the Spa during his juvenile campaign and then a one-turn mile allowance this year, in his third race. That makes the turnback in distance appealing. There is only a slight chance of rain Friday, but if that comes to be? He moves up in the rain, as his two victories have come over muddy footing. So yes, he has class to prove, but he also has upside.

Amsterdam Stakes FAQ

Here are answers to commonly-asked questions about the Amsterdam Stakes.

Q: Where and when is the Amsterdam Stakes?

A: The Amsterdam Stakes happens Friday, July 25 at 5:53 Eastern, the 9th race on the 10-race card at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Amsterdam Stakes?

A: Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen leads all trainers with six victories in the Amsterdam, most recently in 2022 with Gunite. Asmussen does not have a runner in 2025. Among the trainers who do, fellow Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher leads with four, most recently in 2017 with Coal Front. He has two chances to make it five in 2025, with Gate to Wire or Uncaged.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Amsterdam Stakes?

A: The 2-1 morning-line favorite in the Amsterdam is Macho Music. He is the only graded-stakes winner in the field, and he shapes as the speed of the speed, meaning that he will likely hold as the actual betting favorite come post time. Basically, the only reason he won’t go off favored is if enough money shies away from his proven class because he hails from the more under-the-radar barn of Rohan Crichton, and instead pours money on the 7-2 morning-line second favorite, up-and-coming Garamond for Chad Brown.

Q: Who is the best Amsterdam Stakes jockey?

A: The retired Pat Day and the still-active Joel Rosario are tied for the most Amsterdam wins of all time, with four each. Among the jockeys in the 2025 edition, two have won once before. Flavien Prat (Garamond) won in 2024 with World Record, and Luis Saez (Gunmetal) scored in 2018 with Promises Fulfilled.

Q: Who won the Amsterdam Stakes in 2024?

A: The 2024 Amsterdam Stakes went to World Record, trained by Rodolphe Brisset and ridden by Flavien Prat. Brisset does not have an entrant in 2025, but Prat rides Garamond for Chad Brown.

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