2025 Vosburgh Stakes Preview

Key takeaways:

• The Vosburgh Stakes is a Win and You’re In for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, run at 7 furlongs this year at Aqueduct.
• Past winners include elite sprinters like Elite Power, Cody’s Wish, and Ghostzapper, making it a key prep for the fall.
• Patriot Spirit comes in sharp off a Colonial stakes win, draws well outside, and gets Castellano, a 4-time Vosburgh winner.
• Nash has back-class, runs well fresh, and gets Prat, though he must prove himself at 7 furlongs.
• Crazy Mason loves Aqueduct, owns a Carter (G2) win at the trip, and gets a pace setup that suits his closing style.

A Win and You’re In ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint is on the line Saturday, September 27, in the Grade 3, $250,000 Vosburgh Stakes at Aqueduct. The race is usually an early-fall feature at Belmont, but with another year remaining on the New York Racing Association renovation project, it’ll be conducted one last time at the Big A. The race covers seven furlongs on the dirt, meaning a horse pointing to the Breeders’ Cup can get a longer race underneath them before turning back to the six-furlong trip at the Breeders’ Cup.

A pair of horses have won the Vosburgh and the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in the same year: Artax swept the double in 1999 and Elite Power did it in 2022. Cody’s Wish also parlayed a Vosburgh win to a score at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships in 2023, but he stretched out and won the Dirt Mile instead.

However, the history of the Vosburgh stretches well before the days of the Breeders’ Cup, and there have been exciting winners throughout its history. Some of the best include Bold Ruler (1957), Dr. Fager (1967-1968), Triple Bend (1972), and Forego (1974). Its highest-profile winners in recent decades include Groovy (1987), Housebuster (1991), Ghostzapper (2003), Private Zone (2013-2014), Imperial Hint (2018-2019), and fan favorite Firenze Fire (2020).

Vosburgh Stakes Information

• Race Date: Saturday, September 27
• Track: Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York
• Post Time: 4:41 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: 7 furlongs on the dirt
• Age/Sex: three-year-olds and up
• Where to Watch: FanDuel Racing, Fox Sports 2
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

2025 Vosburgh Stakes Draw and Odds

This is the field for the 2025 Vosburgh Stakes, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line odds for each runner.

Vosburgh Stakes Prep Race Results

The nine runners come out of six different races. The race with the most last-out runners is, fittingly, the seven-furlong Forego (G1) at Saratoga on August 23. Though winner Book’em Danno does not turn up in the Vosburgh, the next three across the wire do. Scotland rallied from second-last to finish second, only a length back. It was another three-quarters of a length back to Crazy Mason, who rallied from last in the field of 10 that day. Doc Sullivan, midfield for much of the race, was outfinished by that pair but still managed to finish fourth, another length behind Crazy Mason.

The only other horse to come out of a graded-stakes race is Nash. After a tough start, he settled off the pace but came up empty in the end, finishing sixth and last, 15 lengths behind Book’em Danno.

Three others come out of non-graded stakes races. Patriot Spirit is the only last-out stakes winner in the field, as he most recently galloped off to a four-length score in the Reigh Count Stakes at Colonial on July 26. The Golden Gorilla chased on to be second, beaten 4 ¼ lengths, behind Shaq Diesel in the Benny the Bull Handicap at Gulfstream on August 24. Coincidentally, Super Chow was also most recently second beaten 4 ¼ lengths—chasing Silver Slugger home in the Rumson Stakes at Monmouth on August 31.

The other two horses in the field finished 1-2 in a stakes-quality seven-furlong allowance-optional claimer at Saratoga on August 29. Baby Yoda got the best of it, overcoming a tough start to get up by a length over Light the Way, who did the dirty work on the pace but had to settle for second.

Vosburgh Stakes Contenders

This is the field of nine in the 2025 Vosburgh Stakes, organized by post position:

1. Scotland: Second in this race last year, he is still seeking his first graded-stakes win. However, he produced his best performance at the graded level last out in the Forego, where he rallied from near the rear of the field to be beaten just a length by Book’em Danno, who he won’t have to face this time around. He has upside: the pace he rallied into was honest but not a complete collapse for the distance, and he is versatile enough to keep closer tabs on the pace. In a field where there are a few who can show speed, but a duel is no foregone conclusion, that is important. The drawback is the rail draw, just because of the possibility for trip trouble, but the rail is generally fine at seven furlongs at Aqueduct, and he won’t be gunning for the lead, so the concerns about the rail are mitigated to an extent.
2. Nash: He has freshened up about two and a half months after a no-show effort in the Vanderbilt, where he had a rough start and just never got going. The question is whether he’ll be enough of a price to overcome the questions. On his best, he fits, but trainer Brad Cox and jockey Flavien Prat get bet hard, and he usually needs a race off a layoff before he finds his best form. And, he is an unproven quantity at seven furlongs—he was off the board in his only try at the distance last year, though that came after a bad start, and the good second behind Seize the Grey in the Pat Day Mile (G2) last year suggests some lurking skill in extended one-turn races.
3. Super Chow: This five-year-old had a nice little summer at Monmouth running in ungraded five- and six-furlong stakes, winning an off-turf race two back and running second in one scheduled for dirt last out. He has some upside second off the layoff, and has been on the board in all five outings at Aqueduct. He even has a solid record at seven furlongs, with a win and three more money finishes in five starts. However, he isn’t as sharp now as he was in the winter and spring of last year, when he got hot in graded-stakes company at Aqueduct and Pimlico. His affinity for Aqueduct makes him interesting to set the pace and maybe hang on for a lower piece of exotics at a huge price, but that looks like the ceiling.
4. Doc Sullivan: He won a New York-bred stakes two back going seven furlongs in the mud, earning him a ticket to try the Forego, his first graded-stakes try since a sixth in the two-turn Pennsylvania Derby last year. Sent off a 44-1 outsider, he chased on mildly for third, not a bad effort given the odds. He is a two-time winner at seven furlongs and has hit the board in eight of 10 outings at Aqueduct. But, in terms of class, he has something to prove—and his comparative advantage comes over a sloppy track. There isn’t a strong possibility of rain on Saturday, at least as of Thursday, though with it being possible on Sunday, there is still some chance for the forecast to shift. And that is Doc Sullivan’s best chance: some rain.
5. The Golden Gorilla: This Jena Antonucci trainee debuted with an off-the-board finish at Saratoga but has made every start since at Gulfstream. It took him a while to figure himself out, but he broke his maiden in May, cleared his first allowance condition going 6 ½ furlongs two back, and was second in a sloppy handicap against the far more seasoned Shaq Diesel last out. This suggests he is going in the right direction, but now he has to not only prove he can hold his own against some foes with real graded-stakes form, but also prove he isn’t just a Gulfstream Park horse. The pace-versatility is a plus, but he’s not the only one with that asset, and other long shots with local form appeal more.
6. Baby Yoda: This millionaire makes his first start for trainer Robert Falcone, Jr. after being claimed for $100,000 out of his last-out win. Falcone is strong first off the claim, winning a quarter of the time over the last three years, though, of course, most of those horses aren’t going from a big-money claim back into graded company. He has some Aqueduct form and some seven-furlong form, and he can string good efforts together. But, he faces some real top-level types here, who tend to be just beyond his reach, and if he still gets bet in his new barn the same way he always got bet with Bill Mott, he’ll be an underlay.
7. Light the Way: Second to Baby Yoda last out after battling on the pace, he steps up in class to a graded stakes for the first time. He has yet to win at seven furlongs, though he has hit the board in four of five tries at the trip. His Aqueduct record is more placings than wins, too: 13 starts, two wins, seven other money finishes. He’ll need to run back to a career best to win this, and it’s questionable whether he will, because even though there isn’t much in the way of hardcore early speed, there’s a good chance that Super Chow or even Baby Yoda will be fast enough to gun it past him and leave him off the pace and out of his game.
8. Patriot Spirit: His record is muddled because he just keeps jumping between different distances – but why not try different things if he does more than one thing well? He won the 1 ⅛-mile Illinois Derby at Hawthorne last year for trainer Mike Campbell, an Illinois mainstay who has branched out elsewhere (most notably Colonial) in recent years as the Illinois circuit has fallen into dire straits. He comes into the Vosburgh off of a win in a seven-furlong stakes at Colonial. He probably won’t be fast enough to be as forward as he was last time, though he won at 6 ½ furlongs at Colonial in stalk-and-pounce fashion last year, and if he reprises that running style and form this time around, he should be a major contender.
9. Crazy Mason: He got hot during the winter and early spring meet at Aqueduct. The trip to California was a disappointment, but he was running credibly against generally deeper fields (including Book’em Danno) in stakes races at Saratoga, and now he returns to his well-loved Big A. He is a confirmed closer, meaning he is hoping all the horses who can possibly show speed actually do. But, he is consistent enough to run well—and even win—when he is left to chase into a modest pace, especially over his favorite course.

Vosburgh Stakes: 3 Best Bets

These are the three best bets in the 2025 Vosburgh Stakes:

1. Patriot Spirit (5-1)

He steps up in class off a close second in a restricted stakes at Churchill and then a win in an ungraded race at Colonial. Though he has yet to break through at the graded level, he is in good enough form in his last couple of starts to hold up with the group that has been entered in this race. Though he is not likely fast enough to make the top in this race, he doesn’t need it. He can get a good outside stalking trip from this near-outside gate under Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, who has won the Vosburgh four times and knows the New York tracks well. The weather also doesn’t matter much for Patriot Spirit, whether the track turns up dry or the rain shifts and things end up wet, he should be able to handle the footing.

He also has a chance to get by at an overlaid price just based on connections. Mike Campbell hasn’t had all the big horses like the big New York trainers, and bettors don’t likely know him well unless they bet Chicago or Colonial on the regular, but he is an experienced conditioner, and he has spotted this one well.

2. Nash (6-1)

Nash has gotten a chance to refresh after finishing last in the Vanderbilt last out, a race where he was faced with a bad start. That was a six-furlong race, but a bad start is also why we don’t know what he can do at seven furlongs—the only time he tried it was in the Woody Stephens (G1) last year, where he was never a factor after a mess of a beginning. However, he ran a good second behind next-out Preakness winner Seize the Grey in the one-turn Pat Day Mile last year, meaning he has some precedent for handling an extended one-turn trip against good horses.

There is other upside as well. He won earlier this year off a freshening of about two months. He gets high-percentage rider Flavien Prat, who rode him to a second-place finish last year in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race, a trip probably a little too long for him. And, he has been able to handle a near-inside draw before, as he did two back when he won a third-level allowance sprint over the slop at Churchill Downs.

3. Crazy Mason (3-1)

His summer form got a little muddled, between the trip to California and the attempts against the absolute monster Book’em Danno. But now, he returns to his favorite track, and Danno was not in fact booked for this engagement. This gives him a chance to shine once again. This four-year-old got into his best stride through the winter and early spring, clicking off consecutive wins in a first-level allowance, a second-level allowance, and the Carter (G2) at the Big A, with two of those three victories coming at extended sprint trips.

In terms of pace, though he is a confirmed closer, he is the kind who makes a run whether or not he gets a flying pace in front of him. Of course, it’ll be better if as many horses as possible try to go with Super Chow early. But, even if the pace is more modest, he has been able to win races when rallying into perfectly modest setups. And, he can also get a clean trio from the outside under jockey Manny Franco, with whom he has built a nice rapport in three starts together this year, including that Carter score.

Vosburgh Stakes FAQ

Q: When and where is the Vosburgh Stakes?

A: The Vosburgh Stakes happens Saturday, September 28, at 4:41 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race is the ninth on the 12-race card at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York.

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

A: Two trainers are notable winners at the Vosburgh, each with four wins: Flint Schulhofer, most recently in 1992 with Rubiano, and trainer Todd Pletcher, who most recently won in 2021 with Following Sea. Pletcher is still active, but does not have an entrant in 2025. Among the trainers who are running horses in the 2025 Vosburgh, Bill Mott leads with two wins, with Elite Power in 2022 and Cody’s Wish in 2023. He can win a third with Scotland.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Vosburgh Stakes?

A: Off a second-place finish behind division leader Book’em Danno in the Forego (G1) last month, Scotland is the lukewarm 5-2 favorite for trainer Bill Mott and jockey Junior Alvarado. His consistent form and top connections suggest he will take the most money, though watch for action on 3-1 second choice Crazy Mason, who won the Carter over this course and distance in the spring, and was a close third in the Forego.

Q: Who is the best Vosburgh Stakes jockey?

A: Angel Cordero, Jr. is the all-time leader with six Vosburgh victories between 1973 and 1990. Javier Castellano leads all riders in the 2025 edition with four wins, most recently with Imperial Hint in 2018 and 2019. He can make it five if he wins with Patriot Spirit.

Q: Who won the 2024 Vosburgh Stakes?

A: Mufasa romped in stalk-and-pounce fashion in the 2024 edition of the Vosburgh for trainer Ignacio Correas, IV, and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. Neither Correas nor Ortiz returns to the field in 2025.

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