2024 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Preview

The Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, a $500,000 race for horses aged three and up at 1 ½ miles on the grass, happens Saturday, September 28 at Aqueduct. This race is traditionally run at Belmont Park, but the New York Racing Association has moved it to Aqueduct while they continue the construction at its usual home.

The race drew a field of seven, including War Like Goddess, who has won this race each of the last two years. Other recent graded-stakes winners who will try to hold their form in this spot include Sword Dancer (G1) winner Far Bridge, Bowling Green (G2) winner Silver Knott, and United Nations (G2) winner Get Smokin.

Even though the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic does not offer an automatic bid to the Breeders’ Cup Turf, several winners have still swept the pair in the same year. That most recently happened in 2014 when Main Sequence did it. Other horses to win the pair include English Channel (2007), Buck’s Boy (1998), Tikkanen (1994), Theatrical (1987), and Manila (1986). Little Mike, though he finished only fifth in this race before winning the Breeders’ Cup in 2012, went on to win the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational Stakes the next year.

Joe Hirsch Information

• Race Date: Saturday, September 28
• Track: Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York
• Post Time: 2:40 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: 1 ½ miles on the turf
• Age/Sex: three-year-olds and up
• Where to Watch: FanDuel Racing, Fox Sports 2
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

2024 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Draw and Odds

This is the field of seven entered for the 2024 Joe Hirsch, along with their post positions, trainers, jockeys, and odds.

Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Prep Race Results

The seven runners in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic come out of six different races. The only race with more than one last-out runner is the Sword Dancer, going 1 ½ miles at Saratoga Race Course on August 24. Far Bridge led at every call that day, while Silver Knott was in range for much of the race but flattened late for third.

Three others come out of graded-stakes company. War Like Goddess faced fillies and mares on August 31 at Saratoga in the Flower Bowl (G2), where she sat well off a crawling pace and still rallied to finish a gaining second. Emmanuel was most recently fifth behind Goliad in the one-mile Mint Millions (G3) at Kentucky Downs, while Get Smokin set the early pace but flattened to a well-beaten seventh behind Grand Sonata in the Kentucky Turf Cup (G2) at 1 ½ miles over that Franklin, Kentucky course.

Two others come out of ungraded races. Truly Quality tried stakes company for the first time in the 1 ½-mile Colonial Cup on September 7, stalking the pace and prevailing by 2 ½ lengths over the more experienced Webslinger. Daunt was last seen finishing a late-running third behind Reckoning Force in a second-level allowance at Saratoga Race Course, going 1 3/16 miles on August 17.

Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Contenders

These seven runners, in order of post position, will race in the redrawn 2024 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic:

1. Get Smokin: A frontrunning type, he stayed 1 ½ miles when he won the Kentucky Turf Cup in 2023, though he did not do so well in 2024, setting the early pace and weakening. He has been able to run well from the rail before and the field isn’t large, but the question is whether Silver Knott tries to push the issue. If he does, the closers may be coming. If not, Get Smokin could actually steal this.
2. Daunt: The question is whether his last-out third in an allowance race was the real deal or an aberrantly fast outing. The race came back very fast, fast enough to suggest he fits if he runs back to it. However, he has been well beaten when trying traded-stakes company before and he is at serious risk of bouncing off that last race. Also, his 8: 1-0-1 record at Aqueduct does not inspire confidence.
3. Emmanuel: He is an accomplished miler, but a close fourth in the 1 ⅜-mile United Nations suggests he might have some stamina lurking. He is tactically versatile enough to track the pace or rally from further off of it, a positive given the short field and the questionable pace setup. And, making his second start for new trainer Mike Maker, this five-year-old is certainly in the right barn to be reinvented as a longer-distance older horse.
4. War Like Goddess: This consistent mare continues to show up reliably. Even though she failed as the favorite last out, she made up ground well late against a pacesetter who had been able to set a crawling early pace in the Flower Bowl. The pace won’t be blazing in this spot, but especially if Silver Knott positions in range of Get Smokin, it isn’t likely to be as slow as it was in her last outing. This is the right distance for her, as well. In short, the price will be short, but she ought to at least hit the board and it would be no surprise if she can complete the three-peat.
5. Truly Quality: This 4-year-old made his stakes debut in the Colonial Cup on September 7, stalking the pace and winning by 2 ½ lengths. It was a nice show of his versatility, as he has previously done much of his running a little further off the lead. Both of his efforts at 1 ½ miles have been good, and even though he loses jockey Manuel Franco to the more experienced Emmanuel, he does have a previous win with Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the irons as well. The question is whether he will regress off his last effort, as his last-out win was a big enough effort to make regression a risk.
6. Silver Knott: He has come into his own in longer races this year for trainer Charlie Appleby, and rattled off a three-win streak in the Elkhorn (G2), Man o’ War (G2), and Bowling Green. He faltered last out in the Sword Dancer, though, raising the question of whether that was just a one-off blip or if he has gone off form. If it was just a blip, though, he is in a good spot: he has good tactical speed and should be the most likely one to keep Get Smokin honest on the front end.
7. Far Bridge: He was one of the better turf sophomores of last year, winning the Belmont Derby (G1) and hitting the board in several other major three-year-old turf spots. He has been just as honest at age four, winning both the Sword Dancer and an allowance and never finishing too far beaten in any of his outings. He probably won’t be fast enough to win this on the front end like he did in the Sword Dancer, not with Get Smokin in the field. But, that isn’t his usual style anyway, and he has been able to rally from midfield or even further back and win, even if the pace is pedestrian.

Joe Hirsch Turf Classic FAQ

Q: When and where is the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic?

A: The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic will be run on Saturday, September 28, at 2:40 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race is the sixth on Aqueduct’s 12-race Saturday card.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic?

A: Bill Mott leads all trainers with six wins in this race. He has won with Theatrical (1987), Shakespeare (2005), Channel Maker (2018, 2020), and War Like Goddess (2022, 2023). Mott can extend his record to seven if War Like Goddess wins her third straight edition of the Joe Hirsch.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic?

A: War Like Goddess is the 8-5 morning-line favorite. She will likely go off post time favorite, given that she has won the last two editions of the race and has a legitimate pace excuse for her last-out defeat. However, 2-1 morning-line second choice Silver Knott should not be far away on the tote board, between the fact that his trainer Charlie Appleby is always well bet and that Silver Knott himself has been so strong in races at this distance.

Q: Who is the best Joe Hirsch Turf Classic jockey?

A: John Velazquez leads all jockeys with five victories between 1995 and 2012. He does not have a call in the 2024 edition, though he is still an active rider. Among jockeys who are riding in the 2024 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, Junior Alvarado leads with two wins. He won in 2019 with Arklow and 2023 with War Like Goddess, and rides War Like Goddess again this year.

Q: Who won the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic in 2023?

A: George Krikorian’s War Like Goddess, trained by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado, won the 2023 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. It was War Like Goddess’s second win in the race. She goes for a three-peat this year, with both Mott and Alvarado back in her corner.

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