Next and her happy connections. (Adam Coglianese)
Saratoga Race Course Notes
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer William “Doug” Cowans was able to cross, ‘winning at Saratoga Race Course’ off his bucket list on Thursday when Michael Foster’s Next captured the storied racetrack’s $150,000 Birdstone in runaway fashion.
Cowans’ recent Spa endeavor was a redemptive one and came eight years after the veteran Kentucky-based conditioner saddled Next Shares to a tough runner-up finish in the Grade 2 With Anticipation in September 2015.
“Winning a race at Saratoga is a special thing and a guy like me doesn’t get that many opportunities to come up there,” Cowans said. “The first time I came up there, I was so close and it was a while before I got to come back up there. Yesterday felt really good when the horse won.
“It was more of a bucket list thing to win races all over the country and I haven’t run many at Saratoga,” Cowans added. “Either the horse isn’t right, or you don’t have the right horse to get here. There are several situations that never line up. But it was always a bucket list to win a race at Saratoga, and not just run there.”
Next settled a close second behind pacesetting New York-bred stakes-winner Sea Foam before taking control nearing the far turn and strolling home a 11 3/4-length winner under jockey Luan Machado. He completed the 14 furlongs in a revised hand-timed 2:57.59.
Cowans admitted to being unsure how the pace scenario would play out.
“When I looked at the form, it looked like there was a lot of speed in the race for the distance. I knew it would be a bit of a task to get the horse to run a different style,” Cowans said.
Next’s runaway victory in the Birdstone only solidified himself as the leading dirt marathoner in North America. The 5-year-old Not This Time gelding won last year’s off-the-turf Cape Henlopen at Delaware Park en route to a prominent score in the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance at Keeneland. Following a third in his 2023 debut in the Isaac Murphy Marathon in May at Churchill Downs, Next rounded back into winning form in the Grade 2 Brooklyn on June 10 at Belmont Park.
Cowans said Next could now target the 12-furlong Grade 3, $200,000 Greenwood Cup on September 23 at Parx Racing, while eyeing a repeat conquest in the Grade 2, $250,000 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance on November 4 at Santa Anita.
“[The Birdstone] was picked out for the horse since he won the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance,” Cowans said. “We mapped out a five-race plan for him after that race last year and the Birdstone was in that mix. He came out of the race great. If all goes well, we’ll go to Parx for the Greenwood Cup. Next on the bucket list is to win the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance at Santa Anita. I’ve never run a horse at Santa Anita.”
Cowans reflected on what Thursday’s victory meant not only to him, but his hard-working staff.
“I think it means a lot as a whole for the stable and the whole group. A lot of my team has been with me for 20 plus years,” Cowans said. “We run at Keeneland and Churchill a lot and we don’t get too many opportunities like this. The team was super excited to come up there and the horse was doing so great that everyone was pumped up and it all worked out. It doesn’t always do that.”
