2024 A.P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes Preview

In addition to top-class racing on the flat, the Saratoga meet features important jumps racing as well. The first top-level jumps race of the summer meet as Saratoga Race Course is the A. P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes, a handicap hurdle at 2 ⅜ miles. As is typical for jumps races in the United States, the race features a mix of horses who started their careers on the flat here and pivoted to the jumps, as well as horses who started their careers in Europe and moved here to hopefully race at a higher relative level.

The Smithwick handicap drew a field of seven, with the top end of the morning line very tight. The 9-5 morning-line favorite is Abaan, a Grade 3 winner on the flat for Todd Pletcher in 2022, who has now won four straight on the hurdle. However, between last-out English Grade 3 winner Pickanumber and last-out American Grade 1 winner L’Imperator, this shapes as a competitive showdown and a strong betting race.

2024 A. P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes Information

• Race Date: Wednesday, July 17
• Track: Saratoga Race Course
• Post Time: 1:10 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: 2 ⅜ miles on the hurdle
• Age/Sex: 4-year-olds and up
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV, Fox Sports
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

A. P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes Draw and Odds

These are the entrants for the 2024 A. P. Smithwick Memorial, which includes posts, trainers, jockeys, and official morning-line odds from Saratoga Race Course.

A. P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes Prep Race Results

Five of the seven runners come out of graded stakes races, and four of them come out of the same one. That race is the Beverly R. Steinman Hurdle Handicap (G1), run over the same 2 ⅜-mile distance at Aqueduct on June 20. (The race is typically run at Belmont Park, but just as with the flat races, it has been relocated to Aqueduct until construction finishes.) L’Imperator ran to the money that day, winning by two lengths. Third-place Ziggle Pops, sixth-place Freddy Flintshire, and seventh-place West Newton press on to the A. P. Smithwick in hopes of turning the tables.

The other runner who comes out of graded company is Pickanumber. He upset the Swinton Handicap Hurdle (G3) at Haydock Park in England on May 11. After that surprise victory, he was sold to new connections and now makes his United States debut.

Two others come out of ungraded company. Morning-line favorite Abaan tries graded company on the hurdles for the first time after a confident victory in the 2 ¼-mile Green Pastures at Percy Warner on May 11. Going Country is the only one coming out of a non-stakes race, as he was most recently sixth in a handicap May 11 at Percy Warner, though he does have previous stakes experience on the hurdle.

A. P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes Contenders

These are the runners in the 2024 A. P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes, in order of their post draws.

1. Ziggle Pops: A handicap-level flat horse in England before coming to America to try jumps, he was laid off for almost two years after his maiden win in 2021 but has been racing regularly since April 2023. Two starts back he romped in a handicap at Percy Warner over 2 ¾ miles, leaving fellow Smithwick entrant Going Country in his wake. That earned him his first crack in graded company, where he battled on the pace and flattened to third, two lengths behind L’Imperator. The talent is there and the tactical pace is a positive, though this 2 ⅜-mile distance might be short of his best at this point.
2. Abaan: Dating back to a maiden win last September at Colonial Downs, this son of Will Take Charge has won four straight, most recently a confident 2 ¾-length win in the ungraded Green Pastures, going 2 ¼ miles at Percy Warner. He has never run a bad race in five starts over hurdles, and his tactical versatility serves him well. He also has shown good form on the Saratoga lawn, at least on the flat. However, he does make his graded-stakes debut on the jumps side, and the price may be underlaid since more casual players may be familiar with him during his time as a graded-stakes horse on the flat.
3. West Newton: Typically a frontrunner, he is a solid enough horse at handicap and even ungraded stakes level, but he tends to underperform when stepped up to graded-stakes company. That holds doubly true when he tries races at places like Saratoga and Aqueduct, with hurdles set up over a traditionally flat course as opposed to the more sprawling courses that were purpose-built for jumps races. Note that his only graded-stakes placing happened at Great Meadow, which is a true jumps meet. With that, it makes sense to look elsewhere.
4. Freddy Flintshire: This late runner has been jumping for two years with some success, with his best win a romping score in the Queen’s Cup at Charlotte last year. He just started in the graded ranks two starts back, finishing a well-beaten third in this race last year. He was laid off for almost a year after that, only returning on June 20 to finish sixth in the Steinman. Trainer Keri Brion always does well during the jumps portion of the Saratoga meet, so there is some chance he’ll move forward second-up, and he has a couple of good jumps races at Saratoga in 2022, suggesting that on his best, he can handle the course well. As one of the likely middle-to-longer shots in the field, he isn’t without upside.
5. L’Imperator: He is another one who may have some name recognition with casual watchers, as he won the Fort Marcy (G2) on the flat at Belmont for Chad Brown in 2022 and spent a couple of years boxing around in graded company in New York. However, he moved to the jumps in 2023 and has only run off the board once during his jumping career. The bad news is, that came at Saratoga last August. The good news is, that off-the-board finish was his first try in a Grade 1 jumps race, and he has since found his sea legs at this level. He won the Steinman at Aqueduct last out, his allowance win over jumps came at Saratoga last fall, and he has the tactical speed, consistency, and class to be a major contender.
6. Going Country: The second-stringer from the Keri Brion barn, he showed promise in April 2022 when winning maiden and allowance races within a week of each other over fences, but hasn’t won since. He is Grade 1 placed over this distance at Saratoga in 2022, when he finished second in the Jonathan Sheppard, but nothing he has done through 2023 or 2024 suggests that he is anywhere near the standard he showed two years ago.
7. Pickanumber: A shock 22-1 winner of the Swinton Handicap Hurdle at Haydock two months ago, he was then sold to race in the United States. This is his first start for new owners and his new trainer, Leslie Young. He carries the best form of his life into this race: he has won two straight and three of his last five dating back to February of this year. And, horses who show up at the graded level in England where horse racing over jumps is more widespread and competitive than it is in the States can be serious threats in the United States, where there is a less developed jumping circuit.

A. P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes FAQ

Q: When is the 2024 A. P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes?

A: The 2024 A. P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes happens on Wednesday, July 17, 2024. Post time is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. EDT, and it is the first of nine races on the card.

Q: Where is the A. P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes?

A: The A. P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes takes place at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the A. P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes?

A: A jumps race has been run in honor of Hall of Fame jockey A. P. Smithwick since 1980, though the race hasn’t been a stakes race until 1996. In its time as a stakes race, the great Jonathan Sheppard leads with six wins. However, he is retired from training and does not have an entrant this year. Among trainers running in the 2024 edition, Jack Fisher leads with four, most recently with Moscato in 2020. He enters Ziggle Pops this year.

Q: Who is the favorite for the A. P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes?

A: Abaan, last-out winner of the Green Pastures at Percy Warner, is the 9-5 morning-line favorite. However, last-out graded winners Pickanumber (2-1) and L’Imperator (3-1) could easily battle with him for favorite status as post time approaches.

Q: Who is the best A. P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes jockey?

A: Danielle Hodsdon, Michael Mitchell, and Paddy Young are all tied with three victories in the A. P. Smithwick, most of any rider. The only jockey in the 2024 edition who has won before is Bernard Dalton (Abaan), who won the 2022 edition of this race with Down Royal.

Q: Who won the A. P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes in 2023?

A: Belfast Banter won the 2023 A. P. Smithwick Memorial for jockey Barry Foley and trainer Cyril Murphy. Neither returns to the field for the 2022 edition.

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