Nitrogen, by Medaglia d’Oro, is set to break from post position 2 in the $1 million Grade 1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, August 8. The 4-year-old filly, out of Tiffany Case, bred and owned by DJ Stable LLC and trained by Mark Casse, is at 4-1 morning line odds with Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez in the saddle. In her 16 starts, Nitrogen has never finished out of the money, with eight wins, five seconds and three thirds and has amassed $2,730,854 in earnings. Impressively, 15 of her 16 career starts were stakes races, 14 of which were graded, with all of her eight wins coming at the stakes level. She has won graded stakes on both turf and dirt and won the 2024 Sovereign Award for Champion 2- Year-Old Filly as well as the 2025 Eclipse Award for Champion 3-Year-Old Filly. In her most recent race, the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes, she won in a time of 1:46.93, just short of the current track record of 1:46.64. Now, Nitrogen is racing against her male counterparts in the Whitney. She has not faced the boys since the first race of her career at our very own Woodbine Racetrack. Nitrogen started her career at Woodbine as a 2-year-old, with her first two starts in August and September of 2024 in a maiden special weight race, a race in open company, and the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes where she crossed the finish line in second and third place respectively. Micah Husbands, formerly of Woodbine, rides in the Whitney Stakes Former Woodbine jockey, Micah Husbands, is set to ride Forged Steel in the Whitney Stakes for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. The morning line puts the 4-year-old colt by Vekoma at 20-1 odds. Husbands began his career at Woodbine Racetrack, winning his first ever race, a $30,000-$32,000 Allowance Optional Claiming race, with Rosebud’s Hope for trainer Kevin Attard and owners Al and Bill Ullwelling. The 23-year-old has already amassed $7,286,963 in purse earnings throughout his career. Last weekend, Husbands guided 4-year-old filly Eunomia by Tiz the Law to victory in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes, a “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. He is the nephew of eight-time Sovereign award winner and Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame jockey Patrick Husbands and he is also the cousin of current Woodbine jockey Desean Bynoe, another nephew of Patrick Husbands. Micah Husbands and Bynoe raced together at Woodbine in 2024. “I’m not surprised, honestly,” said Bynoe. “I think he was just born for the horse racing sport. The way everything happened, it was just a matter of time and he could really race.” Bynoe, who is also 23, has a specific word to describe Husbands’ riding style. “He’s a fast learner and to me he always had that American riding style,” he said. “He always liked that American style so watching it as a kid, like he just took everything in and is just mastering everybody’s art, putting it all together.” Woodbine has three representatives at Saratoga on Whitney Stakes day On a side note, also related to Woodbine, three of the horses on today’s Saratoga card are Ontario-breds. Seven-year-old gelding Full Screen by Big Screen is running for a purse of $130,000 in the third race, a $110,000 allowance optional claiming race. He started his career at Woodbine, where he has raced 11 times. Monterey Bay, a 4-year-old gelding by Good Magic, raced three times at Woodbine and is set to run in a $55,000 Allowance Optional Claiming race with a purse of $120,000, race seven on the card. Six-year-old gelding Greystone by Will Take Charge, is running in race seven as well. He also began his career at Woodbine, racing on the track 15 times. Live simulcast at Woodbine You can catch it all on live simulcast at Woodbine Racetrack. -30- Anna Jeffs, for Woodbine Share This:Share
