Lord at War Triumphs in the Goodwood Handicap

Lord at War, racing for the first time since July 4, used a strong finish Sunday to win the $114,500 Goodwood Handicap by 1 3/4 lengths over Matafao in front of a crowd of 37,137 at Santa Anita’s Oak Tree meeting.

Lord at War, who had been idled by bruised feet, hadn’t won since March 3 when he captured the $500,000 Santa Anita Handicap.

Lord at War, the 2-5 favorite ridden by Bill Shoemaker and carrying high weight of 125 pounds, covered 1 1/8 miles in 1:50 1/5 and paid $2.80, $2.60 and $2.20.

The victory was worth $62,800, raising Lord at War’s career earnings to more than $750,000.

Matafao, ridden by Frank Olivares, crossed the finish line 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Last Command and returned $5.80 and $3.20.

The $5 exacta of Lord at War and Matafao paid $74.50.

Last Command, ridden by Pat Valenzuela, was three-quarters of a length in front of Don’t Say Halo at the wire and returned $2.80 to show.

Following Don’t Say Halo across the finish line in the fourth running of the event for 3-year-olds and up were Travelling Victor and Somethingwonderful. Poly Test and Apollo Flight were scratched.

Lord at War, a 6 year old bred in Argentina, was a repeat winner in the Goodwood--he won last year’s event at 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.

The victory was the 214th in a race worth $100,000 or more for Shoemaker, the winningest jockey in thoroughbred racing history. Shoemaker was aboard Lord at War when the horse won last year’s Goodwood.