It’s starting to look too easy.

And that means there are hard times ahead for horses looking to unseat Lawyer Ron atop the handicap division.

The 4-year-old Langfuhr colt, who already dazzled Saratoga Race Course’s fans with his track-record performance in the Grade 1 Whitney on July 28th, helped himself to another classic Saturday afternoon, as he sprinted away from seven rivals to easily win the 54th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward eight and a quarter lengths.

The Woodward, a longtime, one-turn, weight-for-age staple of Belmont Park’s Fall Championship Meet, was moved to Saratoga last summer and run around two turns. It was custom made for Lawyer Ron, who won the nine-furlong Whitney in 1:46.64. His winning time for the Woodward, also at a mile and an eighth, was 1:48.60.

“Earlier, the track didn’t seem like it was that fast,” said winning trainer Todd Pletcher, as Lawyer Ron returned $3.50 to the chalk players among the crowd of 19,973. “You have to consider, too, that he was carrying 126 pounds today [as there were no three-year-olds in the Woodward, all carried 126 pounds].

“He was picking up a lot of weight (eight pounds) on a track that wasn’t as fast as on Whitney day. I thought he was every bit as good today as he was the other day.”

Jockey John Velazquez had only one concern in the Woodward, and that was to work a clear trip out of starting from the inside post. Wanderin Boy, one of two horses entered for Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito, helped by hustling to the lead and creating some room.

“I just wanted to make sure that we ran into that first turn,” Velazquez said. “I saw Wanderin Boy wanted to take the lead and I let him go. I got my horse to the outside, and then he was going well. I just wanted him to settle more on the outside; he was probably closer to the lead than I wanted him, but he was going so easily. After that, he was just cruising. Down the lane, I gave him a couple of spanks and he just ran away.”

Corinthian made a bold move on the turn, but tired in the stretch. Sun King, the other Zito entrant, got up to run second. Last year, Sun King lost the Whitney by a nose to eventual Horse of the Year Invasor and the Woodward to Premium Tap. He now has six wins, six seconds and six thirds in his 26-race career.

“Another second,” Zito said. “This is too many seconds to me. Sun King ran great. Lawyer Ron got out and did the right thing. He let Wanderin Boy go, and got in good position and that was it. He beat us again.”

Pletcher was delighted with Lawyer Ron’s positioning, as he stalked Wanderin Boy early through fraction of :23.31; :46.42; 1:10.45 and 1:35.

“He took the race to everybody early on, and we worked our way out of the 1-post, which we were concerned about,” Pletcher said. “I think he has established himself as the top older horse in training. Now, we have to see how he matches up against some of the three-year-olds. There is a chance he’ll meet some of those in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, if we decided to go there. The Whitney was arguably the strongest race anyone has run this year, and it was another big effort today.”

The Grade 1, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational at 10 furlongs on Sunday, September 30, is the crown jewel of Belmont Park’s Fall 33-day Championship Meet, which begins on Friday, September 7. The Whitney automatically qualified Lawyer Ron for the $5 million, Breeders’ Cup Classic – powered by Dodge at Monmouth Park on Saturday, October 27.

Diamond Stripes, third in the Whitney, was up for third in the Woodward. Corinthian, winner of the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park in the spring, was fourth.

Political Force, winner of Belmont Park’s Grade 1 Suburban Handicap, Brass Hat, winner of the Grade 1 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park in 2006, Wanderin Boy, the Whitney runner-up and Magna Graduate, who lost Churchill Downs’ Grade 1 Steven Foster by a nose to Flashy Bull, trailed.