A field of 13 sophomores have entered for their final shot to earn Kentucky Derby qualifying points in Saturday’s 98th running of the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct Racetrack. The nine-furlong test is the final local qualifier for the Grade 1, $3 million Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs, awarding 100-40-30-20-10 points to the top-five finishers.
Eleven horses have won the Wood Memorial and Kentucky Derby (G1) but Fusaichi Pegasus was the last such winner, doing so in 2019-2020.
The power stables of Todd Pletcher and Brad Cox are well represented in the Wood Memorial, just as they are in the Blue Grass at Keeneland.
Who are the Contenders?
Withers Stakes (G3) winner HIT SHOW, a grey son of Candy Ride (Arg) trained by Cox, drew post 13 so the three-time winner has a significant hurdle as he tries to continue his winning streak. Hit Show’s second dam is Canadian champion MILWAUKEE APPEAL (Milwaukee Brew).
Cox also has SLIP MAHONEY (Arrogate) in the Wood and this colt was second in the Gotham Stakes behind Raise Cain, who is in the Blue Grass. Bred in Kentucky by Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings and Phillip J. Steinberg, Slip Mahoney is out of the Grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Got Lucky and is a direct descendant of influential broodmares Get Lucky, Numbered Account and La Troienne. He was a $150,000 purchase at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Pletcher has three colts in the Wood. DREAMLIKE is a maiden who gets blinkers and Jose Ortiz rides. The son of Gun Runner posted a strong 91 Beyer Speed Figure in his second place finish in a maiden race on March 11 at Gulfstream. CRUPI (Curlin) is also a maiden and he was second in a maiden race at Aqueduct before heading south for the Risen Star Stakes (G2) where he was seventh. CLASSIC CATCH (Classic Empire) is a two-time winner including a recent allowance win at Gulfstream.
The Wood Memorial is the latest of the three Derby preps with a 6:16 p.m. post time.
Saturday, Aqueduct #11, post time: 6:16 p.m. EDT
WOOD MEMORIAL S. PRESENTED BY RESORTS WORLD CASINO-GII, $750,000, 3yo, 1 1/8m
PP HORSE SIRE OWNER TRAINER JOCKEY WT
1 Dreamlike Gun Runner Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable Pletcher Ortiz 123
2 Shadow Dragon Army Mule Peachtree Stable Mott Cancel 123
3 Knox Brethren Arindel Joseph, Jr. Gomez 123
4 General Banker Central Banker Seacoast Thoroughbreds of N. E. Ferraro Pennington 123
5 Slip Mahoney Arrogate Gold Square LLC Cox Davis 123
6 Clear the Air Ransom the Moon Cypress Creek Equine Walden Harkie 123
7 Arctic Arrogance Frosted Chester Broman, Sr. and Mary Broman Rice Lezcano 123
8 Lord Miles Curlin Vegso Racing Stable Joseph, Jr. Lopez 123
9 Crupi K Curlin Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable Pletcher Carmouche 123
10 Uncle Jake Uncle Mo SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Russell Toledo Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan
11 Classic Catch Classic Empire Whisper Hill Farm, LLC Pletcher McCarthy 123
12 Mr. Swagger Maclean’s Music Victoria’s Ranch Avila Olivero 123
13 Hit Show Candy Ride (Arg) Gary and Mary West Cox Franco 123
SANTA ANITA DERBY (G1)
Canadian racing fans will be cheering for Woodbine’s leading rider KAZUSHI KIMURA, who will partner Japanese invader MANDARIN HERO (Shanghai Bobby) in the $750,000 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles on Saturday. The race is the one of three major stepping-stone races for the Kentucky Derby with a post time of 5:30.
Japanese horses have done very well in major races around the world in recent years, but Mandarin Hero will be a longshot on Saturday.
Raced exclusively at Japan’s Ooi Racecourse, Mandarin Hero was unbeaten in four starts at age two and in his lone start this year finished second, beaten by a neck going a mile and one-eighth on Feb. 23. The first Japanese-based horse to ever run in the Santa Anita Derby, Mandarin Hero, a colt by Shanghai Bobby, is owned by Hiroaki Arai and trained by Terunobu Fujita.
If you saw PRACTICAL MOVE win the Grade 2 San Felipe, you will be hard-pressed to bet on any other colt in the Santa Anita Derby field. The son of Practical Joke rode the rail to an easy win in his sophomore debut for trainer Tim Yakteen.
Yakteen will also saddle, as a substitute trainer for Bob Baffert, NATIONAL TREASURE (Quality Road) who has been away since Jan. 8 when he was third in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes. The Curlin colt SKINNER is a good one for trainer John Shirreffs and he was third behind Practical Move in the San Felipe.
Saturday, Santa Anita #6, post time: 5:30 p.m. EDT
RUNHAPPY SANTA ANITA DERBY-GI, $750,000, 3yo, 1 1/8m
PP HORSE SIRE OWNER TRAINER JOCKEY WT
1 I Don’t Get It Cloud Computing Reddam Racing LLC O’Neill Gutierrez 124
2 Dazzlemesilver Tapwrit Gwendolyn Dart, Ronald Dart, and J. Keith Desormeaux Desormeaux Desormeaux 124
3 Geaux Rocket Ride Candy Ride (Arg) Pin Oak Stud LLC Mandella Prat 124
4 One in Vermillion Army Mule Jonathan Kalman Kruljac Berrios 124
5 Practical Move Practical Joke Leslie A. Amestoy, Pierre Jean Amestoy, Jr., & Roger K. Beasley Yakteen Vazquez 124
6 National Treasure Quality Road SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Yakteen Velazquez Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan
7 Skinner Curlin C R K Stable LLC Shirreffs Espinoza 124
8 Mandarin Hero (Jpn), Shanghai Bobby Hiroaki Arai Fujita Kimura 124
9 Low Expectations, Nyquist Reddam Racing LLC Garcia Rispoli 124
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