Saturday, Aqueduct Park hosts its signature spring race and the terminus on the New York road to the Kentucky Derby.
A field of thirteen 3-year-olds will do battle in the $750,000 dollar, Grade 2 Wood Memorial at 1 1/8 miles on the main track
A total of 200 Kentucky Derby qualifying points are on the line, with the Winner receiving 100 points, and 50-25-15-10 going to the 2nd-place through 5th-place finishers.
A top-two finish in the Wood Memorial should be enough to ensure a spot in the Derby starting gate on May 4th.
#4 DETERMINISTIC seems the logical choice here. After training smartly in Florida, his connections were looking for an Allowance race but they did not find the right fit, so he was shipped to Aqueduct for the Gotham (G3). He was up for the task as he rallied to Win by two lengths. DETERMINISTIC Won 50 Derby points that day, which all but guarantees a spot in the Run for the Roses. In the Gotham he had the look of a horse who is capable of handling longer distances.
That said, with a Derby spot locked up and Morning Line odds of 7-5 on DETERMINISTIC the Daily Racing Blog will look elsewhere for a little Value in the Win spot, and we have two horses in mind:
2. EL GRANDE O [ML 8-1] Top local connections- trainer Linda Rice and jockey Dylan Davis are fresh off their respective titles at the recently-concluded Aqueduct winter meet. EL GRANDE O will make his 12th start since June with 10 top-three finishes that include two Wins in New York-bred Stakes races and hitting the board in three Derby-Trail races at Aqueduct. He now has 30 Derby points, so he will need a top-three finish in the Wood to get a spot in the gate on the first Saturday in May.
13. UNCLE HEAVY [ML 8-1] He has Won three of four lifetime outings, including his only race so far this year when he captured the Withers Stakes February 3rd at Aqueduct by a nose over EL GRANDE O. That Victory came at the same distance of the Wood– 1 1/8-mile. UNCLE HEAVY is the only contender in this race with a prior Win at the distance. He’s 2-for-2 since stretching out to two-turn route races and has gained ground in the stretch in all three of his Wins. He can lock up a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate with a Wood Memorial Victory or runner-up finish.
Best of luck in the race, no matter how you play it.
The Wood Memorial is slated as race 10 on a card of 11 with a scheduled Post Time of 4:07.
