The 100th running of the Grade 2, $750,000 dollar Wood Memorial is this Saturday at Aqueduct Park.

Having begun in 1925, the Wood Memorial has long been an important proving ground for Kentucky Derby contenders. 

Originally contested at a mile and 70 yards (and later 1 1/16 miles) at Jamaica Race Course, the Wood Memorial is named in memory of the late Eugene D. Wood, a New York politician who served as Jamaica’s president for over two decades.

The Wood Memorial wasted little time in establishing itself as a springboard to Kentucky Derby success.

During an unforgettable golden age spanning 1930 through 1951, the Wood Memorial produced no fewer than nine Derby Winners.

Headlining that group were Triple Crown Champions GALLANT FOX (1930), OMAHA (1935), COUNT FLEET (1943), and ASSAULT (1946).

The Wood Memorial underwent its first dry spell between 1952 and 1972, during which only one Kentucky Derby Winner (CARRY BACK, 1961) used the race as a prep for his signature Victory under the Twin Spires.

It was also a time of upheaval for the Wood Memorial; the race was lengthened from 1 1/16 miles to 1 1/8 miles in 1952 and shifted from Jamaica to Aqueduct in 1960.

That said, a fiery chestnut soon set the Wood back on the KD success track.

Although SECRETARIAT ran 3rd in the 1973 Wood Memorial, the G.O.A.T. quickly rebounded with a record-shattering sweep of the Triple Crown.

During the ensuing decade, FOOLISH PLEASURE (1975), BOLD FORBES (1976), Triple Crown Winner SEATTLE SLEW (1977), famous filly GENUINE RISK (1980), and PLEASANT COLONY (1981) all followed Big Red’s path to Derby glory, with all but GENUINE RISK Winning both the Wood Memorial and the Run for the Roses.

This spate of Wood success preceded another lengthy dry spell. More than a dozen years passed before Wood Memorial runner-up GO FOR GIN sprung an upset in the 1994 Kentucky Derby.

The early 2000s saw a temporary return to form as the Wood Memorial produced three Derby Winners in four years: FUSAICHI PEGASUS (2000), MONARCHOS (2001), and FUNNY CIDE (2003).

But the remainder of the decade was uneventful, and in the 2010s not a single Wood Memorial starter visited the Kentucky Derby Winner’s Circle.

COVID-19 prompted the cancelation of the 2020 Wood Memorial, starting the new decade on a down note.

Nevertheless, as a final-tier Road to the Kentucky Derby prep race, (that awards 170 qualification points (100-50-25-15-10) to the top four finishers), it’s just a matter of time before the Wood Memorial bounces back to its glory day.