Horse Racing
Wood Memorial draw: 13 are in Kentucky Derby prep
Deterministic will vie to lock in his spot in the Kentucky Derby when taking on 12 rivals in Saturday’s 99th running of the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial, a 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby qualifier for sophomores traveling nine furlongs, at Aqueduct.
Deterministic makes his second start off a nearly seven-month layoff that followed a strong debut graduation sprinting seven furlongs in August at Saratoga for trainer Christophe Clement. He returned with gusto on March 2 to post a dominant score when making his stakes debut in the one-turn mile Gotham (G3) over sloppy and sealed footing, winning by two lengths.
“He’s trained very well all year long and came back very well, very straightforward,” Clement said of Deterministic’s development from 2 to 3. “All his works have been very good and he’s a very athletic kind of horse – the most beautiful mover. He barely touches the ground and moves like a cat. He’s good mentally, too.”
Ridden by returning pilot Joel Rosario in the Gotham, Deterministic stalked in fifth 1 1/2 lengths off the pace set by Maximus Meridius, who marked splits of 23.42 and 46.63 seconds before relinquishing command to the returning New York-bred El Grande O. Deterministic steadily improved position at each point of call and was within striking range in third at the top of the lane.
The Liam’s Map dark bay went four wide in pursuit of El Grande O with Just a Touch moving in tandem with him, but Deterministic had the advantage and kicked clear in the final sixteenth to claim victory and the 50 Kentucky Derby points that accompanied it. He completed the mile in 1:36.37 in an effort that garnered a 93 Beyer Speed Figure.
“It was a very good race and a good field over a wet track – he handled the whole thing very well,” said Clement, who looks to make it to the Kentucky Derby for the first time in his accomplished career. “It will be interesting to see him going two turns. We’ll just go one step at a time. You never know until you try, but his style of racing and the way he trains makes you believe he should stay.”
Deterministic had his final work on Friday at Payson Park Training Center with Rosario in the irons, covering five furlongs in company in 1:01.60, the bullet of five works that day.
“He had a nice work with Joel,” said Clement. “It was a solid work and he came out of it in good shape. He settled behind and quickened nicely in the stretch moving well within himself. I was happy with the work.”
Uncle Heavy returns to the scene of his Withers (G3) score as the only horse in the field to have successfully tackled the Wood’s distance.
Trained by Butch Reid Jr., the Pennsylvania-bred Social Inclusion bay was a thrilling winner of the Withers on Feb. 3 when rallying late from 3 1/2 lengths off the pace under regular rider Mychel Sanchez to collar El Grande O at the wire and win by a nose. The effort, which was his first outside of his home base of Parx Racing, was awarded a career-best 84 Beyer Speed Figure.
“He’s a natural route horse, a big, strong horse,” Reid said. “He’s got a great head on his shoulders and he doesn’t worry about anything. He doesn’t use a lot of energy except in his races.”
After the Withers, Uncle Heavy missed three weeks of training and was turned out on a farm because of an equine herpesvirus quarantine, but Reid. said the talented colt relished his short break.
“If anything, it did him good,” Reid said. “He got away from the rigamarole of the racetrack, and it really helped him. He looks great and is coming into the race real fresh. It was a blessing in disguise, and it forced us to not try and fit another race in there, which was the smartest thing.”
Before the Withers, Uncle Heavy graduated on debut sprinting six furlongs in October and captured his first win against winners two starts later when scoring by 1 1/4 lengths in the state-bred Wait For It in December. He made his final preparations for the Wood with a half-mile work on Saturday at Parx when covering the distance handily in 51.38 seconds.
“The work went really well,” Reid said. “He was well within himself and it was just what we were looking for. His major work was a few weeks ago, so this was a nice, easy half a mile. He finished up good and strong and galloped out beautifully. We’re very happy with where he is right now.”
El Grande O stretches back out to two turns after a prominent third-place finish last out in the Grade 3 Gotham. The Linda Rice trainee, who has hit the board in 9-of-10 starts, brings the most experienced resume to the field as he makes his 12th lifetime start.
“He’s doing well. He has experience, fitness, and he’s won a couple stakes at a flat mile, but maybe his best race was at a mile and an eighth in the Withers when he got beat three inches,” said Rice. “It will be a big field, so I’m sure the experience will help him there.”
In the Gotham, El Grande O battled for the early lead and was full of run at the top of the lane to take a 1 1/2-length lead with a five-wide bid, but was run down late and settled for show.
El Grande O vies for his first open-company victory after defeating fellow state-breds in the seven-furlong Bertram F. Bongard in September and the one-mile Sleepy Hollow in October, both over a sealed Big A main track.
The Wood will be the fourth Kentucky Derby prep the son of Take Charge Indy has contested this year, including runner-up efforts in the one-mile Jerome in January and nine-furlong Withers in February. He is 19th on the leaderboard with 30 points toward a spot in the 20-horse Kentucky Derby starting gate.
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will have two chances to secure a record-equaling eighth Wood Memorial victory as he sends out the undefeated Tuscan Sky and the maiden Protective.
Tuscan Sky arrives from a two-length score on Feb. 17 traveling 1 1/16 miles over sloppy and sealed footing at Fair Grounds. There, the Vino Rosso gray was patient as he tracked 2 1/2 lengths in second behind the pace set by Nash in the three-horse field. Tuscan Sky was given his cue by Luis Saez at the three-quarters call and went head-to-head with Nash to the top of the stretch before taking command as the trio straightened for home. He inched clear down the lane to finish two lengths ahead of Nash, who exited that effort to win Oaklawn Park’s Hot Springs impressively.
Pletcher said he was pleased with the effort from Tuscan Sky, who added to a 5 1/4-length debut victory sprinting six furlongs in January here.
“He’s done really well. It’s always a challenging situation in a short field with only three horses and generally in those type of situations it’s kind of a match race and the edge goes to the pacesetter,” Pletcher said. “But he was able to track Nash, who is a really nice horse, and beat him under those circumstances which I thought was really encouraging.
“We felt like the Wood Memorial made sense for him. He broke his maiden over the track there and I like the mile and an eighth for him,” Pletcher added. “I’m hoping it all comes together.”
Protective looks to graduate in style on the heels of a maiden special weight effort on March 10 at Tampa Bay Downs that saw him cross the wire third but disqualified to fourth for interference in the final turn of the one-mile-40-yard route. The effort came nearly eight months after a runner-up effort sprinting six furlongs on debut in July at Saratoga when three-quarter-lengths back of subsequent multiple stakes-winner Valentine Candy.
“We like the way he’s been training. He was very green in the Tampa race,” said Pletcher. “We’ve worked him with blinkers twice since then and it seemed to make a difference. I thought his last couple of works were quite good. It’s ambitious but he’s shown talent all along and we think he’ll appreciate the mile and an eighth.”
Pletcher said the recently added blinkers aided the son of Medaglia d’Oro in his latest work on Saturday at Palm Beach Downs when covering five furlongs in 1:01.35 in company with an unnamed Gun Runner colt out of Atala.
“It went well,” said Pletcher. “He was a length or so in front of that colt at the finish and galloped out well in front of him. It seemed like the blinkers kept him focused throughout.”
Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. will attempt a repeat Wood victory with Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds’ Kentucky homebred Merit after capturing last year’s edition with 59-1 long shot Lord Miles.
Joseph has had great success at Aqueduct in April, including in 2021 when winning the Carter (G1) with Mischievous Alex and the Bay Shore (G3) with Drain the Clock. His Wood Memorial history also includes a respective third and fourth with Skippylongstocking and A.P.’s Secret in 2022, and a fourth with Math Wizard in 2019.
Merit and Lord Miles have their differences, but Joseph said he has the same faith in Merit as he did Lord Miles.
“They’re two different horses. If anything, Merit has a little more speed and he’s more into the bridle where Lord Miles wouldn’t pick up the bridle,” Joseph said. “But both of them we believed that they have the ability and that’s why we want to give him a chance. We’ve had good success shipping up to Aqueduct in April and hopefully it continues.”
Merit was last seen finishing a pace-setting second in a nine-furlong optional claimer on March 1 at Gulfstream Park, where he was collared in the lane by the Shug McGaughey-trained Conquest Warrior and defeated by five lengths. He was a romping 10 1/4-length winner sprinting seven furlongs on debut in November at Gulfstream ahead of a prominent third traveling one-mile in February at the South Florida oval.
“His first time out, he won as good as he could win. He missed a little time and came back with a decent third where he made a big middle move and then he flattened out,” Joseph said. “Last time, I thought he was pretty good, but he ran into a Shug McGaughey horse that was good on the day. He’s a horse that continues to get a little better, so we’ll take a shot and see where he’s at.”
| Post | Silks | Horse / Sire | Rating | Trainer / Jockey | Last Start / Next Start | HRN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Resilience Into Mischief |
6.05 | Entered | |||
|
Last Race |
||||||
| 2 |
|
El Grande O Take Charge Indy |
6.21 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race |
||||||
| 3 |
|
Lonesome Boy Nationhood |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race |
||||||
| 4 |
|
Deterministic Liam’s Map |
6.62 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race |
||||||
| 5 |
|
Protective Medaglia d’Oro |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race |
||||||
| 6 |
|
Evening News Nyquist |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race |
||||||
| 7 |
|
Merit Mastery |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race |
||||||
| 8 |
|
Elysian Meadows City of Light |
4.12 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race |
||||||
| 9 |
|
Tuscan Sky Vino Rosso |
6.10 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race |
||||||
| 10 |
|
Gettysburg Address Constitution |
5.67 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race |
||||||
| 11 |
|
Society Man Good Magic |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race |
||||||
| 12 |
|
Deposition Constitution |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race |
||||||
| 13 |
|
Uncle Heavy Social Inclusion |
6.19 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race |
||||||
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