Grade
3 Gotham winner Awesome Act,
Grade 2 Fountain of Youth winner Eskendereya and the runners-up from
both races form a talented core of Triple Crown hopefuls likely for the 86th
running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Racetrack on Saturday,
April 3.
Nominations
close this Saturday for the 1 1/8th mile Wood, the final major New
York stepping stone to the
Triple Crown. In all, 20 Kentucky Derby winners have prepped in the Wood, most
recently Funny Cide, who finished second in 2003 and went on to win the Derby
and the Preakness. Empire Maker, who won the Wood that year, then took the
final leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes.
The
Wood Memorial (race 9; 5:12 p.m.), New York’s first Grade 1 of the year, will
be the third leg of a guaranteed $500,000 all-stakes Pick 4 that will begin in
race 7 with the 50th running of the Bay Shore for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs
(4:09 p.m.); continue to race 8 with the 98th running of the Excelsior Breeders’
Cup (4:42 p.m.); the featured Wood Memorial and the 110th running of the Grade
1 Carter Handicap for three-year-olds and up at seven furlongs (10th
race, 5:48 p.m.).
The
11-race card, which will conclude at 6:20 p.m., begins with a first-race post
time of 1 p.m.
NBC
will televise the Wood Memorial live from 5-6 p.m. Eastern.
English
import Awesome Act made the trip across the pond a worthwhile one, rallying
through the stretch to post an impressive 1 1/4-length victory over Yawanna
Twist in the March 6 Gotham here at Aqueduct, his first start on dirt. The 1
1/16th mile race also was his first start of the year and first
since finishing a fast-closing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf last
November.
The
3-year-old son of Awesome Again has been bedded down at Belmont
Park
under the care of trainer Jeremy Noseda’s assistants, Wayne Tanner and George
Windsor.
“I’ve
brought many horses here over the years from England,
and he’s settled in the best of any of them,” said Tanner. “He’s doing
wonderfully.”
Owned
by Mrs. Susan Roy, Awesome Act, who resumed galloping earlier this week, is
scheduled to have an easy four-furlong breeze on Saturday and a more serious
move either Wednesday or Thursday of next week.
“Jeremy
is coming over to watch the work, so it will depend on what flight he gets,”
said Tanner.
Yawanna
Twist, a New York-bred son of Yonaguska, was making his third career start
in the Gotham
and first against open company.
Eskendereya,
a Giant’s Causeway colt owned by Zayat Stables, turned in one of the more
impressive performances of the year by a 3-year-old in the Fountain of Youth,
taking charge on the turn before drawing away to an eye-catching 8 ½-length
victory over Jackson Bend on February 20 at Gulfstream
Park.
Originally
slated for Saturday’s Florida Derby, Eskendereya’s connections instead opted
for the Wood.
“The
biggest factor in the decision was the spacing,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “We
felt off such a big effort in the Fountain of Youth, six weeks to his next prep
made more sense, followed by four weeks to the Kentucky Derby.”
Pletcher
said Eskendereya, winner of the Pilgrim last year at Belmont
Park,
would have two more works at Palm Meadows before being shipped to his Belmont
barn on March 31.
Jackson
Bend has finished second in both 2010 starts for his new connections, Hall
of Fame trainer Nick Zito and owner Robert V. LaPenta. The Hear No Evil colt
was runner-up to Winslow Homer in the Holy Bull on January 23 before digging in
to hold second in the Fountain of Youth.
Jackson
Bend, who will get a new jockey in Calvin Borel for the Wood, breezed six
furlongs in 1:14.00 at Palm Meadows Thursday morning.
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