Wood Memorial

As a blogger for Horse Racing Nation I feel an obligation to come up with new and interesting ways to look at racing. In preparation for the 2013 Derby I did my research and wrote a couple of articles that ended up being on the mark.Read More

Can Vyjack rebound from a third place finish in the Wood Memorial, to shock the racing world in Louisville?Read More

It's quite conceivable that Eagles band members, Glenn Frey and Don Henley, could have easily written about the Kentucky Derby as opposed to relationships, when the songwriting duo penned the line "Who can go the distance, we'll find out," in their song titled, "The Long Run." The question is posed ...Read More

Post Wood Memorial, stories have been written that are claiming Verrazano was finally tested. We put that very claim to the test by comparing how the Wood Memorial was run versus other routes on the Aqueduct card that day...the results were quite revealing.Read More

While Orb, Itsmyluckday, and Shanghai Bobby prepare for a Saturday showdown in the Florida Derby, see where the big three stand in Zipse's latest Kentucky Derby rankings...Read More

Vyjack, whose four-race winning streak at the Big A ended with his third-place finish in the Wood, returned from his efforts in good order save for some mucous detected in a post-race examination, said trainer Rudy Rodriguez.Read More

Verrazano will seek to do for trainer Todd Pletcher what Gemologist could not do in last year's Kentucky Derby.Read More

Trainer Chad Brown saw a lot to like in Normandy Invasion’s fast-closing second to Verrazano in the Wood. For the first time in his four-race career, Normandy Invasion started from an inside post position, and he responded well to a little bumping and racing in close quarters before angling outside ...Read More

The Wood Memorial was billed as the battle of “V” versus “V”, Verrazano against Vyjack, and that is exactly how it played out. Verrazano got the “V” for Victory in the battle down the stretch against Vyjack and a late-running Normandy Invasion.Read More

Undefeated Verrazano was a happy and hungry horse the morning after his gritty victory in the Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial, and is scheduled to depart next Sunday for Churchill Downs as the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby. Read More

The field is set for Saturday’s 89th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Racetrack, and in the spirit of fun, we bring you some facts about the 10 starters you might not find in their past performances. Read More

The 2013 Wood Memorial sets up as a battle between Vyjack and Verrazano. That makes the race a clash of “V” versus “V” and thus it is very easy to think of the historic slogan of "V for Victory".Read More

The Wood Memorial, this week's stop on the 2013 Kentucky Derby trail, is V for Verrazano - or will it be V for Vyjack? Read More

Trained Todd Pletcher, who will saddle favored Verrazano in Saturday’s Wood Memorial, gently debunked a “Derby Jinx” that could follow his currently undefeated colt to Churchill Downs, namely, that no horse who was unraced at age two has won the Derby since Apollo in 1882.Read More

Heading into Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial, trainer Chad Brown would just like to see Normandy Invasion catch a little good fortune. Read More

HRN's Jarrod Horak and Ryan Patterson talk the dueling V's - Vyjack and Verrazano, plus a few live longshots in this week's Video preview!Read More

On Saturday the two (2) Derby preps feature M/L favorites from the barn of two high profile trainers. Todd Pletcher sends out prohibitive Verrazano in the Wood Memorial while Bob Baftert saddles Flashback (9-5), as well as Power Broker and Super Ninety Nine. But will someone else steal the show? Read More