Aqueduct: Wicked Strong looks to wake up in Wood
When last seen in New York, Wicked Strong was finishing a respectable third in the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct, setting him up for a potential trip down the Triple Crown trail.
But Gulfstream Park didn’t agree with Wicked Strong, who finished ninth in the Holy Bull Stakes and fourth in an allowance race, albeit beaten by Constitution, who won last Saturday’s Florida Derby.
Wicked Strong is back in New York and back at Aqueduct, where he will run in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial.
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
“Sometimes coming back from Florida perks them up,” trainer Jimmy Jerkens said Thursday at Belmont. “He’s still pretty fresh, and he was training really well before he came back here.”
In the Remsen, Wicked Strong closed despite a pedestrian pace, finishing third behind Honor Code and Cairo Prince.
On Saturday, the pace should be much faster, potentially setting things up for Wicked Strong’s late kick.
“That’s the plan,” Jerkens said. “If we’re lucky enough to get a good trip, and if the pace gets crazy, you might have a shot.”
Wood not necessarily good
As far as a prep for the Kentucky Derby goes, the Wood Memorial has been a bust for the last decade.
In the last 10 years, the Wood has produced 22 starters for the Kentucky Derby without a top-three finish. During that time, only three horses – Jazil (2006), Tale of Ekati (2008), and Normandy Invasion (2013) came out of the Wood to finish fourth in the Derby.
These things are cyclical, however. From 2000-03, the Wood produced Kentucky Derby winners Fusaichi Pegasus, Monarchos, and Funny Cide. Overall, the Wood has produced 20 Kentucky Derby winners, including 11 horses who won both races.
Wing leaving NYRA
After one year, Eric Wing is leaving the New York Racing Association as its director of communications and media relations. Wing will leave his post at the conclusion of the Aqueduct meeting, April 27.
Wing, who is leaving on his own volition, said he was “not happy” in his current position and did not have another job lined up.
“I love NYRA, still do, loved it since I was a kid,” said Wing, who had worked as the director of media relations at the NTRA since 1999.