Battalion Runner confirmed for Wood Memorial

After being considered for races in California, Florida and Arkansas, Battalion Runner will instead make his next start in New York with hopes of making it to the Kentucky Derby on May 6.

On Sunday, trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed that Battalion Runner will make his stakes debut in Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. With the decision to run Battalion Runner in the Wood, One Liner will go to the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on April 15.

The Wood makes a lot of sense for Battalion Runner on several levels. The Wood is coming up as the lightest prep for the Kentucky Derby in terms of quantity and quality, and Battalion Runner likely needs a first- or second-place finish to qualify for the Kentucky Derby. The Wood offers 170 qualifying points (100-40-20-10) to its top four finishers toward the Kentucky Derby.

As of Sunday, the prospective Wood field consisted of Battalion Runner (John Velazquez to ride), Bonus Points (Luis Saez), Cloud Computing (Irad Ortiz Jr), Irish War Cry (Rajiv Maragh), Mo Town (Javier Castellano), True Timber (Paco Lopez) and Stretch’s Stone (Manny Franco). Glennrichment will enter but his connections are not committed to running. Of that group, only Mo Town (Grade 2 Nashua) and Irish War Cry (Grade 2 Holy Bull) have won a stakes race.

Battalion Runner has the pedigree to be successful in the Wood. He is by Unbridled’s Song, who won the Wood in 1996. Tapit, the sire of Battalion Runner’s dam Tamboz, won the Wood in 2004.

Pletcher himself has won the Wood Memorial four times, all since 2010, including last year with Outwork.

After finishing second in his debut at Belmont last spring, Battalion Runner went to the sidelines with what Pletcher described as “typical baby stuff.” He returned to win a seven-furlong maiden race by 8 3/4 lengths Dec. 31. He made a successful two-turn debut, winning a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 3.

On Sunday, at Palm Beach Downs, Battalion Runner worked a relatively easy half-mile in 49.23 seconds under John Velazquez, who will ride the horse in the Wood.

“Pretty much what I expected for him going a half by himself; I generally breeze him in company,” Pletcher said. “He seemed nice and relaxed and moving well.”

Battalion Runner was scheduled to ship to New York on Tuesday.

Several other Wood contenders put in workouts Sunday in various locales. At the Fair Hill training center in Maryland, Irish War Cry worked six furlongs in 1:13.40 over the main track. According to trainer Graham Motion, Irish War Cry worked in company with the 5-year-old gelding Spring Quality.

“I wanted this horse to have a good work,” Motion said.

Irish War Cry, a New Jersey-bred son of Curlin, won his first three starts including the Grade 2 Holy Bull at Gulfstream, where he defeated Gunnevera and Classic Empire, last year’s 2-year-old male champion. Irish War Cry then finished last in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth as the even-money favorite.

Motion said he has made a slight equipment change, equipping Irish War Cry with a figure-8 noseband.

Cloud Computing, the runner-up in the Grade 3 Gotham, worked a half-mile in 49.09 seconds over the Belmont Park training track. Cloud Computing, a son of Maclean’s Music, won his debut going six furlongs at Aqueduct on Feb. 11 and then finished a solid second behind El Areeb in the Gotham on March 4.

“He’s a lightly raced horse, he’s shown a lot of ability in his only two starts, we always thought a lot of him,” trainer Chad Brown said.

“He’s an exciting horse. Hopefully, he can overcome his lack of experience and seasoning.”

Also working at Belmont Sunday was Stretch’s Stone, a Bruce Levine-trained New York-bred, who went a half-mile in 47.89 seconds, and Bonus Points, a longshot from the Pletcher barn, who went a half-mile in 48.33 seconds.

Entries will close and post positions will be drawn for the Wood on Wednesday.