Bellamy Road favored in eight-horse Wood

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Bellamy Road, one of five Kentucky Derby hopefuls trained by Nick Zito, drew post 3 in a field of eight and was installed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite for Saturday's Grade 1, $750,000 at Aqueduct.

Bellamy Road, owned by New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, won the Grade 3 Cradle Stakes at 2 when trained by Michael Dickinson. In his lone start at 3, Bellamy Road won a second-level allowance race by 15 3/4 lengths at Gulfstream Park, his first start for Zito.

Bellamy Road, who will be ridden by Javier Castellano, will face Sham Stakes winner Going Wild, who drew post 5 and was made the 5-2 second choice by NYRA oddsmaker Eric Donovan. Victor Espinoza rides Going Wild for trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

The top five finishers from last month's Gotham Stakes - Survivalist, Galloping Grocer, Naughty New Yorker, Pavo and Byanosejoe - were entered as was Scrappy T, winner of the Count Fleet Stakes in January.

Naughty New Yorker will run on Lasix for the first time after bleeding in the Gotham, trainer Pat Kelly said.

Jerry Bailey replaces Alan Garcia on Pavo while Rafael Bejarano rides Scrappy T, who also had been ridden by Garcia.

The Wood is the second leg of the NTRA's , which includes the Carter Handicap and the Illinois Derby.