Bonus may again boost Wood Memorial purse to $1 million

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - For the second consecutive year the New York Racing Association will offer a bonus that could boost the purse of the Grade 2 Wood Memorial to $1 million from $750,000.

The purse would increase to $1 million if a Grade 1 winner starts in the 1 1/8-mile Wood. If so, the winner's share of the purse will be $535,000. If the purse stays at $750,000, the winner’s share of the purse will be $400,000, according to NYRA officials. The Wood, which last produced a Kentucky Derby winner in 2003, will be run on April 6 and will offer 170 qualifying points to the May 4 Kentucky Derby.

The Wood's purse was $750,000 from 2000-10. It was boosted to $1 million in 2011. The Wood was downgraded to a Grade 2 beginning with the 2017 running, and the purse was cut to $750,000. In 2018, NYRA offered a $250,000 bonus if a Grade 1 winner started in the race and Firenze Fire, who won the Grade 1 Champagne in 2017, ran in the Wood, boosting the pot to $1 million. Vino Rosso won the Wood.

This year, the Grade 1 Hopeful winner Mind Control is based in New York and the Wood Memorial would seem like a logical target provided he makes it that far down the Triple Crown trail. Mind Control is entered in Tuesday's $150,000 Jerome Stakes.