Carter-Wood-Illinois Derby pick 3

The New York Racing Association will be the hub on April 9 for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's Spring Pick 3, a wager that will consist of the Carter Handicap and Wood Memorial from Aqueduct and the Illinois Derby from Hawthorne Park.

All three races will be televised live on NBC during a two-hour telecast that also includes the Santa Anita Derby.

The Spring Pick 3 is in lieu of the Big 3 Pick 3, where fans had to select the winners of the Wood, Blue Grass, and Arkansas Derby. NYRA moved the Wood up a week, while the Blue Grass and Arkansas Derby, on April 16, remain three weeks out from the Kentucky Derby.

NYRA's senior vice president, Bill Nader, said Magna Entertainment Corp., owner of Santa Anita, declined an invitation to include the Santa Anita Derby as part of the Spring Pick 3.