Irad Ortiz likely to ride Mo Donegal in Derby, Pletcher says
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Though Joel Rosario rode Mo Donegal to victory in Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, trainer Todd Pletcher anticipates having Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard the horse in the May 7 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, the trainer said Sunday.
Rosario is the regular rider of Epicenter, whom he rode to victories in the Louisiana Derby and Risen Star this winter and who is the presumptive favorite for the 148th Kentucky Derby. Ortiz, who rode Mo Donegal to a victory in last December’s Grade 2 Remsen and a third in the Grade 3 Holy Bull in January, had commitments at Keeneland on Saturday so he could not ride Mo Donegal in the Wood.
“Irad knows the horse really well, he actually breezed him in his final prep for the Wood,” Pletcher said Sunday morning from the Palm Beach Downs training center in Florida. “I anticipate Joel is going to stay with Epicenter and we’ll have Irad. That would be the way I think it’s going to develop.”
On Saturday, under Rosario, Mo Donegal rallied stoutly in the stretch to catch the pacesetting Early Voting in the final strides to win the Wood by a neck. His final time of 1:47.96 was the fastest Wood since Bellamy Road ran the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.16 in 2005. Mo Donegal, who earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure, gave trainer Todd Pletcher his seventh victory in the Wood, tying him with the legendary Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons for most victories in that race.
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“Great performance, he got a good seam at the top of the stretch and was able to save ground and put in an impressive last quarter,” Pletcher said. “He was able to run down a nice horse that was loose on the lead.”
Of Pletcher’s previous six Wood winners, five ran in the Kentucky Derby with Vino Rosso’s ninth-place finish in 2018 being the best placing. Eskendereya, Pletcher’s 2010 Wood winner, did not make the race.
Over the last two decades, the Wood Memorial has not been a harbinger of success in the Kentucky Derby. Funny Cide, second in the 2003 Wood, is the last horse to come out of this race and win the roses. Since then, 39 horses have come out of the Wood to race in the Derby and none crossed the finish line better than fourth. In 2019, Tacitus finished fourth, but was elevated to third when Maximum Security was disqualified from first for interference.
Mo Donegal missed the Fountain of Youth on March 5 due to a temperature. He likely would have scratched out of the race due to an outside post draw. Pletcher said Mo Donegal missed a week of training due to the fever.
“Once he was able to get over the virus and started back breezing, in particular his last couple of breezes, were quite good,” Pletcher said.
Pletcher said Mo Donegal would leave New York next Sunday and head to Churchill Downs and join others pointing to races at Churchill Downs the first week of May. That includes Charge It, the Florida Derby runner-up, who will be considered for the Kentucky Derby as long as he trains satisfactorily, and Pioneer of Medina, third in the Louisiana Derby, who will run if he makes it into the field on points. Currently, Pioneer of Medina has 25 points, which ranks him 22nd on the points list. Emmanuel, third in the Blue Grass, will not be considered for the Derby, Pletcher said.
Meanwhile, trainer Chad Brown said he would wait at least a week before making a decision regarding Early Voting’s starting status in the Kentucky Derby. Early Voting, who won the Withers earlier this year, has 50 points, enough to get into the field. It’s just a matter of whether he and owner Seth Klarman want to run or wait for the Preakness.
In 2017, Brown and Klarman skipped the Derby with Wood third-place finisher Cloud Computing, who won the Preakness. However, Brown and Klarman had Practical Joke to run in the Derby. Some of the early speed types once considered for the Derby such as Classic Causeway and Forbidden Kingdom are off the Derby trail and that could make starting the speedy Early Voting more attractive.
“I don’t really need to make a decision, the horse has points and as we’ve seen the field can change a lot between now and entry day,” Brown said. “This horse ran super for only his third start. He got beat by one of the main contenders for the Derby, that’s a really nice horse that won the race. It proves it was a legitimate Derby prep so it needs to be considered.”
Brown also has Blue Grass winner Zandon for the Derby, but that horse is owned by Jeff Drown.
Skippylongstocking and A.P.’s Secret, third and fourth in the Wood, left New York by van Sunday morning headed to South Florida. Saffie Joseph Jr., trainer of both horses, said if Skippylongstocking, who has 20 points, were to get into the field, he would ship him along with his Florida Derby winner White Abarrio to Louisville. Otherwise, Skippylongstocking will be pointed to the Belmont Stakes, as well as A.P.’s Secret.
Morello, who finished sixth in the Wood after breaking poorly, was to van to Churchill Downs on Monday and trainer Steve Asmussen said he wants to see how the horse trains before making any final decision regarding the Derby. Morello hit the side of the stall doors leaving the starting gate in the Wood, suffered a cut on a hind leg and threw a shoe in the race. His victory in the Grade 3 Gotham earned him 50 points, enough to get into the Derby field.
“We did not get any questions answered yesterday, I think the next step is to train him at Churchill and go from there,” Asmussen said Sunday.