Kentucky Derby 2025: Captain Cook on his toes getting ready for Wood Memorial

While trainer Rick Dutrow is happy to have two months between starts for his blossoming 3-year-old Captain Cook, the horse apparently seems ready to get back to action sooner than later.

Captain Cook on Tuesday worked a half-mile in 50.09 seconds over the Belmont Park training track, his fourth workout since he won the Withers Stakes by 2 1/4 lengths on Feb. 1.

“He is on it, he is ready. We wish the race was tomorrow,” Dutrow said, referring to the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial, scheduled for April 5. “But it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be difficult to keep him where he’s at. He’s an extremely manageable horse. He does not want to stick his chest out there and say, ‘Hey man, I need to do more.’ He just does whatever we ask him to do.”

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Dutrow is asking Captain Cook to wait about three more weeks before he runs again in the Wood. He likely has time to get three more workouts in should Dutrow choose to do that.

“We don’t need any more time to get him ready. He’s ready, we just need to hope he stays the way he is right now,” Dutrow said.

Meanwhile, Surfside Moon, runner-up to Captain Cook in the Withers, is now questionable to make the Wood, according to trainer Chucky Lawrence.

Surfside Moon developed a temperature the week after the Wood and was given ample time to bounce back, Lawrence wrote in a text. He plans to give the horse a workout early next week.

“We will see where we sit,” Lawrence said. “Not under any pressure to make the Wood.”

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