OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Fusaichi Pegasus, in 2000, won the Wood Memorial and three weeks later came back to win the Kentucky Derby. Monarchos (2001) and Funny Cide (2003) came out of runner-up finishes in the Wood to also bring home the roses in Louisville. Since then, however, the Wood has produced 43 Kentucky Derby starters, not one able to cross the wire better than fourth, though Tacitus was elevated to third via the disqualification of Maximum Security in 2019.  If speed figures count for anything, Albus could be hard-pressed to end that trend. While Albus made the difficult jump from a maiden win to upset Saturday’s Grade 2 Wood Memorial – the last Wood to be run at Aqueduct – his final time of 1:51.71 was the fifth-slowest since 1953 when the race was first run at 1 1/8 miles. The 83 Beyer Speed Figure assigned Albus was the lowest for a Wood winner since Beyers were first published in 1990. The previous low was Bourbonic, who earned an 89 in 2019. Riley Mott, the 34-year-old trainer of Albus, is aware Albus needs to improve to be a factor in the Kentucky Derby, but he sees no reason to believe the horse can't do just that. “He hit the front and Jaime [Torres] said he sort of idled and was sort of waiting on horses a little bit,” Mott said Sunday morning. “I think there’s room to improve. He’ll certainly need to get faster without question, but you can only beat the horses you run against and hopefully he’s the type that will just continue to improve.” Albus, despite being a son of sprinter Yaupon, has improved with added distance. He won a mile and 40-yard maiden race Feb. 27 at Tampa Bay Downs, galloping out like a horse whowould appreciate more ground, which he did in the Wood. Mott also believes Albus showed some professionalism splitting horses in the stretch to get the victory by 1 1/4 lengths over late-running Right to Party in a 12-horse field. “Happy with how professional he was taking all the kickback and running into a lively pace weaving in and out of horses and such,” Mott said. “I imagine the figures and the numbers might not come back that strong, but I think from the eye-test perspective he did it pretty professionally, which gives me confidence, potentially running in a 20-horse field. You like a horse that can overcome some traffic and adversity.” Mott said Albus would ship from Belmont Park to Churchill Downs on Monday morning to continue preparations for the Derby. Albus is one of two horses – both owned by Pin Oak Stud – that Mott will bring to the Kentucky Derby. Incredibolt, winner of the Street Sense Stakes at Churchill last fall and the Virginia Derby last month is the other. Torres is the regular rider for both horses. Mott said Torres will likely get to choose and then Mott will hunt around for a jockey for the other one. “There’s a lot of good riders out there, that’s for sure,” Mott said. Wood runner-up Right to Party is a likely Derby starter. He does need to be nominated to the Triple Crown first, something that figures to happen by Monday’s second deadline for a fee of $6,000. Right to Party is owned by Chester Broman and trained by Kenny McPeek. On Saturday, McPeek said that Right to Party would need to run around two turns to show his best, and the Wood Memorial was his first chance to do that. He too will have to get faster to make an impact. Iron Honor, the Grade 3 Gotham winner, finished seventh as the favorite in the Wood Memorial. Trainer Chad Brown said Iron Honor took a hard bump from Red Zone Runner going into the first turn of the Wood and that messed up his whole race. “He certainly looks like he had a rough trip this morning,” Brown said. “He’s not lame, but he’s got some bumps and bruises all over him that’s for sure. We have some things to work on the next three days to see how we can heal these things.” Brown said early conversations with the ownership group, led by Vinnie Viola of St. Elias Stable, indicate Iron Honor may point to the Preakness over the Derby. But Brown said he may wait as long as two weeks to make a final decision. “After that rough of an experience, stepping him up into a harder race with 20 horses in four weeks, it doesn’t feel right, but I’m not going to make any decision about that until I see how the horse comes out,” Brown said. Brown added that a Kentucky Derby decision on Blue Grass runner-up Ottinho will come after further discussions with owner Goncalo Torrealba of Three Chimneys Farm. Brown will definitely have a Kentucky Derby starter in Emerging Market, whom he and jockey agent Brad Pegram confirmed Sunday will be ridden by Flavien Prat. Emerging Market is only 2 for 2, with his second victory having come in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on March 21. Always a Runner likely Oaks bound In Always a Runner, Brown will have a filly who is 2 for 2 headed to the Kentucky Oaks on May 1. Always a Runner punched her Oaks ticket with a 1 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Gazelle. Her final time of 1:50.97 was .74 of a second faster than that of Albus in the Wood and translated into an 89 Beyer Speed Figure. “She’s very talented and it keeps her on a schedule for me for the summer, and I don’t see an alternative race I’d rather go to that’s quote-unquote safer for her,” Brown said. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Always a Runner was coming into the Gazelle off a maiden win going a mile and 40 yards on Feb. 6 at Tampa. Always a Runner, whose start to her career was delayed by illness last fall, got sick again following her win at Tampa and had light preparation coming into the Gazelle. “I’d say she was 75 percent fit,” Brown said. Brown said he doesn’t see a risk running a lightly raced filly in the Oaks, which has a field of 14 and not 20 like the Kentucky Derby. Pashmina, the Gazelle runner-up, currently stands 14th on the points list with 63, a half-point ahead of Gazelle third-place finisher Paradise. Rob Atras, trainer of Pashmina, said he will discuss with owners Randy Gullatt and Steve Denison, who head Red White and Blue Racing, whether to point Pashmina to the Oaks or wait an additional two weeks for the Black-Eyed Susan on May 15 at Laurel Park. “Disappointed to get beat, but thrilled with her effort,” Atras said Sunday morning. “We thought she had it in her to run like that. We’ll see how the filly comes out. I don’t think you count out the Oaks, not sure that’s ideal, but we’ll keep both options open and see how things are progressing.” Paradise was beaten 10 lengths while finishing third in the Gazelle. She did win the Busher at a one-turn mile and might be better suited to a cutback in distance. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.