Top Wood finishers have final NY works for Derby

ELMONT, N.Y. – Wicked Strong, Samraat, and Uncle Sigh – the first, second, and fifth finishers in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial – all put in their last major workouts Friday in New York for the $2 million Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs.

At Belmont, Wicked Strong worked seven furlongs in 1:27.11 over the training track, breaking off from the half-mile pole and working three furlongs past the wire under exercise rider Kelvin Pahal.

Wicked Strong went from the half-mile pole to the wire in 49.45 seconds, then picked it up past the wire, going the next three furlongs in 37.66 seconds. He galloped out a mile in 1:40.72.

“I liked the way he worked,” trainer Jimmy Jerkens said. “A lot of things have got to work out – he’s got to handle the crowd, he’s got to handle the track, he’s got to handle all the other stuff that goes with it – but at least he’s going there in a good frame of mind and in good condition. It’d be one thing if he worked lackluster and was leaving his oats and still had to go there to run. Your confidence goes down a lot. As far as how he’s doing, I couldn’t be happier.”

About 15 minutes earlier, Uncle Sigh, with Nick Santagata up, worked five furlongs in 1:00.18 over the training track. He actually had a good run-up leaving the six-furlong pole to the five-furlong pole in 14.25 before getting into the actual work.

Uncle Sigh, equipped with blinkers that he will wear in a race for the first time in the Derby, went from the quarter pole to the wire in 24.14 seconds and galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.47.

“It was a very strong work. His last quarter-mile was effortless, and that’s exactly what I was looking for,” trainer Gary Contessa said. “He came back like he can’t even blow out a match.”

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]

About two hours earlier, at Aqueduct, Samraat worked an easy mile in 1:45.91 over the main track. Samraat, under exercise rider Rodney Paine, broke off from the seven-furlong pole and went his first half-mile in 54.62 seconds and his second half-mile in 51.29, while galloping out 1 1/8 miles in 1:58.72 and pulling up 1 1/4 miles in 2:14.14.

Trainer Rick Violette said 1:45 “was the objective – let him squeeze him a little bit at the end without breaking any watches and just to kind of get it done. If he had gone in 1:47, or even a little slower, that wouldn’t have mattered. I really didn’t want him to go too fast. He’s fit, he runs well off of this, so we just kind of needed to do it. Time was only important if we had gone too fast, and I didn’t want that.”

At Fair Hill, Tampa Bay Derby winner Ring Weekend worked six furlongs in 1:12.80 over the dirt. Afterward, trainer Graham Motion said the horse would run in the Derby, with Alan Garcia, and will van Monday to Kentucky.

Uncle Sigh and Wicked Strong were scheduled to van Saturday from Belmont to Kentucky, with Uncle Sigh leaving at 5 a.m. and Wicked Strong expected to leave at 2 p.m.

Samraat will be flown Monday from New York to Kentucky.