OZONE PARK, N.Y. – By virtue of his victory in the Gotham Stakes four weeks ago, Weyburn earned enough qualifying points to secure his spot in the Kentucky Derby on May 1. His connections, however, do not necessarily have a case of Derby fever. “We really weren’t wanting to go that way unless he runs incredible in the Wood Memorial and then some of the others look like they’re not going up to it the right way,” said Weyburn’s trainer, Jimmy Jerkens, who has an eye toward the Belmont Stakes. “We’re looking a little past there, to be honest with you. We didn’t want to stay out of the Wood Memorial because it’s right here, it’s a month later, it’s around two turns, get him some experience. We were pretty sure we wanted to do that instead of waiting for something else like the Peter Pan. But we haven’t really looked to the Derby with a whole lot of seriousness, to be honest with you. But that could change.” :: Bet horse racing on DRF Bets. Double Your First Deposit Up to $250. Join Now. Rob Landry, racing manager for Chiefswood Stable, the owners of Weyburn, said he wants to see how Weyburn fares in the Wood before committing one way or the other to the Derby. “We want to do what’s best for the horse,” Landry said. “If he runs a big race and it looks like he’d be competitive, we’d be stupid not to give it a go.” Weyburn, who was a late nominee to the Triple Crown, will get his chance to plot his own course when he takes on eight 3-year-olds in Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. The Wood, which was not run in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, offers its top four finishers qualifying points to the Derby on a 100-40-20-10 scale. Weyburn, who earned 50 Derby points winning the Gotham, won his maiden on the undercard of the Dec. 5 Remsen in his third career start, but has been playing catch-up most of this year. Any thoughts of running in the Jerome on New Year’s Day were eliminated when the colt got sick. He was entered in the Jimmy Winkfield Stakes on Jan. 31, but was scratched due to a foot abscess. Weyburn only wound up in the Gotham when a first-level allowance race scheduled for the same March 6 card failed to fill. Weyburn, a 46-1 longshot, showed true grit in the Gotham. After being passed by Crowded Trade in midstretch, he came back on under Trevor McCarthy after switching late to his correct lead to pull out a nose victory. Jerkens, who had Javier Castellano for the allowance race, picked up McCarthy at the Gotham draw. “I thought Trevor would fit him because he’s long and lanky like [Weyburn] is,” Jerkens said. “He knew he was stubborn to change his leads. He’s strong with the left hand and got him over and got the nod.” Weyburn has worked three times since the Gotham, including a three-furlong blowout in 36.20 seconds on Wednesday. Recently, running in the Wood has not been a harbinger of Derby success. Since Funny Cide came out of a second-place finish in the Wood to win the roses in 2003, the best Derby finish from 35 Wood participants has been a third by Tacitus in 2019. Tacitus actually finished fourth but was elevated to third with the disqualification of Maximum Security from first. Four other Wood runners since 2003 have finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby, including 2014 winner Wicked Strong, also trained by Jerkens. Wicked Strong dead-heated for fourth in the Belmont, won the Jim Dandy, and was beaten a nose by the Jerkens-trained V. E. Day in the Travers. Weyburn was one of four graded stakes winners entered in the Wood. The others are Risk Taking, who won the Grade 3 Withers on Feb. 6 for Chad Brown; Brooklyn Strong, who has not run since winning the Grade 2 Remsen on Dec. 5; and Candy Man Rocket, who won the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa in February but was 11th in the Tampa Bay Derby four weeks ago. Gotham runner-up Crowded Trade, also trained by Brown, is back for the Wood. The potential favorite could be Prevalence, who won a seven-furlong maiden race in spectacular fashion on Jan. 23 at Gulfstream and won a first-level allowance going a mile on March 11. Brendan Walsh trains the son of Medaglia d’Oro for Godolphin Racing. Trainer Todd Pletcher, a five-time Wood winner, entered Dynamic One and Bourbonic. Market Maven, a two-time winner at Parx Racing for trainer Penny Pearce, completes the field. Capo Kane, the Jerome winner, was not entered in the Wood after injuring an ankle in a gallop Tuesday at Parx, according to trainer Harold Wyner. Capo Kane will be out until the fall. The Wood tops an 11-race program with four other stakes, including the Grade 1 Carter Handicap. First post is 12:50 p.m.