Wood Memorial: For once, Pletcher barn is underdog

Trainer Todd Pletcher will be seeking his fourth Wood Memorial victory in the last five years Saturday at Aqueduct, but for the first time in that span, he will not be running the favorite in the Grade 1 race.

“I’m going to go in totally relaxed this year,” Pletcher joked Sunday at Palm Meadows.

In the $1 million Wood, Pletcher will start Harpoon, a son of Tapit who has won just once in six career starts. Harpoon is owned by Let’s Go Stable, the same outfit that owned Verrazano, who won last year’s Wood as the 4-5 favorite.

Harpoon was beaten by a nose by stablemate Vinceremos in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 1 before finishing fifth behind Samraat in the Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct on March 1.

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

“He’s been a little bit of a frustrating horse,” Pletcher said. “We feel like there’s more talent there than we’ve been able to get out of him. He’s been a little bit of a slow horse to put everything together. He’s a little intimidated by kickback. He doesn’t like to be inside, so he’s been a little bit of a tricky horse to ride. We feel like he never picked his feet up in the Gotham, and he was only beaten five lengths.”

Harpoon, who will be ridden by John Velazquez, likely will be in the 10-1 range Saturday. In the last four years, Pletcher’s horses went off as the prohibitive favorite in the Wood. In 2010, Eskendereya won at 1-2; in 2011, Uncle Mo ran third at 1-9; and in 2012, Gemologist won at 6-5.

“You always want to go in 3-5,” Pletcher said. “All of the ones that we brought were high-pressure situations. We were fully expected to win, and we expected them to win. This one will be a little different.”

On Sunday, Harpoon worked four furlongs in 47.57 seconds in company with the Gazelle-bound filly My Miss Sophia. Harpoon began the move a length or so behind and finished a half-length behind the filly, who was very competitive in the move.

Pletcher also had considered running Danza in the Wood but said Monday that horse would run in either the Arkansas Derby or Blue Grass Stakes, which both take place April 12.

Entries were to be taken and post positions drawn Wednesday for the Wood Memorial, a race that has not produced a top-three Kentucky Derby finisher since Funny Cide and Empire Maker ran 1-2 in the 2003 Kentucky Derby, flipping their Wood Memorial finish. Those on the fence who committed to the race Monday were Schivarelli and Noble Moon.

Schivarelli, a son of Montbrook, is 2 for 2, including a 12-length allowance win in a two-turn, one-mile race over the inner track Feb. 21. He will be ridden by Javier Castellano, trainer Eddie Kenneally confirmed.

One horse who had been expected to run but won’t is Tonalist, who was second to Constitution – Saturday’s Florida Derby winner – in a February allowance race. Trainer Christophe Clement said Tonalist did not work as well as he expected last week and might have a lung infection.

The Wood field, with riders, is expected to be: Effinex (Rosario Montanez), Harpoon (Velazquez), Kristo (Martin Garcia), Los Borrachos (Cornelio Velasquez), Noble Moon (Irad Ortiz Jr.), Samraat (Jose Ortiz), Schivarelli (Castellano), Social Inclusion (Luis Contreras), Uncle Sigh (Corey Nakatani), and Wicked Strong (Rajiv Maragh).

Though 24-hour surveillance was scheduled to start on all Wood starters at noon Wednesday, not all of the horses will be on the grounds by that time. Samraat and Harpoon arrive on a flight from south Florida that doesn’t land in New York until 6 p.m.

The stewards have the discretion to allow horses in after the deadline, and New York Racing Association steward Braulio Baeza Jr. said Monday that there won’t be a problem with those two horses arriving late.