Wood Memorial Offers 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby Points To Top-Five Finishers

The nine-furlong Wood Memorial on Saturday, April 4 offers 100-50-25-15-10 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby and headlines a stacked card that includes the Grade 2, $300,000 Carter, the Grade 3, $200,000 Gazelle - a 100-50-25-15-10 qualifier for the Kentucky Oaks, the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff, the Listed $150,000 Excelsior and the Listed $150,000 Plenty of Grace to kick off turf stakes action for the year in New York.

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Express Kid possible for G2 Wood Memorial

March 8 - Express Kid (Paradise Equine Farm and Bradley and Sharon Kleven) may look to punch his ticket to the Kentucky Derby in the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 4, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

"That's one of our best options. We've been targeting that," trainer Justin Evans said. "I need to speak to the owners as they've also been talking about the Louisiana Derby, but I'd really like to bring him over there - that's a race I've always respected and as a kid growing up in the game, the Wood Memorial is huge. I think the race might fit us really well."

Express Kid made his first five career starts for owner Steve Haahr and trainer Wade Rarick, winning three times topped by a frontrunning score in the Listed Springboard Mile on December 20 around two turns at Remington Park where he bested multiple stakes-winning New York-bred Arctic Beast by 6 1/4-lengths.

Express Kid's Springboard Mile score was flattered when Arctic Beast returned to win the state-bred Damon Runyon here and third-place Royalamerican exited to post an allowance win ahead of a start in the Welder on Tuesday at Will Rogers Downs.

The Bodexpress colt was purchased for $800,000 from the Fasig-Tipton Digital Sale by Brad Kleven and transferred to Evans. The California-bred Express Kid, a $12,000 RNA at the Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearling Sale, was bought for $2,000 at the Arizona Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Fall Mixed Sale.

"He's a great-looking horse. He's very athletic looking," Evans said. "The connections that had him before did a fantastic job with him race-wise and the horse came to me in great flesh and looked amazing. He's a push-button horse and everything you go to do with him, he does really well and seems like he wants more."

Express Kid went to post as the even-money favorite in the Listed Sunland Derby on February 15 at Sunland Park and showed the way from the inside post in a field of six through splits of 23.07 seconds, 46.40 and 1:10.07 under pressure from Pavlovian. Express Kid and Pavlovian battled gamely the length of the lane with the latter putting a nose in front at the wire to stop the clock in a final time of 1:42.22 for 1 1/16-miles.

Evans said he was pleased by the performance from Express Kid, who earned a career-best 87 Beyer Speed Figure in the runner-up effort - a two-point improvement on the figure earned for his Springboard Mile score - despite missing training leading into the race.

"That was a heartbreaker the other day in the Sunland Derby," Evans said. "We were a little up against it as we had weather we never get out here - a snowstorm which you very rarely get in El Paso, but it hammered us and we were on the shelf and missed training for eight or nine days. That really hurt us and caused us to miss a work plus the day-to-day training we missed. To go through that and lose the Sunland Derby by a nose was heartbreaking."

Express Kid earned 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points in the Sunland Derby, matching the points he earned for winning the Springboard Mile. He currently sits 18th on the leaderboard with 20 points.

Express Kid worked back five-eighths in 1:00.34 on February 28 at Sunland Park.

"The horse bounced out of it really good and had a good work the other day," Evans said. "I plan on breezing him back on Tuesday and then talk to the owners to pin down our gameplan, but the Wood is one of our first choices."

Express Kid has worn blinkers in each of his six outings, including a debut win sprinting 4 1/2-furlongs in July at Canterbury Park, a runner-up effort in the Prairie Meadows Freshman in August and a turf allowance score in November at Remington Park where he stalked and pounced to a head score.

Evans noted that Express Kid worked without blinkers in his most recent breeze.

"We've talked about maybe taking the blinkers off," Evans said. "It's something we're looking at now that he's grown and matured a little bit. It might be time to take them off and see if it will open him up a little bit."

Express Kid is out of the winning Street Sense mare Sensationalize. His second dam is the Grade 2-placed multiple stakes-winner Stormy West, while his third dam is the multiple stakes-winner Storm Beauty.

Evans noted that Express Kid may be joined on the potential trip to the Empire State with the Klevens' New York-bred sophomore colt Black Volt, who ran a half-length second last out in the state-bred Bertram F. Bongard on September 20 here.

"I'd like to find a conditioned race for his comeback," Evans said. "He ran second as a 2-year-old in the New York-bred stake out there. He's just about ready to run."

Also possible for the trek is Leslie Amestoy, Pierre Jean Amestoy, Jr. and Roger Beasley's Stonehenge, who posted back-to-back allowance scores at Sunland last month.

"He's ran some huge times over here; he broke his non-two and non-three his last two races and he's just been crushing these horses out here and putting up some big numbers," Evans said of the 4-year-old Gormley colt.

Gotham Winner Iron Honor Eyeing Wood Memorial

March 1 - Iron Honor (St. Elias Stable, William H. Lawrence and Glassman Racing) improved to an unbeaten 2-for-2 when capturing Saturday's Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham, a one-turn mile for sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by five-time Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown, the Nyquist bay secured the maximum allotment of the 50-25-15-10-5 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby qualifying points on offer to the top-five finishers. With Manny Franco aboard, Iron Honor marked the opening quarter-mile in 23.09 seconds over the good and harrowed footing, before the dueling Ohio-bred Crown the Buckeye took narrow command and led through three-quarters in 1:11.45.

Crown the Buckeye dug in during the stretch run, but Iron Honor inched clear in the final furlong to win by one length in a final time of 1:37.94, earning a 90 Beyer Speed Figure in victory. Iron Honor entered from a local debut graduation sprinting six furlongs on December 13, which awarded him with a Gotham-best 95 Beyer.

"He came out of the race great. He ate up and looks good this morning," said Michele Dollase, assistant to Brown. "We're on to the next race. As of right now, he is good. He came out of the race really good."

Brown said post-race he will keep the colt at Belmont Park to prepare for a stretch-out in the nine-furlong Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial on April 4, a 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby qualifier, at Aqueduct.

"He came out of the race great. I think he does want to go farther. He only just got here on Wednesday from Florida," Dollase said. "He really only trained one day here, but still went and did his thing Saturday, which was really impressive."

Brown equipped Iron Honor with blinkers for his maiden win at Aqueduct and said the colt was a little body sore following that race when he arrived at his Payson Park Training Center base.

"This horse missed a little training when he shipped down to Florida. If you look there was a gap of about a month for the works. He didn't ship in completely healthy and then he came back good," said Brown. "I appreciate the owners for being patient. My team did a great job."

Brown has multiple horses with Kentucky Derby points to their name already, including Paladin, who tops the overall standings with 60 points, as well Iron Honor [50 points], Ottinho [6 points] and Schoolyardsuperman [4 points]. The conditioner seeks his first win in that event, his best results including seconds with Sierra Leone in 2024 and Good Magic in 2018, as well as a third with Zandon in 2022.

"We have some very promising horses, and anyone would love to be in this position but there's so much racing to go and so much time in-between with horses still growing and changing. We'll hope for the best and try to get as many there as we can," said Brown.

On Saturday over the Belmont Park dirt training track, the aforementioned Ottinho and Schoolyardsuperman worked a half-mile together in 49.90 seconds. Ottinho, a Kentucky homebred for Three Chimneys Farm, was third last out in the nine-furlong Listed Withers on February 6 here, followed by Schoolyardsuperman in fourth for Hit The Bid Racing Stable and CMNWLTH. Ottinho is previously reported to be under consideration for the Wood Memorial.

Also on the Gotham card, Klaravich Stables' Current Yield picked up 7.5 points towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks for a pacesetting fourth in the Listed $200,000 Busher, a one-turn mile for sophomore fillies. The Nyquist bay weakened after setting an opening half-mile in 46.75 seconds while pressured by Interstatelovesong, who finished third in the event won by Paradise.

"She came back fine. She's good. She ate up," Dollase updated Sunday morning.

Talk to Me Jimmy to be nominated to G2 Wood Memorial?

Feb 7 - SEI Thoroughbreds and trainer Rudy Rodriguez's Talk to Me Jimmy announced his presence in the sophomore dirt division and stepped onto the Kentucky Derby trail with an emphatic 11-length romp in Friday's Listed $200,000 Withers, a nine-furlong test for sophomores at Aqueduct Racetrack. The winning effort saw Talk to Me Jimmy secure the maximum allotment of the 20-10-6-4-2 qualifying points on offer towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby.

Ridden to victory by Ruben Silvera, the New York-bred son of Modernist became the first stakes-winner for his sire after dueling for early command with the favored Schoolyardsuperman, marking splits of 23.96 seconds, 48.18 and 1:12.47 over the fast footing. He kicked clear of Schoolyardsuperman entering the turn and brought his advantage to 6 1/2 lengths at the stretch call, furthering it in the lane to bound through the wire a much-the-best winner in a final time of 1:51.68. The effort garnered a career-best 83 Beyer Speed Figure.

The win came on the back of a 5 1/2-length maiden score going one-mile against fellow state-breds in November here when adding blinkers following a third on debut in September.

Rodriguez said he always believed that Talk to Me Jimmy would relish additional ground.

"He looked like he wanted to go the distance," Rodriguez said. "He's got a nice cruise control, and even in his gallops, he's nice and steady. We were lucky that we got to breeze him out of the gate for the race, and we put another good half-mile into him after that.

"We were thinking to put the blinkers on right from the get-go, but the first time, I just said to leave it alone," Rodriguez added. "Thank God, we did add them, because it looks like he gets himself together with them. Ruben breezed him the other day and said he gets a little lazy without them."

Rodriguez noted after the race that Talk to Me Jimmy grabbed a quarter on his front right at some point in the race, and said on Saturday morning that the colt was in good order.

"Thank God, everything looks good," Rodriguez said. "I'm not too sure where in the race he grabbed himself, maybe a little past the half-mile pole. The little cut on his foot isn't too bad, but we'll just make sure with the vet. He's comfortable this morning and we're very happy with the way he ran."

Rodriguez noted there are several options for Talk to Me Jimmy going forward this winter and spring. He expects to nominate the colt to at least four upcoming stakes, including local options in the one-turn mile Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham [a 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifier] on February 28 and the nine-furlong Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino [a 100-50-25-15-10 qualifier] on April 4. At Laurel Park, Talk to Me Jimmy is likely to be nominated to the one-mile Miracle Wood on February 21 and the 1 1/16-mile Private Terms on March 21.

"Let's see what the owners want to do," Rodriguez said, noting the Wood Memorial is a logical spot. "They said to nominate him for the Gotham and the couple of races at Laurel, too."

Bred in the Empire State by Majestic View Farms Intl., Talk to Me Jimmy is out of the 10-time winning Trippi mare Prairie Trip, whose half-sister Russian River produced turf Grade 2-winner Marckie's Water. Talk to Me Jimmy was purchased by Rodriguez for $31,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

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