Francesa: High Oak will not be ready for Wood Memorial

After getting caught up in a spill early this month in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes, High Oak has been ruled out of a final push to make the Kentucky Derby.

Sports-talk pioneer Mike Francesa, one of the owners of the 3-year-old, said the Gormley colt trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott will target the Preakness Stakes instead.

“High Oak isn’t going to make the Wood,” Francesa said in a text message Thursday to Horse Racing Nation. “Bill lost too much time with the fall in the (Fountain of Youth). He will prep and shoot for the Preakness.”

Francesa and his friend and partner Lee Einsidler had hoped High Oak could have used the Fountain of Youth as a springboard for the April 2 running of the Wood Memorial (G2), a 100-40-20-10 points prep from which the winner qualifies for the Derby and the runner-up almost certainly joins him.

Click here for Aqueduct entries and results.

Instead, High Oak fell onto the Gulfstream Park track in a spill that stewards blamed on an outward move by jockey Paco López aboard eventual runner-up In Due Time. Although the colt was not hurt badly, his jockey Júnior Alvarado suffered an ankle injury that sidelined him for 10 days. López was handed a two-week suspension.

Bought as a yearling for $70,000, High Oak was a debut winner last June at Belmont Park. He followed that with a 4 1/4-length victory at 10-1 odds last August in the Saratoga Special (G2). Barely three weeks later he finished a distant fourth in the seven-furlong Hopeful (G1), also at Saratoga.

High Oak came off a six-month break to race in the Fountain of Youth.