Ky. Derby prep: Wood Memorial is short on speed
Saturday's Grade 2, 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial at Aqueduct marks the last stop on the 2025 Kentucky Derby trail in New York. The Wood Memorial has a deep history, and celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. 20 Kentucky Derby winners have used the urban oval as a pathway to glory since 1930. Six Triple Crown winners ran in the Wood, with Secretariat most famously finishing in third place before his record-breaking run in 1973.
Since 2000, three Kentucky Derby winners have come out of the Wood Memorial: Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000, Monarchos in 2001 and Funny Cide in 2003. In 2022, Mo Donegal won the Wood en route to a victory in the Belmont Stakes.
This year's race drew a field of 12. The only stakes winner is Captain Cook, who won the Witheres for trainer Rick Dutrow. Bob Baffert ships in Rodriguez, last seen running third behind Journalism and Barnes in the San Felipe (G2). Chad Brown sends Hill Road, his Tampa Bay Derby (G3) board-hitter. Grande, the unbeaten newcomer trained by Todd Pletcher for Mike Repole, graduates to stakes company in his third career start. The rest of the field is an assortment of maiden and allowance runners looking to take a big step up.
Grande owns the highest HRN speed figure of 123. Sand Devil at 122 and Rodriguez at 121 are the next-fastest on the HRN scale. Hill Road earned the highest Brisnet speed figure of 101, with Captain Cook next-fastest at 100. The highest TimeformUS speed figure is 119, held by Sand Devil. The next-fastest is Rodriguez with a 116. Rodriguez also has the top Beyer figure of 101. The next-fastest is Captain Cook's 94.
No contender has triple-digit figures on all four rating scales though Rodriguez, Captain Cook and Hill Road have put up 100 or higher on three of them. With the rest of the field turning in middling figures, these three could be the focus of any wagering strategy.
Here are the top lifetime speed figures for the Wood Memorial entrants.
| Post | Horse | Beyer* | TFUS* | Brisnet | HRN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rodriguez | 101 | 116 | 97 | 121 |
| 2 | Captain Cook | 94 | 113 | 100 | 118 |
| 3 | Tiger Twenty Four | 82 | 99 | 88 | 105 |
| 4 | My Mitole | 87 | 114 | 93 | 117 |
| 5 | Sand Devil | 93 | 119 | 97 | 122 |
| 6 | Hill Road | 89 | 110 | 101 | 110 |
| 7 | Grande | 87 | 113 | 88 | 123 |
| 8 | Passion Rules | 79 | 99 | 85 | 106 |
| 9 | Bear Claw Necklace | 66 | 97 | 86 | 105 |
| 10 | McAfee | 82 | 109 | 89 | 113 |
| 11 | Statesman | 78 | 97 | 91 | 112 |
| 12 | Omaha Omaha | 82 | 106 | 95 | 113 |
*Beyer and TimeformUS speed figures are provided courtesy of Daily Racing Form.