Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Racecourse in New York
Post time 5:40 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
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1. Kid Cruz - scratched
2. Wicked Strong
3. Noble Moon
4. Harpoon
5. Los Borrachos
6. Kristo
7. Schivarelli
8. Samraat
9. Effinex
10. Uncle Sigh
11. Social Inclusion
Fresh off the Gotham Stakes and Florida Derby, the horseracing world now turns its attention to Saturday’s Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Racecourse in New York. The Wood is considered a top prep race for three-year olds competing for a spot in the Kentucky Derby.
Social Inclusion is coming off dominating wins against mostly non-stakes company, but fans want to see if how he fares against the top Kentucky Derby contenders in the state of New York. But, with a morning line of 2/1 it’s clear the masses think Social Inclusion is for real.
Bonus: Santa Anita Derby preview
Samraat (7/2) and Uncle Sigh (5/1) are Social Inclusion’s biggest challengers. The New York-bred Samraat has won all five lifetime starts and defeated Uncle Sigh at the Gotham.
Robert Hirsch, a horse co-owner who attended both the Florida Derby and the Gotham thinks it should be a terrific race.
“Samraat won the Gotham, but Uncle Sigh also ran a great race and got bumped repeatedly down the stretch. Uncle Sigh was capable of winning that day,” Hirsch said. “If you don’t pick Social Inclusion or one of these two horses to win the Wood, you’re just guessing.”
All the horses have a ton of speed, but Hirsch says that could actually benefit Wicked Strong, who is more of a closer than a speed horse. If you’re going outside the box, the 15-1 morning-line longhot, Wicked Strong is as good a guess as anyone.
“A strong closer could surprise people if all the elite speeds cancels out the favorites,” Hirsch said.
It’s also notable that Noble Moon won the Jerome at Aqueduct back on January 4. Kid Cruz is expected to be scratched.
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