Eskendereya Rolls to 9¾-Length Wood Memorial Win
Story by: Jenny Kellner
Source: NYRA.com
Taking command at the top of the stretch, heavily favored Eskendereya blew away five rivals to take the 86th running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Wood Memorial on Saturday afternoon at Aqueduct Racetrack by an authoritative 9¾ lengths over Jackson Bend.
The margin of victory was even greater than his 8½-length win over Jackson Bend in his previous start in the Fountain of Youth on February 20 and reaffirmed Eskendereya’s status as a leading contender for the May 1 Kentucky Derby. In the 85 previous runnings of the Wood, 24 winners have gone on to claim the favorite’s role in the Run for the Roses; 11 have won.
Ridden by John Velazquez, the 3-year-old chestnut son of Giant’s Causeway settled in third behind fractions of 24.32, 49.21 and 1:13.54 set by longshot Most Happy Fella, then ranged up three wide on the far turn to take over straightening for home. With Velazquez glancing back over his shoulder, Eskendereya continued to widen the margin between himself and the rest of the field, hitting the wire in 1:49.97 for the 1 1/8th miles.
“There was more there than what we saw, even as impressive as it was,” said Todd Pletcher, who trains Eskendereya for Zayat Stables. “The thing that Johnny did today was take pretty good care of him from the eighth pole to the wire.”
With the victory, Eskendereya earned $450,000 to lift his graded stakes earnings to $600,000, which easily qualifies him for the Derby, while Jackson Bend, trained by Hall of Famer Nick Zito, earned $150,000 for second to boost his bankroll to $230,000.
“Obviously, Eskendereya proved himself as a monster,” said Zito, a two-time winner of the Kentucky Derby. “For Jackson Bend, you cannot give him enough credit. We’re going to take him to Kentucky and see what happens. No one can say that this horse doesn’t belong there. Nobody.”
Awesome Act, the English import who won the Gotham at Aqueduct in his previous start, lost a shoe at the start and finished a head behind Jackson Bend in third. Like the first two finishers, he will go on to Kentucky.
“My horse was not suited by the pace,” said trainer Jeremy Noseda. “It was a great performance by the winner, but for my horse, the pace was wrong. He lost a shoe coming out of the gate, which didn’t help. We’ll move onto Kentucky and go from there.”
Completing the order of finish were Schoolyard Dreams, Carnivore, and Most Happy Fella.
Eskendereya, 4-1-0 in six lifetime starts, returned $3.00 for a $2 win bet as the 1/2 favorite. In his only off-the-board performance, the colt finished ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita last November after a troubled trip over an artificial surface.
Pletcher, who has yet to win the Kentucky Derby but could have as many as eight starters this year, said Eskendereya will return to Palm Meadows training center in Florida on Sunday and train there before departing for Louisville later this month.
“The further he goes, the stronger he gets,” said Pletcher. “He’s a horse that has natural stamina. It would be big to win the Derby. We’ll try to make that happen.”