The Wood Memorial Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in April at

Aqueduct Racetrack Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park and Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack located within New York City limits. Its racing m ...

Ozone Park, Queens Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens, New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, a popular spot for Thoroughbred racing and home to the Resorts ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. It is run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles (9 furlongs) on dirt. The Wood Memorial has been run as a Grade II event since 2017. It was a Grade I race from 1974 (when grading was first introduced) to 1994 and again from 2002 to 2016. The Wood Memorial is one of the major prep races on the

Road to the Kentucky Derby The Road to the Kentucky Derby is a points system by which horses qualify for a position in the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby. It features dozens of stakes races for 2 and 3-year-old Thoroughbreds – the number and specific races have chang ...

. Between 1930 and 2000, eleven winners of the Wood Memorial went on to win the Kentucky Derby ( Gallant Fox,

Twenty Grand Twenty Grand (1928–1948) was an American thoroughbred race horse. Owned and bred by Helen Hay Whitney's Greentree Stable, Twenty Grand was a bay colt by St. Germans out of Bonus. Racing career Trained at age three by James G. Rowe, Jr. ...

, Johnstown, Count Fleet, Hoop Jr.,

Assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cr ...

, Foolish Pleasure, Bold Forbes,

Seattle Slew Seattle Slew (February 15, 1974 – May 7, 2002) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who became the tenth winner of the American Triple Crown (1977). He is one of only two horses to have won the Triple Crown while being undefeated in ...

, Pleasant Colony and

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). Four of them also won the Triple Crown. The most famous loser in the Wood Memorial was Secretariat, who finished third in 1973. The winner of the Wood Memorial has not won the Kentucky Derby since 2000, in part because several became injured in the weeks between the two races. For example, Toby's Corner missed the Derby with lameness in his left hind leg (2011), Eskendereya with a soft tissue injury in his left front leg (2010), I Want Revenge with a ligament injury to his right front ankle (2009) and Buddha with separation of the hoof wall from the laminae of his left front leg (2002). The race was named to honor Eugene D. Wood, a

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. sta ...

politician and horse racing enthusiast who had been a founder and past president of the old

Jamaica Race Course Jamaica Race Course, also called the Jamaica Racetrack, was an American thoroughbred horse racing facility operated by the Metropolitan Jockey Club in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. History The track opened on April 27, 1903, a day which fea ...

where the race was run until 1960. From 1925 to 1939, the Wood Memorial was run over a distance of one mile and seventy yards, then at miles from 1940 to 1951, after which it was changed to its present miles. All entrants currently carry a weight of 123 lb. The race was run in two divisions in 1944, 1945, 1947, 1974, and 1983.

Records

In 2005, Bellamy Road set a new stakes record of 1:47.16 at the mile distance in winning by lengths for his owner, George Steinbrenner. Most wins by a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

: * 9 – Eddie Arcaro (1944, 1945, 1947 (2), 1949, 1950, 1956, 1957, 1958) Most wins by a trainer: * 7 – "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons (1930, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1955, 1957) Most wins by an owner: * 4 –

Greentree Stable Greentree Stable, in Red Bank, New Jersey, was a major American thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm established in 1914 by Payne Whitney of the Whitney family of New York City. Payne Whitney operated a horse farm and stable at ...

(1927, 1931, 1944, 1963) * 4 –

Wheatley Stable Wheatley Stable was the '' nom de course '' for the thoroughbred horse racing partnership formed by Gladys Mills Phipps and her brother, Ogden Livingston Mills. The horses were raised at Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky. History Over the yea ...

(1928, 1936, 1937, 1957) * 4 – Belair Stable (1930, 1938, 1939, 1955) * 4 – Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney (1935, 1945, 1947, 1956)

Winners

Notes: # In 1956, Golf Ace won but was disqualified and placed 2nd. #In 1962, Admiral's Voyage and Sunrise County finished in a dead heat. However, Sunrise County, was disqualified and placed 2nd. #Leroy S. (1984), Cahill Road (1991), Irgun (1994), Coronado's Quest (1998), Buddha (2002). I Want Revenge (2009), Eskendereya (2010), and Toby's Corner (2011) are recent horses to win the Wood Memorial Stakes, but not run in the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-yea ...

.TVG Trackside Live, April 6th, 2006 edition.

References

{{Reflist
History of the Wood Memorial Stakes at the NYRA

External links

Ten Things You Should Know About the Wood Memorial at Hello Race Fans!
1925 establishments in New York City Horse races in New York City Aqueduct Racetrack Jamaica Race Course Flat horse races for three-year-olds Triple Crown Prep Races Grade 2 stakes races in the United States Graded stakes races in the United States Sports competitions in New York City Recurring sporting events established in 1925

Records

Winners

See also

References

External links