Enticed leads the field for the Wood Memorial on Saturday, April 7 that can be seen on NBCSN. The race is one of three Kentucky Derby prep races on Saturday and will award 100 Kentucky Derby Championship Series points to the winner with the second place finisher getting 40 points, the third place finisher 20 and the fourth place finisher 10. Enticed is the 6-5 morning line favorite for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. Let’s look at the race and Wood Memorial picks.
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Enticed will start from the No. 5 post position on Saturday in a field of nine in the 2018 Wood Memorial set to begin at 5:55 p.m. Eastern on NBCSN. Enticed has won three of his five career starts including the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club last November. “We feel like he fits in very well,” McLaughlin said. “We are hoping for a big race Saturday because the Wood Memorial is a very important race for a 3-year-old. … Hopefully if we win Saturday, we’re thought of again highly. He won at Churchill. He beat a lot of nice horses and came back to win a stakes race this year.”
If Enticed doesn’t win then the race looks wide open, with four other horses listed at odds between 4-1 and 6-1. Bob Baffert sends Restoring Hope at odds of 4-1, while Todd Pletcher has Vino Rosso at odds of 9-2. Old Time Revival for trainer Kenneth Decker and Firenze Fire for trainer Jason Servis are each 6-1. Firenze Fire finished fourth in the Gotham last time out and has won four of his eight career starts.
Wood Memorial
PP, Horse, Trainer, Jockey, Morning Line Odds
1. Heartfullofstars, Philip D’Amato, Dylan Davis, 20-1
2. Firenze Fire, Jason Servis, Manuel Franco, 6-1
3. Evaluator, Michael Dilger, Kendrick Carmouche, 20-1
4. Old Time Revival, Kenneth Decker, Jeremy Rose, 6-1
5. Enticed, Kiaran McLaughlin, Junior Alvarado, 6-5
6. Catch Twenty Two, Naipaul Chatterpaul, Luis Reyes, 50-1
7. King Zachary, Dale Romans, Robby Albarado, 20-1
8. Restoring Hope, Bob Baffert, Flavien Prat, 4-1
9. Vino Rosso, Todd Pletcher, John Velazquez, 9-2
Wood Memorial Race Facts
It used to be that the Wood Memorial was a great Kentucky Derby prep race, as 20 Wood winners have won the Kentucky Derby. That is ancient history though, as the last Wood winner to win the Kentucky Derby was Funny Cide in 2003. The Wood Memorial highlights the biggest day or racing at the Aqueduct spring meet with five stakes races at the track on Saturday with purses totaling almost $2 million dollars.
Trainer Todd Pletcher has won the Wood Memorial a total of four times since 2010. He has Vino Rosso in this year’s race.
Wood Memorial Picks
Unlike the other two Kentucky Derby prep races on Saturday, the Blue Grass and the Santa Anita Derby, I think the Wood Memorial offers a lot of value. The key obviously in getting value in this race is beating the morning line favorite Enticed. I think the horse is definitely beatable and shouldn’t be listed at odds of 6-5. I like the two horses on the outside to compete for the win. Baffert has Restoring Hope and Pletcher has Rosso. I lean a little bit toward Vino Rosso, but not to a great degree. I think both horses are worth playing to win and if either comes through it is a profitable race with both going off at odds of about 4-2. I also think an exacta box with the two horses is worth considering. If you really want to get creative then I think a trifecta box is worth a shot with those two horses and the field. It does mean that Enticed would have to finish out of the money to hit, but I think that is where the value is with this race.
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