Grade II race | |
Location | Aqueduct Racetrack Ozone Park, Queens, New York |
---|---|
Inaugurated | 1925 |
Race type | Thoroughbred – Flat racing |
Race information | |
Distance | 1+1⁄8 miles (9 furlongs) |
Surface | Dirt |
Track | Left-handed |
Qualification | Three-year-olds |
Weight | 123 lbs (55.8 kg) |
Purse | $750,000 |
The Wood Memorial Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in April at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. 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. [1] It was a Grade I race from 1974 (when grading was first introduced) to 1994 and again from 2002 to 2016. [2]
The Wood Memorial is one of the major prep races on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Between 1930 and 2000, eleven winners of the Wood Memorial went on to win the Kentucky Derby (Gallant Fox, Twenty Grand, Johnstown, Count Fleet, Hoop Jr., Assault, Foolish Pleasure, Bold Forbes, Seattle Slew, Pleasant Colony and Fusaichi Pegasus). 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 politician and horse racing enthusiast who had been a founder and past president of the old Jamaica Race Course 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 1+1⁄16 miles from 1940 to 1951, after which it was changed to its present 1+1⁄8 miles. All entrants currently carry a weight of 123 lb.
The race was run in two divisions in 1944, 1945, 1947, 1974, and 1983.
In 2005, Bellamy Road set a new stakes record of 1:47.16 at the 1+1⁄8 mile distance in winning by 17+1⁄2 lengths for his owner, George Steinbrenner. [3]
Most wins by a jockey:
Most wins by a trainer:
Most wins by an owner:
Notes:
The Dwyer Stakes is an American Grade III stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred racehorses held annually at Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, Long Island, New York. Run in early July, it is open to three-year-old horses and is raced over a distance of 1 mile on dirt. It currently offers a purse of $500,000.
The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is currently run at a distance of 1+1⁄8 miles on the dirt and carries a purse of US$750,000. It is one of the final prep races on the official Road to the Kentucky Derby.
The Whitney Stakes is an American Grade 1 stakes race for Thoroughbred racehorses four years of age and older run at a distance of 1+1⁄8 miles. The current purse is $1,000,000.
The Gazelle Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, New York. It is a Grade III event run over a distance of 1+1⁄8 miles on dirt that is open to three-year-old fillies. The race was previously run in the Fall at Belmont Park and often used as a stepping stone to the Breeders' Cup Distaff. As of 2013, the race is now run in the Spring at Aqueduct, typically on the same day as the Wood Memorial, and is now used as a prep race for the Kentucky Oaks.
The Blue Grass Stakes, currently the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes due to sponsorship by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is a horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. The race is run at 1+1⁄8 miles on the dirt and currently offers a purse of $1,000,000. The Blue Grass Stakes was a Grade I event from 1974 through 1989 and again from 1999 to 2016. It was a Grade II event from 2017 to 2021, and returned to a Grade I in 2022.
The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Since 2005, it has been run five weeks before the Kentucky Derby, which is held on the first Saturday in May. Thus the Florida Derby is currently run either at the end of March or the beginning of April. Added to the racing schedule in 1952, the Grade I race is run at 1+1⁄8 miles on the dirt. The purse was increased to $1 million in 2011 but was reduced to $750,000 for 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purse was once again increased to $1 million in 2022.
The Hollywood Derby is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late November/early December. Now held at Del Mar racetrack in San Diego, California, until 2014 it was held at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. The race is open to horses aged three and contested at a mile and an eighth on turf. It currently offers a purse of $300,000.
The Demoiselle Stakes is a stakes race for thoroughbred horses open to two-year-old fillies who are willing to race the one and one-eighth miles on dirt. The Grade II event is run at Aqueduct Racetrack every November for a current purse of $250,000.
The Remsen Stakes is an American Grade II race for Thoroughbred horse race run annually near the end of November at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. The one and one-eighths mile race is open to two-year-olds and currently offers a purse of $250,000.
The Brooklyn Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on Long Island. It currently is a Grade II event open to four-year-olds and up willing to race one and one-half miles on dirt. It was a Grade 1 race prior to 1993.
The Belmont Derby is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred race horse run over a distance of 1+1⁄4 miles on the turf at Belmont Park in July. The purse for the 2023 race is US$750,000.
The Jerome Stakes is a stakes race for thoroughbred horses run each January at Aqueduct Racetrack. Open to three year olds, the race is run at one mile and carries a purse of $150,000. It is a Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying race, with the winner receiving 10 points towards qualification for the Kentucky Derby.
The Peter Pan Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds over a distance of 1+1⁄8 miles run annually during the second week of May at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
The Fountain of Youth Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida in late February. A Grade II event open to three-year-olds willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt, it currently offers a purse of $300,000. It is the final stakes prep to the Florida Derby and is an official prep race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
The Flamingo Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses run over a distance of a mile and one-eighth. Run as the Florida Derby until 1937, the inaugural event took place at Tampa Downs on February 27, 1926. There was no race in 1927 and 1928 but was revived in 1929 at Hialeah Park Race Track.
The Withers Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three years old horses over the distance of 1+1⁄8 miles on the dirt scheduled annually in February at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. The event currently carries a purse of $250,000.
The Robert B. Lewis Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three year old horses at the distance of one mile on the dirt held annually in late January or early February at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.
The race is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. It was called the Aqueduct Handicap, but beginning in 2009, the name was changed to the Evening Attire Stakes in honor of the great grey gelding Evening Attire. He raced until he was 10 years old, retiring in 2008. The race is an ungraded stakes event run on dirt at a distance of 1+1⁄16 miles, it is open to horses three years old and up.
The Grey Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the first week of October at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto. A Grade III, it is open to two-year-old horses and is raced on dirt at a distance of 1+1⁄16 miles. Since 2006, the dirt racing surface at Woodbine Racetrack has been the synthetic Polytrack.
The 2005 Kentucky Derby was the 131st running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 7, 2005, and was won by Giacomo, a longshot at odds of 50–1. Another longshot, Closing Argument, finished second, resulting in an exacta payout of $9,814.80. A crowd of 156,435 was in attendance.