Wood Memorial Stakes

Horseraces infobox
class = Grade I
horse race = Wood Memorial Stakes


caption =
location = Aqueduct Racetrack
Queens, New York flagicon|USA
inaugurated = 1925
race type = Thoroughbred - Flat racing
website = [http://www.nyra.com/index_aqueduct.html Aqueduct Racetrack]
distance = 1⅛ miles (9 furlongs)
track = Dirt, Right-handed
qualification = Three-year-olds
weight = 123 lbs (55.8 kg)
purse = $750,000
bonuses = The Wood Memorial Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack in Jamaica, New York is an American horse race first run in 1925. It 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 Racetrack where the race was run until 1960.

The Wood Memorial race is a Grade 1 stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbreds. From 1925 to 1939 it 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.

Run in April of each year, the Wood Memorial is a major prep race with eleven winners having gone on to capture victory in the Kentucky Derby, four of whom captured the Triple Crown. The most famous non-winner in the Wood Memorial was the immortal Secretariat who finished third in 1973.

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 1⅛ mile distance in winning by 17½ lengths for its famous owner, George Steinbrenner.

Most wins by a jockey:
* 9 - Eddie Arcaro
* 4 - Angel Cordero, Jr.
* 3 - Johnny Longden, Bill Shoemaker, Mike E. Smith

Most wins by a trainer:
* 7 - Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons
* 4 - Lucien Laurin
* 3 - Nick Zito, Ivan H. Parke (Parke also won once as a jockey)

Most wins by an owner:
* 4 - Belair Stable, Wheatley Stable, Greentree Stable, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney

Winners of the Wood Memorial Stakes

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 2nd.
# Coronado's Quest (1998), Irgun (1994) and Buddha (2002) are the only three horses that won the Wood Memorial Stakes, but never ran in the Kentucky Derby. [TVG Trackside Live, April 6th, 2006 edition.]

References