Eskendereya romps in Wood Memorial

Horseracing Betting Lines

04/03/2010 - Ozone Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Odds-on favorite Eskendereya ran away down the stretch Saturday to capture the $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. The victory puts the colt among the favorites for this year's Kentucky Derby.

Eskendereya, who won the Fountain of Youth Stakes by more than eight-lengths, used a stalking ride by John Velazquez to take the lead on the final turn in the Wood and post a double-digit win over five rivals.

Setting the pace in the 1 1/8-mile race was Most Happy Fella with Jackson Bend in second and the 1-2 favorite in third. Farther back was Gotham Stakes winner Awesome Act, about four-lengths behind the leader.

On the turn for home Most Happy Fella had a short lead on the inside as Eskendereya moved to the outside to draw even. Jackson Bend was running third between the top two horses.

Eskendereya took the lead entering the stretch and proceeded to widen his advantage. The chestnut colt continued to increase his lead down the stretch to eventually hit the wire with a 9 3/4-length victory.

Jackson Bend held on for second followed by Awesome Act, Schoolyard Dreams, Carnivore and Most Happy Fella.

The time for the Wood Memorial was 1:49.97 on a fast track.

Owned by Zayat Stables, Eskendereya is the top three-year-old in trainer Todd Pletcher's stable. The colt notched his third straight win with the Wood victory which was worth $450,000. He now has won four of six starts with career earnings of $725,700.

"He has all the tools that you would like to see," Pletcher noted, "and you know the things that's exciting about him is the one thing we've been very confident all along is that he wants to run the distances of you know the classic races. I don't see a mile and a quarter or even a mile and a half in this for him, he just has tremendous natural stamina. You know he's physically a strong horse, he holds up to his races well, he eats well. You know, you can sometimes, if you get a couple of races into a campaign, you'll start to see horses start to lose a little condition, a little weight and he's thriving on it. So yeah, I think you know from all those standpoints he's got all the right tools."

After finishing second in his debut last year Eskendereya won the Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont Park in October and was ninth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.

Eskendereya returned $3.00, $2.30 and $2.10. Jackson Bend paid $3.90 and $2.60, and Awesome Act paid $2.20 to show.

The last Wood Memorial winner to capture the Kentucky Derby was Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000.

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