Wood Memorial 2011 Preview: It’s The Uncle Mo Show At Aqueduct Race Track

This Saturday the current 2011 Kentucky Derby favorite, Uncle Mo, will take his final step towards Louisville in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Race Track. (Post time 5:48 p.m. ET.) And while the Wood has drawn a nice sized field of 10 contenders, it’s unlikely any of those rivals can mount a serious challenge to the top rated three-year-old colt in the country.

It’s always important to find a balance in the magnitude given to a specific Kentucky Derby prep race. While you never want to see a horse run poorly, the ultimate goal for any trainer of a legitimate Kentucky Derby contender is for that horse to run his best race on the first Saturday in May. A big performance in a prep race might generate accolades from the public but it doesn’t ensure a repeat at Churchill Downs. While it appears that Uncle Mo will have no problem defeating this year’s field in the Wood, all is not lost if he should come up with something other than his top effort.

Historically, the Wood Memorial has featured some of the greatest horses in history since its inception in 1925. But while the list of Wood Memorial winners contains the names Gallant Fox, Native Dancer, Nashua, Bold Ruler, Damascus, Seattle Slew and Easy Goer, that list does not contain one of the greatest thoroughbreds of all-time, Secretariat. Big Red finished third in the Wood in 1973 before going on to become the first Triple Crown winner since Citation in 1948.

This year’s Wood Memorial might not produce another Secretariat (none will), but the presence of Uncle Mo makes it an intriguing race to follow. The morning line maker set the odds on the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner at 1/5 to win Saturday’s race, and even that might be a bit generous considering the field he’s facing.

Here are the ‘highlights’ of the contenders for the Wood Memorial:

1-Starship Caesar (50/1): In his last race, the Grade 3 Gotham, Starship Caesar lost by 42 1/2 lengths. Ouch.

2-Toby’s Corner (8/1): One of the few Wood contenders with some actual talent, Toby’s Corner won the Whirlaway on Feb. 9 and finished third in the Gotham.

3-Full of Scoundrels (50/1): The first race of his career came against $12,500 maiden claimers, a level of racing that rarely produces Grade 1 caliber horses.

4-Arthur’s Tale (12/1): He was all out to be a group of $75,000 optional claimers in his last race and was so-so when trying stakes company in the Whirlaway and Count Fleet.

5-Uncle Mo (1/5): Everywhere Uncle Mo has raced, he has dominated. He broke his maiden by 14 1/2 lengths. He won the Grade 1 Champagne by 4 3/4 and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by 4 1/4 Uncle Mo has never been tested and he’s unlikely to find a challenge on Saturday.

6-Preachintothedevil (20/1): Won a New York-bred stakes race on Jan. 1 at Aqueduct but struggled in the Whirlaway against Toby’s Corner.

7-Duca (20/1): A son of previous Wood Memorial winner Empire Maker, Duca broke his maiden in his last start at Oaklawn Park on March 1. The Wood is his first stakes race.

8-Norman Asbjornson (15/1): He ran strong when finishing second to Stay Thirsty in the Gotham but he’ll need to improve a lot in order to catch the favorite.

9-Isn’t He Perfect (50/1): Don’t be fooled by the clever name, this colt is far from perfect. This son of former Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Pleasantly Perfect won his last race against allowance company but was easily defeated by Norman Asbjornson and Toby’s Corner in the Gotham on March 5, a result that doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in this spot.

10-Son of Posse (99/1): You want to play a long shot in the Wood Memorial? Here’s your horse: Son of Posse. He’s 99/1 only because odds-makers won’t set odds any higher on the morning line.

There are only two ways that Uncle Mo doesn’t win this Saturday’s Wood Memorial: one of the other horses in the field transforms into the second coming of Man o’War, or Uncle Mo encounters a horrible trip around the track that prevents him from running his usual race. In short, if Uncle Mo is as good as we all think he is, he should simply dominate this field.