Back on track after the Wood

Two horses who began the afternoon positioned tenuously are squarely in the Kentucky Derby frame after Saturday’s Grade I Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, both reversing recent setbacks to rejuvenate their positions in the pecking order of Louisville-bound three-year-olds.

Tale of Ekati, sixth in the Louisiana Derby in his first start of the season, overtook War Pass, the two-year-old champion of last season who was defeated for the first time in the Tampa Bay Derby last month, in the final strides of nine furlongs.

Behind the first two, none of the seven others showed enough to encourage their connections’ Derby aspirations, but both Take of Ekati and War Pass rose to the occasion with the result heavily influenced by pace.

Inner Light, entered as a rabbit for stablemate Court Vision, who was a nonthreatening third, forced the early pace and though he failed to stay with War Pass for long, incited suicidal early fractions that the 4-5 favorite almost overcame. Still, a 22.46-secong first quarter and a half-mile in :46.07 run over a dull surface put War Pass in extreme jeopardy with five furlongs to run.

Edgar Prado, aboard Tale of Ekati for trainer Barclay Tagg, delivered a patient, tactically flawless ride and the horse beneath him was the only three-year-old at Aqueduct on Saturday to offer a late run despite the perilous pace. War Pass, beaten by a half-length, was 1¼ lengths clear of Court Vision, whose entrymate was far more useful to Tale Of Ekati. “[Prado] is pretty savvy and he knows what he’s doing,” said Tagg, who won the Wood a year ago with Nobiz Like Shobiz. “We’re ready to go on to Kentucky.”

With the exception of the first two, only First Commandment, scratched before the start because of a veterinary problem, avoided embarrassment. Despite a last furlong run in 13.93 seconds with War Pass laboring after his early effort and overtaken five strides from the final pole, no other horse threatened. With Tale of Ekati at the wire in 1:52.35 – the slowest final time for the Wood since 1952, the first year it was run at nine furlongs -- the field was strung out for about 40 lengths. Texas Wildcatter, narrowly beaten in the Gotham Stakes last month, finished in front of only Inner Light. Giant Moon finished fourth and while his effort was clearly improved over his disastrous run in the Gotham, he failed to pose a threat and may be a cut below the best of this generation of three-year-olds.

Tagg, who won the Tampa Bay Derby with Big Truck and still the only trainer to defeat War Pass: “I thought War Pass was the horse so beat so it was nice to see Inner Light go after him. Big Brown [the frontrunning Florida Derby winner] and War Pass are both in the Derby; that might work out well for us.”

“The first quarter was way too fast, said Cornelio Velasquez, who rode War Pass. “But he still ran great. [Inner Light] had no chance in the race. They knew my horse was going to the lead and they didn’t let him get a break.”

Trainer Nick Zito got everything he was looking for from War Pass except the win. “I’m still happy with the way he ran,” Zito said. “There were no excuses. I told [Velasquez] to drift off the fence because the rail was dead all day. It was a tiring track.”

The supporting card:

At the end of the last long losing streak, at the end of the bankroll with no hope in sight, the worse handicappers become weather forecasters. The day-long storms predicted on Friday failed to materialize and while wet weather was again forecast for Saturday, sunny skies prevailed in New York and a track labeled “good” at the outset of an 11-race card at Aqueduct was soon fast. Are these people ever right?

Surprisingly, the inside speed bias the prevailed over the first two days of racing on the main track at Aqueduct had apparently been washed away but horses closing in the middle of the course appeared to be compromised.

Bustin Stones, also ridden by Prado, ran a blistering first quarter and held his position on the lead to win the Grade I Carter Handicap in 1:22.91 for seven furlongs, reaching the wire a half-length in front of Executive Fleet, who pressed the early pace and stayed on stubbornly.

Apparently, J Be K is a limited horse in the very best sense of the term. Having failed badly when tested in the Louisiana Derby, he turned back to seven furlongs for the Bay Shore Stakes, the first of four stakes on the Aqueduct card, stalked Go Go Shoot through a 45.81-second half-mile, took over at that point and was five lengths in front of Gattopardo at the wire. After running the distance in 1:23.67 beneath Garrett Gomez, J Be K is undefeated in three starts at sprint distances, the first at Saratoga last summer. Gomez was able to race the colt at the flank of the speed in the Bay Shore, which suggests that J Be K may under the right circumstance stay a mile in a one-turn race.

Temporary Saint, 11-1, pulled off a mild, frontrunning upset in the Excelsior Handicap with the benefit of a speed-nursing ride from C.C. Lopez. He finished 1½ lengths clear of favored Nite Light. He and 8-1 Tale of Ekati’s upset of War Pass, coupled with two favorites, J Be K and Bustin Stones, resulted in a $5,512 pick-four payoff – nice score, but just over the IRS withholding threshold.