2025 Wood Memorial Betting Odds and Contenders Preview

The New York series of Kentucky Derby prep races finishes Saturday, April 5, in the 2025 Wood Memorial Stakes (G2). The race takes its name from Eugene Wood, who founded the old Jamaica Race Course. The 1 ⅛-mile dirt race offers a $750,000 purse as well as 100-50-25-15-10 Road to the Kentucky Derby points. This is enough to virtually guarantee the top two finishers a ticket to the Kentucky Derby, and others may go as well if they run well in another prep or two.

The 2025 edition of the Wood Memorial drew an original field of 12 horses, though two have been declared out. Expected runners include many East Coast mainstays as well as a West Coast shipper, Rodriguez for trainer Bob Baffert. Other major runners in the race include Withers winner Captain Cook, and Damon Runyon winner Sand Devil.

Though no Wood winning horse has won the Kentucky Derby since Fusaichi Pegasus (2000), other major winners of the race who have gone on to win the roses include Triple Crown winners Gallant Fox (1930), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), and Seattle Slew (1977). More recently, Wood winners have done well in races further down the line: Mo Donegal (2022) won the Belmont (G1), Vino Rosso (2018) won the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) the following year, and even Tacitus (2019) was third in the Kentucky Derby and second in the Belmont.

With the Derby less than a month away, discover top Kentucky Derby Contenders and review updated Kentucky Derby Odds to make your winning wager.

Wood Memorial Stakes 2025 Information

• Race Date: Saturday, April 5, 2025
• Track: Aqueduct Racetrack
• Post Time: 6:10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
• Distance: 1 ⅛ miles
• Age/Sex: three-year-olds
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV and Fox Sports
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

Wood Memorial Odds

This is the field for the 2025 Wood Memorial, including post positions, trainers, jockey, and morning-line odds for each runner.

Wood Memorial Prep Results

Seven of the runners in the Wood Memorial come out of Kentucky Derby prep races. The race with the most last-out runners is the Gotham (G3) on March 1, which three horses come out of. Though upset winner Flood Zone does not return for the Wood, second-place Sand Devil, fourth-place My Mitole, and fifth-place McAfee all return to the fray. Captain Cook, who has freshened since winning the Withers on February 1 in stalk-and-pounce fashion, also lines up for the Wood.

Two others come out of prep races that were not on the New York Racing Association circuit. Omaha Omaha was most recently a late-chasing third in the Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs and Rodriguez ships east after finishing a well-beaten third in the San Felipe (G2) at Santa Anita.

Three horses come out of first-level allowance company, with three of them winning those most recent starts. Statesman took four starts before he broke his maiden, but followed that up with a late-running allowance win going a mile and 40 yards at Tampa Bay Downs on February 26. On February 27 at Gulfstream, Grande attended the pace and cleared off to win by 2 ½ lengths going 1 ⅛ miles. On March 14, Passion Rules extended his record to a perfect three-for-three with a late-closing score going 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn.

Only one horse faces winners for the first time in the Wood Memorial. Bill Mott trainee Tiger Twenty Four, who graduated at third asking from near the pace at a mile at Gulfstream on March 15, steps up in class and distance for this race.

Wood Memorial Contenders

These are the entrants in the 2025 Wood Memorial Stakes, in order of post position:

1. Rodriguez: Bob Baffert has a huge arsenal of Kentucky Derby prospects he has been shipping all over the country, and Rodriguez is one of them. He is not one of the top contenders from the West Coast circuit: he was well beaten by Citizen Bull in the Robert B. Lewis (G3) two back, and weakened to a distant third behind Journalism and Barnes last out in the San Felipe. Speed isn’t a bad thing to have at Aqueduct, and the rail can be good as well, but he is drawn inside a lot of speed, giving him fewer tactical options.
2. Captain Cook: He had trouble on debut at Churchill for original trainer Norm Casse, but he has clicked off maiden and stakes wins in his two starts since moving to the Rick Dutrow barn and racing at Aqueduct. The near-inside draw is suboptimal given the field size, but he has tactical speed, can fire off a break, and will be able to handle conditions whether they turn up wet or dry. He is also one of only two horses in the field who has won at 1 ⅛ miles, and the only one to do so at stakes level.
3. Tiger Twenty Four: This Bill Mott trainee has steadily improved in his three starts, and broke through last out in a one-turn maiden mile at Gulfstream. On one hand, Bill Mott putting a horse like this in a Derby prep is on its face interesting since Mott doesn’t usually make these class jumps without good reason. But on the other, demand a price: he needs a big step up in terms of speed, and there’s enough pace in this race that he is not likely to get the same forward-type trip that he got in his maiden win last out.
4. My Mitole: A move to Aqueduct in November and a drop to auction maiden company got him off the mark. He followed that up with a starter-allowance win, where he was protected under the auction-maiden condition, though he was well beaten when he tried to step up to Derby prep company in the Gotham. Even so, he did take a nice step up speed-wise for that effort. Blinkers-on might help his focus, though trainer Carlos Martin tends to struggle in graded-stakes races, which is a point against.
5. Sand Devil: Bet down to favoritism after three victories over New York-breds, he was beaten by long shot Flood Zone in the Gotham but still ran a clear second after stumbling at the start. A better start should leave him with more gas late. However, he’ll have a lot of other speed to reckon with in this spot, and it is also his first attempt at two turns. He consistently runs fast races and loves the local course, but there are enough questions to demand a price.
6. Hill Road: Hill Road spiked a fever and will be scratched from the Wood Memorial.
7. Grande: A buzz horse from the Todd Pletcher barn, Grande has won both his starts so far, a maiden and a first-level allowance victory at Gulfstream. The allowance victory came at 1 ⅛ miles, making him the only horse other than Captain Cook who has won at the Wood distance. He needs to step up from a speed perspective, though, in only his third career start, he has that upside, and Pletcher has won this race seven times, so he has a good record of knowing who can thrive in the Wood.
8. Passion Rules: He is a perfect three-for-three, and makes his stakes debut in the Wood. To his credit, he has been able to win from close to the pace or well off it, a versatility that should help him in this big field. And, he was trained by Brad Cox, who blew up the tote with a long shot in the Gotham. However, he needs a sharp improvement from a speed perspective, and he needs to overcome his tendency to start slowly, since there is less room for error against these classier foes.
9. Bear Claw Necklace: Trainer Saffie Joseph intends to scratch Bear Claw Necklace from the Wood and run him in an allowance instead.
10. McAfee: This Cloud Computing half to Thorpedo Anna won on debut at 6 ½ furlongs, but was beaten in his next two outings. It’s hard to know what he is right now: those first two starts came in maiden and auction-restricted starter company last year, while he was never a threat in his only stakes start, the Gotham this year. His closing style is a positive, with so much speed signed on, but he needs to improve more than others.
11. Statesman: It took him four starts to get off the mark, but he graduated at Tampa Bay Downs two back and won again in allowance company next time out. The third-place runner from that race, Truly Legit, has already come back to beat older in an allowance. He showed strong late pace in both of his wins, his pedigree appeals for the extra distance, and he looks like a serious threat for trainer Shug McGaughey.
12. Omaha Omaha: Despite the fact that he has yet to win a stakes race, he has clunked up for a piece underneath in his last three races, all Kentucky Derby points races. The far outside isn’t as bad at Aqueduct as it can be at other tracks, and two straight starts at 1 ⅛ miles should give him some conditioning. With quite a bit of speed signed on for this race, he should be coming home well enough to pick up another piece.

Wood Memorial Past Winners Past Performances

Since the advent of the points system, the Wood has been run eleven times. (It was not contested in 2020.) Eight of those eleven winners last raced in Florida.

Five came out of the Tampa Bay Derby (G2). Verrazano (2013) and Tacitus (2019) won that race, Outwork (2016) was second, Vino Rosso (2018) was fourth, and Lord Miles (2023) was fifth. Three others came out of Kentucky Derby prep races at Gulfstream: Mo Donegal (2022) was third in the Holy Bull (G3), Frosted (2015) was fourth in the Fountain of Youth (G2), and Irish War Cry (2017) rebounded from a seventh-place try in the Fountain of Youth. Wicked Strong (2014) was fourth in an allowance at Gulfstream in his start before winning the Wood, though he had graded-stakes experience including a third in the Remsen (G2) the year before.

Only two Wood Memorial winners came out of races outside of Florida. Resilience (2024) bounced back from a fourth-place effort in the Risen Star (G2) at Fair Grounds. Bourbonic (2021), a 72-1 shocker at the windows, came out of a second-place finish in an allowance at Parx and made his stakes debut in the Wood.

Wood Memorial Undercard

The Wood is the tenth of 11 on the flagship day of the Aqueduct spring meet. The card features four other stakes races. The $200,000 Gazelle (G3) is a 100-point race on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. Other stakes include the $300,000 Carter Handicap (G2) for older sprinters, the $175,000 Distaff Stakes (G3) for filly and mare sprinters, and the $150,000 Excelsior for older route horses.

This weekend is the final weekend of major prep races for the Kentucky Derby, including 100-point races at Meydan, Santa Anita, and Keeneland as well as Aqueduct. With so many important races all day long, every horse racing enthusiast should make plans to watch on FanDuel TV and wager through FanDuel and TVG!

About Aqueduct

An oldie but a goodie, Aqueduct (familiarly called the Big A) opened in 1894 in Queens, New York. The track was closed in 1956 for renovations, with an updated version opened in 1959. The only racetrack within the New York City limits, it has been updated several times since then. In 1975, they laid an inner track, and in 2017, the inner dirt track was replaced with a second turf course.

Aqueduct has been the site of many moments in racing history. In the 1944 running of the Carter, fans witnessed the first—and still only—triple dead heat in a stakes race when Brownie, Bossuet, and Wait a Bit crossed the wire at the same time. Between 1963 and 1967, Aqueduct hosted the Belmont Stakes as Belmont was being renovated. In 1973, Secretariat’s retirement ceremony happened at Aqueduct.

In 2013, Aqueduct embraced its position as a true city track by inviting street artists to paint murals in the grandstand of Aqueduct. An exciting overlap of classic racing scenes and modern style, the murals help make Aqueduct a fascinating, unique destination to enjoy a day of horse racing.

2025 Wood Memorial FAQ

Q: When and where is the Wood Memorial Stakes?

A: The 2025 Wood Memorial (called the Wood Memorial Stakes presented by Resorts World Casino for sponsorship purposes) will be run Saturday, April 5 at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. The race is the 12th race on the 13-race card.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Wood Memorial?

A: Two trainers are tied with seven wins: “Sunny” Jim Fitzsimmons, who amassed his wins between 1930 and 1957, and Todd Pletcher, whose seven wins stretch between 2010 and 2022. Pletcher can take the record for himself if Grande wins in 2025.

Q: Who is the favorite for the 2025 Wood Memorial?

A: The 5-2 morning-line favorite for the Wood Memorial Stakes is Rodriguez, who ships west for trainer Bob Baffert. However, since that one has yet to win on the Kentucky Derby trail, don’t be surprised if Captain Cook (7-2), the only 1 ⅛-mile stakes winner in the field, challenges for the top of the market.

Q: Who is the best Wood Memorial jockey?

A: Eddie Arcaro leads with nine victories in the Wood Memorial between 1944 and 1958, including a sweep of both divisions in 1947. Among jockeys riding the race in 2025, Mike Smith leads with 3 – he won with Thirty Six Red (1990), Devil His Due (1992), and Unbridled’s Song (1996). 29 years later, he has a chance to win his fourth with Rodriguez.

Q: Who won the 2024 Wood Memorial?

A: Resilience won the 2024 Wood Memorial for trainer Bill Mott and jockey John Velazquez. Velazquez does not ride in the Wood this year, though Mott sends out Tiger Twenty Four with Javier Castellano.

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