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Unbeaten Prevalence, Withers Winner Risk Taking Loom Large In Wood Memorial Sponsored by:
Prevalence working at Palm Meadows
Unbeaten Prevalence and Grade 3 Withers-winner Risk Taking highlight a strong field for Saturday s 96th running of the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino for sophomores going 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The nine-furlong two-turn contest is the final local qualifier for the Grade 1, $3 million Kentucky Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs and awards 100-40-20-10 qualifying points to the top-four finishers.
The Wood Memorial, which has seen 11 winners go on to win the “Run for the Roses” in its illustrious history, will air on NBSCN as part of a live national broadcast beginning at 5:30 p.m. Eastern and scheduled to include the Grade 2, $800,000 Toyota Blue Grass from Keeneland and the Grade 1, $750,000 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita Park.
And now for something completely different. Half the year even more in 2020 this story has been about Kentucky Derby futures. This week and this week only it is about the Kentucky Oaks.
For 54½ hours, starting at noon ET Friday and ending at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, American bettors have their only legal chance to get early action on the 3-year-old fillies that will race April 30. This is the week actually more like the half-week when Churchill Downs makes book on its only scheduled Oaks futures. It will run almost concurrently with its fourth pari-mutuel pool for the Kentucky Derby. (The Derby pool goes until Sunday at 6 p.m. EST, a half-hour before the Oaks pool closes.)