Lord Miles on the outside gets up at the wire and wins by a nose to upset the 2023 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct over Hit Show and Dreamlike. (Adam Coglianese/NYRA)
After favorites prevailed in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes and the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby, the Wood Memorial tossed shocker into the Triple Crown picture as Vegso Racing Stable' 59-1 longshot Lord Miles survived a frantic, bumpy, three-horse battle to the wire, and then survived an inquiry, to prevail by a nose over favored Hit Show to assure himself of a spot in the field for the May 6 Kentucky Derby, the opening leg of the Triple Crown.
"You dream and sometimes it doesn't happen. We dreamed about getting this horse in the Kentucky Derby and it didn't look good for a while but now our dreams have become reality," winning trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. "The owner (Peter Vegso) wants to go to the Kentucky Derby, so he'll leave for Florida and if he checks out well, we're going to the Derby."
Since no one among the field of 12 in the Wood was among the Top 20 in qualifying points, the Wood, with its 100-40-30-20-10 points to the top five horses, figured to have a pronounced impact on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard.
"We believed in the horse. We had good success in the Wood, maybe not winning, but running good at crazy odds," said Joseph, whose colt picked up 100 points to safely land in the Top 20. "Early in my career I was scared to take a chance. But I learned I have nothing to lose by taking chances and a lot to gain."
Lord Miles, a son of Curlin, had just one win in four career starts, all in Florida.
"I thought he could be a Derby horse after his first race, and then he was a close third in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes, and the Holy Bull was a disaster," Joseph said. "He never runs in the bridle and I thought he'd be last in the Tampa Bay Derby as I watched the race, but when he finished fifth we decided to try the Wood."
The Wood wound up catapulting two horses into the Top 20 as runner-up Hit Show, making his first start since winning the Feb. 11 Grade 3 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct, picked up 40 points to give him a safe 60 points.
"He should get a lot out of the race," trainer Brad Cox said about Hit Show. "If he comes out of the race OK, we'll run."
The Wood produced more than its fair share of drama. There was a big traffic jam on the first turn when several horses converged in a mad dash for running room and at least 7 of the 12 starters, including Lord Miles, had a note in their chart that they were bumped in the early stages.
While Slip Mahoney (6th) and General Banker (10th) took the worst of the bumping and checking when the field reached the backstretch, it was the New York-bred Arctic Arrogance who led by a half-length after a opening quarter mile in :24.88. Down the backstretch, the Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable maiden, Dreamlike, moved into second with Lord Miles and the 8-5 favorite Hit Show just behind them in fourth and fifth, respectively, after six furlongs in 1:12.88.
Turning for home Lord Miles ($120.50) and Hit Show, who broke from post 12, made their moves for the lead while Arctic Arrogance and Dreamlike battled inside of them. After Arctic Arrogance gave way to finish fourth, the adventure started.
The trio of Lord Miles, Hit Show, and Dreamlike came together at the eighth pole and engaged in a furious battle with some bumping and leaning by each of the trio. At the wire, Lord Miles, on the outside, put his nose down ahead of Hit Show, who was sandwiched between the winner and Dreamlike.
The stewards reviewed the tapes and let the result stand. The final time was 1:51.17.
"It felt like pinball in there," said Manny Franco, who rode Hit Show.
The Todd Pletcher-trained Dreamlike was a head back in third and picked up 30 qualifying points but that was not enough to crack the Leaderboard. Arctic Arrogance was fourth missed the Derby cut with 36 points (20 Saturday) while Classic Catch was fifth and received 10 points.
2023 Wood Memorial S. Presented by Resorts World Casino April 8th, 2023
