Eskendereya is 4-5 favorite at Wood Memorial

Associated Press

NEW YORK

After a two-week delay, Eskendereya gets a chance to show whether he’s worthy of the role as Kentucky Derby favorite.

The 3-year-old colt is the 4-5 favorite in a six-horse field for Saturday’s $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Racetrack, a final prep before the Derby on May 1.

Eskendereya won the Fountain of Youth Stakes by 81‚Ñ2 lengths on Feb. 20. Owner Ahmed Zayat then decided to skip the Florida Derby and run in the Wood, a decision he hopes will pay off in the Run for the Roses.

Trainer Todd Pletcher says Eskendereya (s-ken-DREY-uh) deserves to be ranked among the leading Derby contenders and call the colt’s last race the “most impressive performance this year” in a prep.

“He has all the tools that you would like to see,” Pletcher said. “The one thing we’ve been very confident in all along is that he wants to run the distance of the classic races.”

Pletcher is 0-for-24 in the Derby, and one reason may be that his 3-year-olds were unable to handle 11‚Ñ4 miles. The Wood is 11‚Ñ8.

Eskendereya would seem to have no trouble with distance. A son of Giant’s Causeway, the chestnut colt appeared to have plenty of run left after winning the 11‚Ñ8-mile Fountain of Youth.

“He has tremendous natural stamina,” Pletcher said. “He’s physically a strong horse, he holds up to his races well, he eats well.”

Taking on Eskendereya are Gotham winner Awesome Act, Fountain of Youth runner-up Jackson Bend, Tampa Bay Derby runner-up Schoolyard Dreams, maiden winner Carnivore and front-running Most Happy Fella, a winner in two of his last three starts at the Big A.

Awesome Act, the 9-2 second choice, is coming off a 11‚Ñ4-length win in the Gotham at the Big A in his first race on dirt. He went for a casual breeze Thursday at Belmont, and assistant trainer Wayne Tanner said he’s “settled in like he’s been here all his life.”

Trainer Jeremy Noseda says a strong race is needed “to keep moving forward and to believe that we are realistic about our dream of being in Kentucky.”