Lord Miles (59-1) gets nose down at wire to win Wood Memorial
A parade of long shots on Saturday at Aqueduct continued when Lord Miles (59-1) prevailed by a nose after a battle down the stretch to win the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial.
The Saffie Joseph Jr. trainee was the winner after three horses battled tightly to the finish line.
When the gates opened for the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Derby prep race, Artic Arrogance was hustled out of the gate to be the early leader followed by Lord Miles, Uncle Jack and the maiden Dreamlike. The 8-5 favorite Hit Show got excellent position in fifth-place after having to break from the far outside in the 12-horse field.
What an exciting Wood Memorial (GII) as three horses hit the wire together! "A huge shocker" said announcer @Inthegrandstand after the race as #8 LORD MILES ($120.50) wins the photo. The 3yo son of Curlin was ridden by Paco Lopez and is trained by @SaffieJosephJr. pic.twitter.com/N3vRgAyp2C
— TVG (@TVG) April 8, 2023
Artic Arrogance continued to set the pace for almost a mile with fractions of 24.88, 49.00, 1:12.88 and 1:38.14. Uncle Jack would drop out of contention after about a half-mile while the others would battle for the rest of the race.
The 4-1 third choice Slip Mahoney lost all chance heading into the first turn when he ran into heavy traffic, bumped hard with General Banker and had to check.
With a furlong to go Artic Arrogance was head to head with Dreamlike in a battle for the lead while Hit Show and Lord Miles, who was ridden by Paco Lopez, were rallying from off the pace as a pair. Setting the pace took its toll on Artic Arrogance as he dropped out of contention. That left Dreamlike on the inside, Lord Miles on the outside and Hit Show between horses.
As they hit the wire Lord Miles was the winner by a nose and Hit Show was only a head in front of Dreamlike while Artic Arrogance ended up fourth 5 ¼-lengths behind the top three. Final time for the nine-furlongs was 1:51.17.
"The one (No. 1, Dreamlike) came out and (Manny) Franco (aboard no. 13, Hit Show) was looking for room and so he bumped into my horse,” said Lopez. “My horse stayed in line all the time and stayed fighting for the line. It was a tight race.”
There was plenty of bumping between the trio which did result in a stewards inquiry and objections. The replay showed that all three horses were bumping as the inquiry was brief and resulted in no change.
"I knew they got in tight. Watching the head on, I thought we were good, but you're dealing with opinion,” explained Joseph. “You never want to be in that position, but I accepted that if something happened at least we would be second. But I didn't think there should be a change."
Franco said he thought Hit Show took the worst of the bumping in between horses.
"I was right in between those horses (Dreamlike and Lord Miles) like a ping-pong ball. They hit me on both sides. I don't know. He was there for me and right between horses. Those bumps, I don't know. I don't think he was comfortable with that."
Lord Miles began his career impressively with his maiden win and then a third in the Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream Park. Poor performances in two Derby trail races led to the long odds in the Wood for the son of Curlin.
“After his first start, I was dreaming Derby,” said Joseph. “The Mucho Macho Man (a close-up third on Jan. 1 at Gulfstream) was good, but from there everything was derailed. The Holy Bull went wrong, the Tampa Bay Derby was a step in the right direction, but we were probably running out of time. Today, here we are, one more time and it worked out.”
Lord Miles locked up a spot in the Run for the Roses with the 100 points from the Wood victory. In addition, the owner and breeder Vegso Racing Stable earned $400,000.
At the betting windows Lord Miles paid a $120.50, 25.60, and 13.20 across the board. With 8-5 favorite Hit Show in second the $1 exacta paid $134.50 and the 50¢ trifecta yielded $425.75.
In the end, the winning trainer explained the trip to New York for the Wood Memorial by saying, “I learned in life to never stop taking chances. If the horse is doing good, take a chance, because each chance you don't take is a chance you miss.”
