By Matt Shifman and Bob Ehalt

The $750,000 Wood Memorial (G2), Aqueduct – Race 11

The Wood Memorial (G2) drew a field of thirteen 3-year-olds including three unbeaten horses that will vie for a purse of $750,000 and a share of the Kentucky Derby qualifying points of 100-40-30-20-10 to the top five finishers. (5) Slip Mahoney finished second in the Gotham (G3) last time on a muddy Aqueduct main track after an uncharacteristic trip. For a horse that prefers to press the pace, he broke poorly and ended up in 13^th in the early going. The Brad Cox runner had to rally and was forced very wide around the turn. After the race, many experts felt that Slip Mahoney was the best horse in the Gotham. (13) Hit Show was an extremely impressive winner of the Withers (G3) in February when he rallied from a stalking position to win by more than five-lengths on the Derby trail. This Cox trainee has three wins at three different tracks and three distances including the nine-furlongs at the Big A. He will have to work out a smooth trip from the far outside post. (11) Classic Catch has two career wins for Todd Pletcher and both were at 1 1/8 miles with a maiden win in New York and a recent allowance at Gulfstream. (1) Dreamlike got a lot of attention to be made the second choice in the morning line and still is a maiden. He has two starts and two seconds but both came back as fast races earning high speed figures. Betting strategy:  Win: 5. Exacta key box: 5 with 1, 11, 13. Trifecta box: 1, 5, 11, 13.