Kentucky Derby preps: How productive is the Wood Memorial?

The productivity of the Wood Memorial (G2) as a Kentucky Derby (G1) prep race has always been cyclical, rising, falling, and rising again across decades.

But the Wood Memorial’s current dry spell is historically unprecedented. The race produced at least one Kentucky Derby winner every decade from the 1930s through the 2000s, but as of this writing, the Wood Memorial hasn’t produced a Derby winner since 2003, a 21-year losing streak.

Since 2010, 28 Wood Memorial alumni have started in the Kentucky Derby, but only one (3.5%) has recorded a top-three finish. This is down 81% from the 19% of Wood Memorial alums (14 out of 74) who cracked the Kentucky Derby trifecta between 1980 and 2009.

Performance of Wood Memorial alumni in the Kentucky Derby, by decade

A strong beginning

The Wood Memorial debuted in 1925 as a one-mile and 70-yard race at Jamaica Race Course. The first five editions failed to produce a Kentucky Derby winner, but everything changed in the 1930s.

In 1930, Gallant Fox used a victory in the Wood Memorial as a springboard to sweep the Triple Crown. The following year, Twenty Grand completed the Wood Memorial/Kentucky Derby double.

In 1935, Omaha bounced back from a third-place finish in the Wood Memorial to win the Triple Crown, and in 1939, Johnstown swept both the Wood Memorial and the Kentucky Derby.

Continued success in the 1940s and 1950s

The momentum continued in the 1940s, when the Wood Memorial lengthened to 1 1/16 miles. Three more horses pulled off the Wood Memorial/Kentucky Derby double: Triple Crown winners Count Fleet (1943) and Assault (1946), plus Hoop Jr. (1945).

The Wood Memorial churned out two more Kentucky Derby winners to kick off the 1950s: Middleground (1950) and Count Turf (1951). But in 1952, the Wood Memorial adopted its current distance of 1 1/8 miles, and the change coincided with a dry spell.

A quiet 20 years

From 1952 through 1972, the Wood Memorial produced only one Kentucky Derby winner: Carry Back in 1961, the year after the race shifted from Jamaica to its current home at Aqueduct.

However, the Wood Memorial continued to churn out top-three finishers in the Kentucky Derby, including Native Dancer (1953), Invigorator (1953), Nashua (1955), Summer Tan (1955), Gallant Man (1957), Noureddin (1958), First Landing (1959), Advocator (1966), Damascus (1967), and Dike (1969).

In addition, Wood Memorial winner Dancer’s Image crossed the finish line first in the 1968 Kentucky Derby, only to be disqualified due to a positive post-race drug test.

Rebound in the 1970s

When graded stakes debuted in 1973, the Wood Memorial carried a Grade 1 ranking. As if to celebrate, the race produced the top two finishers in the 1973 Kentucky Derby: record-smashing Triple Crown winner Secretariat and his rival Sham.

Shortly thereafter, three horses completed the Wood Memorial/Kentucky Derby double: Foolish Pleasure (1975), Bold Forbes (1976), and Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew (1977).

Falling down and rising back up

The success of the 1970s bled into the next decade as Wood Memorial alumni Genuine Risk (1980) and Pleasant Colony (1981) won the Kentucky Derby. Although the number of wins was down 50%, six out of 29 Wood Memorial starters (21%) cracked the Kentucky Derby trifecta during the 1980s.

The 1990s marked a quiet decade. The Wood Memorial produced 20 Kentucky Derby starters. Still, only one (Go for Gin, 1994) won the roses, and the percentage of Wood Memorial alums finishing in the Kentucky Derby top three fell to 10%.

The downgrading of the Wood Memorial to Grade 2 status in 1995 may have played a part. But then a couple of purse increases raised the value of the Wood Memorial from $500,000 in 1998 to $750,000 in 2000, and the increased prize money sparked a brief renaissance.

Indeed, in the four-year span from 2000 through 2003, the Wood Memorial churned out half a dozen top-three finishers in the Kentucky Derby, including the victorious trio of Fusaichi Pegasus (2000), Monarchos (2001), and Funny Cide (2003). But to date, that’s been the last hurrah.

Another 20-year lull

The Wood Memorial reclaimed Grade 1 status from 2002 through 2016, and on seven occasions between 2011 and 2018, the race carried a purse of $1 million or more.

Nevertheless, the last two decades have been challenging for the Wood Memorial. Between 2004 and 2024, only one Wood Memorial starter (Tacitus, 2019) managed to record a top-three finish in the Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Derby in-the-money rate for Wood Memorial alumni fell to 5% in the 2010s and stands at 0% in the 2020s.

We’ve seen the Wood Memorial rebound from dry spells before, but never one quite this deep and prolonged. The race dropped to Grade 2 status in 2017, and the purse decreased to $750,000 in 2019, so the Wood Memorial faces a tricky path to regaining its past glory as a Kentucky Derby qualifier.