Thirty Six Red Comes Up Again in Wood : Horse racing: Champagneforashley suffers first loss. Southland-based Burnt Hills is second.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. —  Thirty Six Red, described by his trainer as a street fighter, became the new kid on the Kentucky Derby block Saturday, winning the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and puncturing the bubble of Champagneforashley.

Six jockeys have ridden Thirty Six Red in his 11 races, and none has done better than Mike Smith, 24, the new darling of New York racing fans who won the Gotham here the first time he hooked up with the colt two weeks ago.

Thirty Six Red, running in second place behind Southland-based Burnt Hills for most of the Wood, edged ahead with an eighth of a mile to go and won by a head. Burnt Hills finished a length ahead of Champagneforashley, who had won all five of his races and was the 3-5 favorite of the crowd of 24,468. Champagneforashley, despite laboring over a track that was listed as fast but was dull because of rain earlier in the day, still had a clear shot at Thirty Six Red and Burnt Hills through the stretch but lacked a closing punch.

Pendleton Ridge, a stablemate of Burnt Hills and a maiden making only his third start, came from 11 lengths back to finish fourth, less than two lengths behind the winner. The rest of the order of finish was Yonder, Country Day, Nasty Charger, Adversarial, Duke’s Cup and Senor Pete.

Thirty Six Red, running around two turns for the first time and winning only his third race, took $362,400 of the $604,000 purse and, as the third betting choice, paid $16, $6.60 and $3.40. Burnt Hills, coupled with Pendleton Ridge in the betting, paid $7.20 and $3.60, and Champagneforashley returned $2.20. A $2 exacta on the first two finishers was worth $133 and a $2 triple on the first three was good for $305.

Even allowing for the dull track, Thirty Six Red’s time of 1:50 2/5 was not impressive for the 1 1/8 miles. He ran the final eighth of a mile in an unspectacular 13 3/5 seconds.

Thirty Six Red ran six times before he won his first race, at Gulfstream Park in early February. A month later, he ran third at Gulfstream and on March 17 finished third in the Swale Stakes, showing his trainer, Nick Zito, that he belonged with better horses. The Swale was won by Housebuster, one of the fastest horses in the country, and Summer Squall, the co-Kentucky Derby favorite with Mister Frisky, finished second.

Zito, 32, is a native New Yorker who started at the race track 17 years ago, working his way through the ranks. The Wood is his biggest victory.

Zito defended Thirty Six Red’s time. “The track was dead, so this was a good time,” he said. “This horse is getting better and better, and he’s run one good race after another. New York horses haven’t done much lately going to the Derby, but I don’t believe that will be the case this year. This horse went to Florida and faced the best. I think he’s legitimate. You’ve got to give him his head, because he’s a fighter. He’s like a street fighter.”

Thirty Six Red is a son of Slew o’ Gold--winner of a division of the Wood in 1983--and Heartbreak, a Stage Door Johnny mare. Sold as a yearling for $92,000, Thirty Six Red is owned by B. Giles Brophy, an investment banker, and gets his name from the highest number on a roulette wheel.

Winless in five starts as a 2-year-old, Thirty Six Red was an obstreperous colt. In Florida early this year, he was nicknamed “Bushy” because he was constantly trying to throw his exercise rider into the bushes.

“This horse wanted to be gelded,” Zito said. “But we couldn’t do that, because he was so impeccably bred (and might someday have breeding value).”

Smith, a leading jockey at Canterbury Downs and Turfway Park, came to New York last November and is near the top of the Aqueduct standings.

“My horse was drawing away at the end,” Smith said. “I went to hand riding him, and he saw a camera and pricked his ears, so then I got back into him and he took off. The other horse (Champagneforashley) was pushing me, but my horse kept digging and digging. He’s a fighter.”

Jacinto Vasquez, who has ridden Champagneforashley in all of his races, thought the track condition was a factor.

“He wasn’t running as easily as he usually does,” Vasquez said. “He wasn’t as comfortable. At the five-sixteenths pole, I got into him, but the other horses kept running and my horse started to back up. He’s had two quick back-to-back races, and that would be tough on any horse, and especially tough for a horse like this, who hasn’t had that much experience.”

In Florida, Champagneforashley lost time because of a stomach sickness, and trainer Howie Tesher was forced to run his colt in a Wood prep nine days ago.

The first four finishers might go to the Kentucky Derby May 5, although Pendleton Ridge would have trouble qualifying for a full field of 20 because of his low earnings. Earnings are used to determine Derby starters when more than 20 are entered.

Said Bobby Frankel, who trains Burnt Hills and Pendleton Ridge: “I think Pendleton Ridge could win the Belmont, because I think he’ll love the mile and a half. But I hope I get to try him in the Derby first.”

Horse Racing Notes

It rained at Churchill Downs Saturday, causing trainer Laz Barrera to postpone Mister Frisky’s first workout there. Mister Frisky, unbeaten in 16 races, is expected to work today. . . . In another stake at Aqueduct Saturday, For Really, who ran eighth in the Gotham, won the $86,850 Best Turn by two lengths over Eternal Flight, with favored Kentucky Jazz finishing fourth. . . . Thirty Slews, a front-runner who has won at Santa Anita twice, is expected to run Tuesday at Keeneland in the Lexington Stakes.