THOROUGHBRED RACING : At Best, Winner of Wood Saturday Will Be Churchill Downs Longshot

NEW YORK —  The Wood Memorial regularly used to produce winners of the Kentucky Derby. But that pipeline ended in 1981, with Pleasant Colony, and the Wood is not expected to regain any of its long-lost pizazz at Aqueduct Saturday when a field of 13--11 colts, one gelding and a filly--runs for a $500,000 purse and the opportunity to be a longshot in the Derby at Churchill Downs on May 2.

One of the problems with the Wood is its timing. Trainers no longer want to run a 3-year-old two weeks before the Derby and then subject the horse to a grueling 1 1/4 miles in Kentucky.

The Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland used to have the same problem when it was run nine days before the Derby. So Keeneland moved the Blue Grass to three weeks before the Derby, and in 1990, Unbridled ran third in the Blue Grass, then won the Derby. Last year, Strike The Gold won both the Blue Grass and the Derby, and last Saturday, trainers of the first four finishers in the Blue Grass--Pistols And Roses, Conte Di Savoya, Ecstatic Ride and Dance Floor--believed their horses got enough out of the race to go on to Churchill Downs.

In contrast, Allen Jerkens, the trainer of Devil His Due, one of the favorites in Saturday’s Wood, may not even take his horse to Kentucky if he wins.

“Our only definite plan right now is to run in the Wood,” Jerkens said Thursday.

Devil His Due finished in a dead heat with Lure for first place in the Gotham Stakes on April 4. Lure, a fast horse whose fancy bloodlines include Danzig and Alydar, would have given this Wood some much needed class, but his trainer, the New York-based Shug McGaughey, has elected to run him Tuesday in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.

The Wood field’s entrants have won only a third of their starts. There are only six stakes winners and none of them has won a major race.

Here’s how the horses line up, starting with the inside post:

Thunder Rumble, West By West, Snappy Landing, Pie In Your Eye, Devil His Due, Careful Gesture, Rokeby, Chief Speaker, Surely Six, Jacksonport, Best Decorated, Goldwater and Queen Of Triumph.

Thunder Rumble is the 7-2 favorite in the 1 1/8-mile race, with Snappy Landing--who will be ridden by Kent Desormeaux--the second choice at 4-1. Devil His Due and Careful Gesture are 5-1. Pie In Your Eye, the gelding, is 20-1, and Queen Of Triumph, a New York-bred filly, is 30-1. The males will carry 126 pounds, the same weight that Derby horses shoulder, and the filly carries 121.

Rokeby, who is owned by an American, Paul Mellon, is an English-bred colt who will be making his debut in the United States. Rokeby has two victories, three seconds and two thirds in nine races, and is not considered one of Great Britain’s top 3-year-olds.

New York racing officials know they have a problem with the Wood, but because Keeneland moved first in re-positioning its race, that weekend would no longer be attractive if Aqueduct wanted to move the Wood.

Strangely, despite the Blue Grass’ comeback and the Wood’s decline, the Keeneland race has been dropped to a Grade II stake in recent years, whereas the Wood remains a Grade I.

Support has been building for Pine Bluff as a legitimate Kentucky Derby contender, and he has been installed as the even-money favorite against five rivals Saturday in the $500,000 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park.

The others entered are Lil E. Tee, Big Sur, Vying Victor, Desert Force and Looks Like Money. Vying Victor, winner of the Remington Park Derby, is an English import who has run his seven American races at five different tracks. He stepped on a nail and was lame earlier this week but has been shod with a special shoe and trainer Ian Jory hopes he can win despite not being 100%.

It is usually difficult to assess Arkansas horses because they seldom run against intersectional competition. Pine Bluff won one of three stakes starts in New York as a 2-year-old, then finished seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He has run his only two races this year at Oaklawn, resulting in a second to Big Sur and a facile victory in the Rebel. Big Sur shipped to Turfway Park after his Oaklawn victory and beat only one horse in the Jim Beam Stakes.

Dr Devious and Thyer, European-based colts who are expected to join Arazi a week from Sunday on a plane to Kentucky for the Derby, ran second and third, respectively, in tuneups at Newmarket, England, Thursday.

Dr Devious, who was purchased for $2.5 million last month by Californian Jenny Craig as a 60th birthday present for her husband, Sidney, finished 1 1/2 lengths behind Alnasr Alwasheek, in the one-mile Craven Stakes, which was run on grass on a straightaway in a time of 1:37 1/5.

On the same program, Thyer, who had been undefeated in his only two starts, was beaten by 3 1/4 lengths in the 1 1/8-mile Feilden Stakes, which was won by Twist and Turn. The winner is owned by Sheik Mohammed, who also owns 50% of Derby favorite Arazi. His brother, Sheik Maktoum, owns Thyer.

Horse Racing Notes

Ron McAnally, who was in England for Dr Devious’ race, has been doing so much traveling lately that he may not know where his jet lag is coming from. McAnally will be at Oaklawn Park today to saddle Paseana, another horse owned by the Craigs, in the $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap. . . . Race The Wild Wind, another McAnally trainee, won the $250,000 Fantasy at Oaklawn last Sunday.

Another Santa Anita trainer, Brian Mayberry, won his second stake of the Keeneland season when Ifyoucouldseemenow was a head better than Harbour Club Tuesday in the Thoroughbred Club of America. Meadow Star, the 4-5 favorite, was third in her first start this year. . . . On Saturday, McAnally will saddle Queens Court Queen, who will try to beat Pleasant Stage and some other standout 3-year-old fillies in the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland. There will be betting on the race at Santa Anita. Others running are Fluttery Danseur, Magical Maiden, Preach, Prospectors Delite, Spinning Round, His Ginger, Luv Me Luv Me Not and Pleasant Baby.

Gerard Melancon has dropped his appeal to be licensed in the Kentucky, paving the way for Julie Krone to ride Ecstatic Ride in the Kentucky Derby. Melancon has been denied a license in Kentucky, where racing officials have described him as a co-conspirator in a race-fixing scheme in Louisiana several years ago, although he hasn’t been indicted. Krone will become the fourth woman to ride in a Derby. The others: Diane Crump, 15th with Fathom in 1970; Patricia Cooksey, 11th with So Vague in 1984; and Andrea Seefeldt, 16th and last with Forty Something last year.