A week after Sandman clinched a Kentucky Derby (G1) berth for West Point Thoroughbreds, Statesman will line up with a chance to join him, testing the New York pathway in Saturday’s Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct.
Statesman heads north along with up-and-coming jockey Samuel Marin after they collected two straight wins together at Tampa Bay Downs for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey.
“I thought the Wood would be a good place for him. I thought Aqueduct’s main track with the long stretch would help him because he is a finisher,” said McGaughey. “He’s been training really good since he ran last time and I know it is a big reach, but we are ready to see what happens.”
The Wood Memorial will air live on Fox Sports 2 and on FanDuel TV.
Marin also scored a win for West Point and McGaughey on Signator last month at Tampa.
Shug said, “That kid is not far from being a New York rider. He is a really good rider. He is way in front there and I’ve been really, really impressed with some of the rides he’s given us this winter.”
West Point also has a trio of 3-year-old turf runners poised for stakes at Keeneland.
Absolutely Hot broke his maiden three weeks ago on the grass at Gulfstream and is back in the entries for the $300,000 Palisades Stakes on Sunday in Lexington.
On Monday, Reagan’s Wit and Maui Strong will be a WPT tandem in the $600,000 Transylvania Stakes (G3), which has been pushed back by three days due to persistent, heavy rain. Both colts were narrowly beaten in their most recent races.
Reagan’s Wit finished second by a neck in the Columbia Stakes at Tampa on March 8. Maui Strong finished second by a head in the Kitten’s Joy Stakes at Gulfstream on February 1.
A similar story moving forward off of tough defeats, Integration and Northern Invader are both signed on for the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile Stakes at Keeneland on Friday, April 11.
Integration finished second by a neck in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf on January 25 at Gulfstream.
Northern Invader set the pace and checked in second by three-quarters of a length in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes on February 1.
