Analysis of The Wood Memorial

War Pass comes in off his worst performance and everyone is wondering was his last effort for real? The possibility of a low grade fever prior to the race stated by the owner following the bad effort which then was followed by his trainer stating there wasn't anything wrong with War Pass prior to the race means he had no real excuse.

Anyway, in this spot War Pass figures to have some company on the front end in the likes of Giant Moon and Inner Light, both of which I don't feel can win but they can make the early pace quicker than comfortable for War Pass. And this could set the race up for a horse sitting in mid-pack such as Tale of Ekati or quite possibly for the strong-late finish of Court Vision.

Tale of Ekati showed some promise as a 2-year-old but was flat headed into The Breeders' Cup as his trainer stated that he might not have been fully recovered from being sick and missing training headed into the race. His recent comeback effort was also poor so today is probably his last chance at earning a shot in Kentucky. He needs to run a big race and he figures to be right in the hunt headed for home. His last 2 works were his best in some time.

Court Vision has already won at today's distance and is the strongest finisher in the field. He figures to improve off his last effort which was his first following his layoff. Mott is excellent at getting his horses ready for top efforts and I expect another strong finish today.

Unless the rains come and totally spoil the surface I feel it will be very hard to keep Tale of Ekati out of the Exacta.