Captain Bodgit Leads Charge Joined By Pulpit, Crypto Star As Favorites In Run For Roses
Despite the steady rain that nearly forced him to withdraw, and despite the fears of his handlers that he might work too hard, Captain Bodgit won the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in New York Saturday with a finishing kick that confirmed his status as the favorite for the Kentucky Derby.
The star colt with the funny-looking foreleg overcame the bad signs to run the third-fastest time in the 72 years of the Wood. He covered the mile and one-eighth in 1:48, finishing 2 lengths in front of Accelerator and 3 in front of Smokin Mel. Then it was 3-1/2 lengths more back to the second choice, Ordway. And by then the Captain was flying through the mud at the close of a brilliant performance.
“He’s just a super horse,” said Gary Capuano, who trains Captain Bodgit for a syndicate of 32 owners. “I watched him every step of the way. I saw him digging in.”
Captain Bodgit has now met almost every test for the Derby: He has won the Florida Derby and the Wood; he has won around two turns; he has demonstrated a winning kick in the final furlong; and he has run and won on a heavy track.
Pulpit wins at Churchill Downs
If Michael Puhich is a prophet as well as a trainer, Pulpit will wear the Kentucky Derby roses.
“Whoever wins the race tomorrow will win the Kentucky Derby,” Puhich, Seattle-based trainer of Stolen Gold, said Friday night at the Blue Grass dinner.
Pulpit, who vanned to Keeneland from Churchill Downs in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday morning, needed to prove he was a serious Derby contender in the wake of his second-place finish in the Florida Derby.
The bay colt, bred and owned by Claiborne Farm, proved it with a 3-length victory over Acceptable, who was a half-length ahead of Stolen Gold.
Pulpit, never more than 1-3/4 lengths off the lead as Jules led the field through three-quarters of a mile in 1:12-2/5, carried 121 pounds over 1-1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:49-4/5.
Favorite victor in Arkansas
Pat Day quieted some second-guessers when he rode Crypto Star to a half-length victory over Phantom On Tour in the $500,000 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.
Day raised eyebrows a couple of weeks ago when he chose the Louisiana Derby winner over Gotham runner-up Ordway, considered one of the top 2-year-olds in the country last year. But Ordway was fourth Saturday in the Wood Memorial, and Day and Crypto Star are on their way to the Kentucky Derby.
Crypto Star came from 14 lengths behind and was still 5 lengths behind Phantom On Tour in the stretch. Trained by former jockey Wayne Catalano, Crypto Star finished 1-1/8 miles in 1:49-1/5. Phantom On Tour was second and Pacificbounty third.
xxxx WINNER’S CIRCLE Winners of Saturday’s prep races for the Kentucky Derby, scheduled for May 3: Wood Memorial: Captain Bodgit Blue Grass Stakes: Pulpit Arkansas Derby: Crypto Star