Reasons why Gemologist could suffer an upset in the Wood Memorial
The Grade 1 Wood Memorial is set to go underway on 7 April, 2012, at Aqueduct race course over a distance of 1 1/8 miles, as the race has reeled in 8 Kentucky Derby contenders, who are hopeful to put the Derby prep race session to bed on a high.
WinStar Farm owned and Todd Pletcher trained 3-year-old colt, Gemologist, has been declared as the presumptive favourite with the odds of 8 to 5, but there is a possibility that a mild long shot could overhaul him, and it might be wise to consider that.
That moderate long shot in the Wood Memorial could be, My Adonis, that has what it takes to complete the upset, but for that he would want to go things his way.
The Kelly Breen trained colt would like to see some speed going up front to take advantage of the situation and run accordingly, and if that happens, there will be no surprise if he goes up to pounce on the lead and snatch the win from Gemologist.
My Adonis will break from post number 3 under jockey E. Trujillo with the odds of 8 to 1. On the other hand Gemologist has stalked the pace only on two occasions, and his style would be to sit back off a moderate pace.
However, his real threat comes from The Lumber Guy and Teeth of the Dog, and they both can carve some fast fractions giving Gemologist a hard time track them.
Alpha on the other hand has been declared the second morning line favourite with the odds of 5 to 2, and the 3-year-old colt got the rail under jockey Ramon Dominguez. The two month break, and coming on the back of a win in the Grade 3 Withers Stakes could
work in his favour.
The Bernardini colt will be ready to for a stalk and pounce at the top of the stretch trip, after his layoff, which would get him the race a lot fresher than other colts, and it is expected that he would do just that in the Wood Memorial.
My Adonis could surprise everyone with a win here, while Gemologist might weaken at the end and finish just behind him, while Alpha could finish on the board in third and Tiger Walk, the fast developing colt could turn in a 4th place finish.
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