Express Kid possible for G2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino

• Express Kid possible for G2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino
• Sculcos Folly lands 92 BSF for Gander score; Victory Hall could try turf off Maddie May win
• Trio of stakes contenders work for Pletcher at Belmont Park

Paradise Equine Farm and Bradley and Sharon Kleven’s Express Kid may look to punch his ticket to the Kentucky Derby in the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 4, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

“That's one of our best options. We've been targeting that,” trainer Justin Evans said. “I need to speak to the owners as they've also been talking about the Louisiana Derby, but I'd really like to bring him over there - that's a race I've always respected and as a kid growing up in the game, the Wood Memorial is huge. I think the race might fit us really well."

The nine-furlong Wood Memorial offers 100-50-25-15-10 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby and headlines a stacked card that includes the Grade 2, $300,000 Carter presented by NYRA Bets, the Grade 3, $200,000 Gazelle – a 100-50-25-15-10 qualifier for the Kentucky Oaks, the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff, the Listed $150,000 Excelsior and the Listed $150,000 Plenty of Grace to kick off turf stakes action for the year in New York.

Express Kid made his first five career starts for owner Steve Haahr and trainer Wade Rarick, winning three times topped by a frontrunning score in the Listed Springboard Mile on December 20 around two turns at Remington Park where he bested multiple stakes-winning New York-bred Arctic Beast by 6 1/4-lengths.

Express Kid’s Springboard Mile score was flattered when Arctic Beast returned to win the state-bred Damon Runyon here and third-place Royalamerican exited to post an allowance win ahead of a start in the Welder on Tuesday at Will Rogers Downs.

The Bodexpress colt was purchased for $800,000 from the Fasig-Tipton Digital Sale by Brad Kleven and transferred to Evans. The California-bred Express Kid, a $12,000 RNA at the Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearling Sale, was bought for $2,000 at the Arizona Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Fall Mixed Sale.

"He's a great-looking horse. He's very athletic looking,” Evans said. “The connections that had him before did a fantastic job with him race-wise and the horse came to me in great flesh and looked amazing. He's a push-button horse and everything you go to do with him, he does really well and seems like he wants more."
 
Express Kid went to post as the even-money favorite in the Listed Sunland Derby on February 15 at Sunland Park and showed the way from the inside post in a field of six through splits of 23.07 seconds, 46.40 and 1:10.07 under pressure from Pavlovian. Express Kid and Pavlovian battled gamely the length of the lane with the latter putting a nose in front at the wire to stop the clock in a final time of 1:42.22 for 1 1/16-miles.

Evans said he was pleased by the performance from Express Kid, who earned a career-best 87 Beyer Speed Figure in the runner-up effort – a two-point improvement on the figure earned for his Springboard Mile score – despite missing training leading into the race.

"That was a heartbreaker the other day in the Sunland Derby,” Evans said. “We were a little up against it as we had weather we never get out here - a snowstorm which you very rarely get in El Paso, but it hammered us and we were on the shelf and missed training for eight or nine days. That really hurt us and caused us to miss a work plus the day-to-day training we missed. To go through that and lose the Sunland Derby by a nose was heartbreaking."

Express Kid earned 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points in the Sunland Derby, matching the points he earned for winning the Springboard Mile. He currently sits 18th on the leaderboard with 20 points.

Express Kid worked back five-eighths in 1:00.34 on February 28 at Sunland Park.

"The horse bounced out of it really good and had a good work the other day,” Evans said. “I plan on breezing him back on Tuesday and then talk to the owners to pin down our gameplan, but the Wood is one of our first choices."

Express Kid has worn blinkers in each of his six outings, including a debut win sprinting 4 1/2-furlongs in July at Canterbury Park, a runner-up effort in the Prairie Meadows Freshman in August and a turf allowance score in November at Remington Park where he stalked and pounced to a head score.

Evans noted that Express Kid worked without blinkers in his most recent breeze.

"We've talked about maybe taking the blinkers off,” Evans said. “It's something we're looking at now that he's grown and matured a little bit. It might be time to take them off and see if it will open him up a little bit.”

Express Kid is out of the winning Street Sense mare Sensationalize. His second dam is the Grade 2-placed multiple stakes-winner Stormy West, while his third dam is the multiple stakes-winner Storm Beauty.

Evans noted that Express Kid may be joined on the potential trip to the Empire State with the Klevens’ New York-bred sophomore colt Black Volt, who ran a half-length second last out in the state-bred Bertram F. Bongard on September 20 here.

“I’d like to find a conditioned race for his comeback,” Evans said. “He ran second as a 2-year-old in the New York-bred stake out there. He's just about ready to run.”

Also possible for the trek is Leslie Amestoy, Pierre Jean Amestoy, Jr. and Roger Beasley’s Stonehenge, who posted back-to-back allowance scores at Sunland last month.

“He's ran some huge times over here; he broke his non-two and non-three his last two races and he’s just been crushing these horses out here and putting up some big numbers,” Evans said of the 4-year-old Gormley colt.

***
Sculcos Folly lands 92 BSF for Gander score; Victory Hall could try turf off Maddie May win

Michael Dubb’s Sculcos Folly improved his lifetime best Beyer Speed Figure to 92 for his wire-to-wire victory in Saturday’s $135,000 Gander, a one-turn mile for New York-bred sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Rick Dutrow, Jr., the son of Redesdale went to the front under Jaime Rodriguez and marked splits of 23.12 seconds, 47.18 and 1:11.99 over the good footing, increasing his lead at every point of call to drive home strongly and post the 5 3/4-length victory over stakes-winner Minorinconvenience in a final time of 1:36.94.

“It looked like he didn’t even put out an effort, like he did it pretty easy,” Dutrow, Jr. said. “We haven’t gotten him out [of the stall] yet, but looking at him over the webbing, he looks fine. We are happy with him, and we’ve been happy with him ever since he started running well at Monmouth.”

The bay colt debuted in July at Saratoga Race Course and finished a soundly-beaten last-of-8 in a maiden auction event, but improved markedly just 20 days later to graduate in a maiden claiming sprint at Monmouth Park. Since then, he has been nearly perfect, winning 3-of-4 starts and beaten just three-quarter-lengths in his lone loss. He entered the Gander from a 9 3/4-length trouncing of an open-company starter optional claiming sprint over course and distance on January 22, where he netted a 91 Beyer.

Dutrow, Jr. said the local $200,000 Mind Your Biscuits division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series – a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for eligible state-sired sophomores on April 11 – could be next for Sculcos Folly.

“It’s at the top of the list,” Dutrow, Jr. “He came into the barn not really knowing a lot, an ornery little fellow. Since he put his mind together at Monmouth and finished the race up in the last half, we’ve been very happy with every single one of his races. We’re hoping that he just stays like he is.”

Bred by Lannister Holdings, Sculcos Folly was a $70,000 purchase at the 2025 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and is out of the 10-time winning Johannesburg mare Cool Johanna, who also produced stakes-placed winners D’fever and Zolo.

Four races later on Saturday’s card, the Independence Hall filly Victory Hall notched her first black type stakes win in the $135,000 Maddie May, a one-turn mile for state-bred sophomore fillies, where she made her first outing for conditioner Tom Morley after moving from the John Ortiz barn.

“She ate up last night – that’s one thing she has is a strong appetite, this filly,” Morley said. “She eats as much as the big colts in the barn. She’s very tough and she’s never done anything wrong in her career. She’s given the guys who own her a huge amount of enjoyment.”

Campaigned by Twin Sports Racing, Cypresshead Racing and Let’s Go Racing, the bay filly entered from a well-beaten third behind returning rivals Galinda and Rina’s Revenge in the state-bred East View going seven furlongs on February 14. She flipped the script Saturday under Ricardo Santana, Jr. when she stalked the pace set by Galinda and pounced late in the turn to grind through the lane and stick her neck in front in a final time of 1:39.39. The effort matched her career-best 67 Beyer.

Morley said there are no immediate plans for Victory Hall, but a try on turf in the future is not out of the question.

“We may give the grass a go. The way she ran yesterday, she’s not a big filly, but she’s got a massive heart, and you can’t take anything away from a horse that tries as hard as she does,” Morley said. “In her head, she was always going to get there, and I love fillies like that.”

Bred by Stonegate Stables and Everythings Cricket Racing, Victory Hall sold for $30,000 as both a weanling and yearling before being a $45,000 RNA at last year’s OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. She is out of the winning Into Mischief mare Into Victory, a half-sister to multiple stakes-placed Blue Wings, while her second dam Rhineshark is a half-sister to multiple Grade 1-winner Behrens.

Morley also provided updates on recent stakes performers One Nine Hundred and Interstatelovesong, who each ran on the February 28 Gotham Card at the Big A.

One Nine Hundred was favored to win the Grade 3 Tom Fool as he entered off a strong local allowance score that garnered a 103 Beyer, but broke a step slow in his graded debut and pressed the pace along the inside over good and harrowed footing. He took a 1 1/2-length lead at the stretch call and was caught late, finishing third three-quarter-lengths back of the nose-to-nose pair of Bold Journey and Full Moon Madness.

Morley said One Nine Hundred, who is campaigned by LJSS Thoroughbreds, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Adelphi Racing Club, performed admirably despite less-than-ideal circumstances.

“I think he was just very unlucky. It was a track where you didn’t want to be on the rail, and he hates moisture in the track, especially moisture in a harrowed track,” Morley explained. “He half-missed the break, and then he ended up on the inside over a surface he was spinning his wheels on a bit. I think in a graded stakes sprinting, everything has to go right. He ran very creditably.”

Titletown Racing Stables’ Kentucky homebred Interstatelovesong stretched out beyond sprint distances for the first time in the one-turn mile Listed Busher, where she was given a prominent trip by Santana, Jr. before being passed into the lane and keeping on for third four lengths back of the victorious Paradise.
Morley said the Bolt d’Oro bay, who finished a neck second to Two Bits in the seven-furlong Ruthless here on February 6, could target the seven-furlong Grade 1, $500,000 Test presented by Ticketmaster on August 8 at Saratoga as a long-term goal.

“We had to try the mile, the race was in our backyard – it was back quicker than I would have liked,” Morley said. “I have her turned out right now, but she’s absolutely fine. If she’s as good as I hope she is, you have to work back from a race like the Test. Now is a good time, after you run her twice in three weeks, to give her a month to take a deep breath."

***
Trio of stakes contenders work for Pletcher at Belmont Park

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher sent out three upcoming stakes contenders to breeze Saturday over the Belmont Park training track, with Grittiness, Be You and Scalable each recording half-mile workouts.

Stu Hampson, Pletcher’s Belmont assistant, was on hand to oversee the works, and said he liked what he saw from the talented trio.

“Very pleased with the way everybody worked yesterday,” Hampson said. “So far, everyone came out of it good, and we’ll just keep pressing on for now. We’re far enough out now where we aren’t looking for a lot, but next week we might do a little bit more.”  

Repole Stable’s Grittiness is one of two Pletcher trainees, along with the Palm Beach Downs-based Epic Desire, entered in Saturday’s Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs. Grittiness was last seen finishing a troubled-trip second to Talk to Me Jimmy in the Listed Withers on February 6 at the Big A. He had his third work since that effort, covering the distance in 48.45 seconds in company with 4-year-old colt Classicist.

“He worked great – a strong work through the wire, and let him go by another horse in the gallop-out,” Hampson said. “He worked very well and we were very pleased with that. We wanted to give him a bit of a confidence booster without doing too much with the gallop-out, and we achieved that.”

The son of Curlin is still a maiden after five outings but finished second in a November maiden at the Big A won by well-regarded stablemate Courting ahead of a fifth in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Remsen in December with blinkers on. He raced with blinkers off in the Withers, where he was in tight around the first turn and forced to steady before trailing in last and making a sustained rally for the minor awards.

Also entered Saturday at Colonial for Pletcher are a pair of contenders in the Viriginia Oaks in Listed stakes-placed Kadabra and the maiden Baffle.

Pletcher should be well represented on a stacked card on April 4 here topped by the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino, a 100-50-25-15-10 qualifier for the Kentucky Derby.

The Wood Memorial program will offer an additional five stakes, including the Grade 2, $300,000 Carter presented by NYRA Bets, the Grade 3, $200,000 Gazelle – a 100-50-25-15-10 qualifier for the Kentucky Oaks, the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff, the Listed $150,000 Excelsior and the Listed $150,000 Plenty of Grace to kick off turf stakes action for the year in New York.

Among Pletcher’s possible contenders are Listed Toboggan-winner Be You, who could try the Carter off his impressive 1 3/4-length victory in the seven-furlong sprint on February 6 here. The Toboggan marked his first stakes win and came on the heels of a deep-closing local optional claiming win on December 27 where he crossed the wire second but was elevated to victory.

The 5-year-old Curlin gelding worked for the second time since the Toboggan, covering the half-mile solo in 49.49.

“He’s a ways out, so we just need to go through the paces, but he’s doing very well,” Hampson said. “He breezed well.”

For the Distaff, Pletcher has Repole Stable’s last-out nine-furlong Ladies-winner Scalable, who won by 2 1/4 lengths on the Withers card to bring her Big A record to 6-2-1-2. The versatile daughter of Speightstown won last year’s seven-furlong Interborough here, and landed a graded victory as a sophomore in Monmouth Park’s Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks traveling 1 1/16 miles.
Scalable worked in company with New York-bred stakes-winner Prince Valiant, with the pair covering the distance in 48.77.

“Scalable did it easy, well within herself, and she continues to do good things in the morning,” Hampson said. “We’ll keep her ticking over for a couple weeks.”

A five-time winner, Scalable boasts earnings of $634,128. She was a $200,000 purchase at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the Tapit mare Passion Flower, a half-sister to the Pletcher-trained multiple graded stakes-winner Stopchargingmaria, who was campaigned by Repole through her first two seasons of racing.