The Bob Baffert-trained Rodriguez will try earn a spot in the Kentucky Derby when he leaves the starting gate in the 2025 Wood Memorial on Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, N.Y. A son of 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic, Rodriguez has one win in four career starts. He is coming off a third-place finish in the San Felipe Stakes on March 1. On Saturday, he is the 5-2 favorite in the 2025 Wood Memorial odds. Captain Cook (7-2), Grande (5-1) and Sand Devil (8-1) round out the four top choices among the 2025 Wood Memorial horses according to oddsmakers. Three Kentucky Derby winners have come out of the Wood Memorial since 2000. Post time for the 100th running of the Wood Memorial is 6:10 p.m. ET.
With talented but inexperienced 3-year-old horses set to enter the starting gate on Saturday, you NEED to see what Santa Anita-based racing reporter and insider Michelle Yu has to say before making any 2025 Wood Memorial picks of your own.
Few people in racing are as well-connected as Yu. An on-air host and reporter who has provided racing analysis for TVG, HRTV and the Breeders' Cup, Yu has spent a lifetime in racing. Prior to her television career, she worked for trainers Steve Asmussen and Ron Moquett. She also is married to Santa Anita-based trainer Ryan Hanson.
Yu also has tremendous handicapping chops. In the last two years, Yu nailed the winners of the Pegasus World Cup, Santa Anita Derby, Apple Blossom Handicap, Met Mile, Breeders' Cup Classic, Robert B. Lewis Stakes, Saudi Cup, and San Felipe Stakes, among others. She also nailed the race-day result of the Kentucky Derby in 2021 and 2023. Anyone who has followed her on these picks is way up.
For the 2025 Wood Memorial, Yu has made her picks and constructed her bets. One surprise: Yu's top pick is not Rodriguez, even though he is the 5-2 favorite! "This will be the biggest field he has faced, and his odds will be low," Yu told Sportsline. Yu prefers another horse over Rodriguez.
Instead, Yu's top pick is a horse who is "bred to want the distance." She is including this horse in her 2025 Wood Memorial bets, and so should you. You ABSOLUTELY NEED to see her picks before locking in any of your own!
So which horse wins the 2025 Wood Memorial? And how has Yu constructed her wagers? ... Join SportsLine right now to get Michelle Yu's 2025 Wood Memorial picks, all from the racing insider who nailed the Breeders' Cup Classic and hit the winners of the Robert B. Lewis Stakes, Saudi Cup, and San Felipe Stakes this year!
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