Seldom do the top 3 year olds in America butt heads in the same prep leading up to the Kentucky Derby, but that could be the case tomorrow when the unbeaten "Killer V's," Verrazano and Vyjack, clash inthe Grade 1, $1million WoodMemorial at Aqueduct.
Verrazano, seeking to become the first horse since Apollo in 1882 to win the Derby without racing as a 2 year old, is theearly favorite for the May 4 Run for the Roses off three monster wins this year in Florida, including the Tampa Bay Derby. Vyjack made his bones over the winter at Aqueduct with four wins, including the Jeromeand Gotham.
"Verrazano has been very, very impressive, and he has top level connections, so maybe we're a little more blue collar," said David Wilkenfeld, who bought Vyjack for $100,000 but had to have him gelded because he was tooobstreperous to train.
Wilkenfeld races under the nomdecourse Pick SixRacing after cashing several huge pick 6 tickets during his career asahandicapper, including one for $3.3 million and another for $1.2 million.
"I was fortunate enough to get lucky a few times, so I thought I would hopefully bring the same good luck to the stable," he said.
Verrazano and Vyjack both have enough points (50 each) under Churchill Downs' new system to make the 20horse cut for the Derby. So, while only one of them (barring a deadheat or an upset) will remain undefeated after the Wood, the other only needs
to run well to continue down the Triple Crown trail.
"You don't want to have too hard a race before the Derby," Wilkenfeld said, "but [Vyjack] has proven to be very durable. It doesn't look like there is going to be a lot of pace, so that probably favors Verrazano. We'll just have to see howthe race unfolds. Vyjack has shown multidimensions in running style, so I'll leave that up to Joel [Rosario, Vyjack's jockey] todetermine what the best tactic is."
Vyjack would be the first Derby starter for trainer Rudy Rodriguez, 40, a former jockey whom Wilkenfeld credits with teaching the gelding to relax. Verrazano's trainer, Todd Pletcher, at age 45 is a Derby veteran, with 31 starters dating back to 2000. He won the DerbywithSuperSaverin2010.
The Wood and the Santa Anita Derby, will be broadcast live by the NBC Sports Network from 6 7:30 p.m. Eastern. With a 6:28 post time, it is the 11th race on a 12 race card that includes four other graded stakes: the Ruffian, Gazelle, Bay Shore and Carter.
ed.fountaine@nypost.com
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