Iron Honor, Paradise set for distance tests in Wood Memorial, Gazelle

Mar 31, 2026 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Iron Honor wins the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. (Photo by Coglianese Photo / Chelsea Durand)

Unbeaten Gotham (G3) star Iron Honor will stretch out to two turns for the first time in Saturday’s $750,000 Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct, where he aims to bolster his Kentucky Derby (G1) credentials.

Iron Honor is one of two entrants for trainer Chad Brown, along with Ottinho. Their main rivals include Bob Baffert’s Buetane, Withers (G3) romper Talk to Me Jimmy, last year’s Champagne (G1) hero Napoleon Solo, and Courting from the Todd Pletcher barn.

One race earlier in the $200,000 Gazelle (G3), Paradise will face a similar test of her Kentucky Oaks (G1) aspirations. The impressive winner of the Busher S. around Aqueduct’s one-turn mile steps up 1 1/8 miles on Saturday.

Each race is worth points on the 100-50-25-15-10 format to the top five finishers, making the Wood Memorial and Gazelle decisive for Derby and Oaks candidates, respectively.

New York’s marquee Derby prep with a century’s worth of history, the Wood Memorial will move to the redeveloped Belmont Park in the spring of 2027. Saturday marks the final renewal at its longtime home of Aqueduct, which will cease operations as a racetrack this summer.

Wood Memorial (G2) – Race 12, 6:34 p.m. ET

Iron Honor, by 2016 Kentucky Derby champion Nyquist, is 2-for-2 so far. After a sharp debut sprinting six furlongs, he had to work a bit harder to prevail in the Gotham around Aqueduct’s one-turn mile. Pedigree suggests that he should cope with the added distance in the Wood Memorial, but the far outside post 13 implies that he’ll have to cover even more ground in this two-turn test.

It was a stretch battle in the Gotham and IRON HONOR had no problem stretching out to a mile, picking up 50 points towards the @kentuckyderby! 🌹@jockeyfranco was aboard the 3YO colt and Chad Brown trains. pic.twitter.com/38HBbR0pdl

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) February 28, 2026

His stablemate from the Brown barn, Ottinho, is already a course-and-distance winner by way of a hard-fought maiden score. Although he later regressed to a well-beaten third behind Talk to Me Jimmy in the Withers, Ottinho had missed training time in the interim. A half-brother (by Quality Road) to Hall of Famer Gun Runner, Ottinho promises to be fitter for the rematch. The addition of blinkers has reportedly helped in his training, although he too must overcome an outside draw in post 11.

New York-bred Talk to Me Jimmy was overlooked as a 12-1 shot in the Withers, but the Rudy Rodriguez trainee outperformed his odds in a front-running rout. The $31,000 yearling will try to back up that effort on Saturday.

It was all TALK TO ME JIMMY at 12/1 in the Withers S. on the Road to the @KentuckyDerby! 🤩🌹

Ruben Silvera was in the irons for trainer Rudy Rodriguez. pic.twitter.com/g1qM9DO4qe

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) February 6, 2026

While Buetane has not won since his premiere at Del Mar last summer, the Baffert colt continues to run well in defeat. Second in the Hopeful (G1) and San Vicente (G2), he placed third in the Southwest (G3) and a troubled fourth in the 1 1/8-mile Virginia Derby. The $1.15 million son of Tiz the Law was not helped by his draw in the Wood, winding up in post 12.

Courting, the $5 million Keeneland September Sale topper as a yearling, is the other entrant with experience at this 1 1/8-mile distance. A creditable fourth in last December’s Remsen (G2) to Paladin and Renegade, he did not do himself justice when sixth in the Risen Star (G2) at Fair Grounds. Courting wore blinkers that day, in a short-lived experiment, but takes them off here. If the Curlin colt, a full brother to $3.2 million-earner Clairiere, can break through, he’d give Pletcher a record-tying eighth Wood Memorial victory.

Napoleon Solo turned in a brilliant display here in the Champagne last October, but he ran far below that level when fifth in the Feb. 28 Fountain of Youth (G2). Trainer Chad Summers said that the colt needed that race off the layoff. Entered in last Saturday’s Arkansas Derby (G1), he scratched in favor of a return to the scene of his biggest win.

Bravaro likewise sports course form as the winner of last fall’s Sleepy Hollow S. versus fellow New York-breds. Holding his own in the Gulfstream Park preps this winter, the Saffie Joseph Jr. trainee was second in the Holy Bull (G3) and fourth in the Fountain of Youth.

Others with experience on the Derby trail are Right to Party, third in the Gotham, and the maiden Ocelli, who takes the blinkers off after sixth-place efforts in both the Sam F. Davis S. and Virginia Derby.

Bill and Riley Mott will have a father-and-son rivalry in the Wood, as both horsemen roll the dice with promising maiden winners. The older Mott interestingly pitches in Steel, a last-to-first debut scorer at Gulfstream. The Riley-trained Albus graduated at Tampa Bay Downs in his third try. Albus was initially entered in last Saturday’s Florida Derby (G1), but withdrew.

Minorinconvenience has been racing in New York-bred company, winning last summer’s Funny Cide S. at Saratoga and resurfacing with a second in the March 7 Gander S. here. Red Zone Runner invades from his base at Parx, where he ran away with the City of Brotherly Love S. in the slop.

Weekend Rewind with @NTamm1215 & @RyanPetrunyak https://t.co/IF8uGDlyEt

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) March 30, 2026

Gazelle (G3) – Race 11, 5:56 p.m. ET

Paradise has dominated her past two at a mile, including a 3 3/4-length success over Nycon in the Busher. Nycon could get a rematch here, but she is cross-entered to Friday’s Ashland at Keeneland.

To win the 1 1/8-mile Gazelle, Paradise must stay farther than her dam (mother), Venetian Harbor, who was on the Oaks trail for a time in 2020. Although Venetian Harbor romped in the one-mile Las Virgenes (G2), she wound up second in the 1 1/16-mile Fantasy (G3) and Ashland (G1).

But Paradise might receive greater stamina from her sire, Gun Runner. Trainer Brad Cox believes that she wants more distance.

🌴🌸 PARADISE runs down INSTERSTATELOVESONG to win the Busher S. at Aqueduct and picks up 37.5 points towards the Kentucky Oaks!

Owned by @lnjfoxwoods, the 3YO filly is trained by @bradcoxracing and was piloted by @jockeyfranco. pic.twitter.com/dqoCOAmblw

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) February 28, 2026

Another well-bred Gun Runner filly, Always a Runner, makes her stakes debut after crushing her first start at Tampa Bay Downs. The $1.05 million yearling is the first foal from Always Carina, the runner-up in the 2021 Mother Goose (G2) for Brown, who now trains her daughter.

Pashmina has collected points in all three of her appearances on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. Third in the Untapable S. and fourth in the Silverbulletday S. at Fair Grounds, the Rob Atras pupil was a hampered third in the Sunland Park Oaks in her latest. That effort looks stronger after the Sunland winner, Bottle of Rouge, added the Virginia Oaks. As a result, Pashmina should have the edge over Virginia Oaks third-placer Baffle, who is still a maiden for Pletcher.

Two Bits, a distant second in the one-mile Busanda S. earlier this winter, comes off a narrow victory in the seven-furlong Ruthless S. The Amelia Green trainee is bred for this trip, being by Triple Crown champion American Pharoah and out of a Bernardini mare from the family of unbeaten phenom Flightline.

Victory Hall just won the Maddie May S. for New York-breds over this track, while Hot Gossip steps up in class and distance for high-percentage trainer Linda Rice. The twice-raced maiden Slow Kara, a blueblood from the Joseph barn, ventures up from Florida.