Getty The Wood Memorial Stakes will take place on Saturday.
The $1 million Wood Memorial Stakes at Aqueduct will take place on Saturday, April 7.
Post time for the race is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET and will be televised on NBC Sports Network (Saturday’s Blue Grass Stakes and Santa Anita Derby will also be shown live on the same broadcast). But if you don’t have cable, you can watch a live stream of NBC Sports Network on your computer, phone, Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV or other streaming device via one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming subscription services:
NBC Sports Network is one of 85-plus live TV channels included in the main FuboTV bundle, which is largely tailored towards sports.
You can start a free 7-day trial of FuboTV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the Wood Memorial on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast or other supported device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as a 72-hour look-back feature, which allows you to watch the race (and other events) on-demand within three days of its conclusion, even if you don’t record it.
PS Vue–which doesn’t require an actual PlayStation console to sign up or watch–offers four different live-TV channel packages, all of which include NBC Sports Network.
You can start a free 5-day trial of PS Vue right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the Wood Memorial on your computer via the PS Vue website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation (3 or 4), or other supported device via the PS Vue app.
If you can’t watch live, PS Vue comes with cloud DVR.
In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of 60-plus live TV channels, including NBC Sports Network.
You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the Wood Memorial on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu With Live TV comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as the option to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of space and the ability to fast-forward through commercials.
2019 Wood Memorial Preview
Tacitus — the favorite to win the $750,000 race at 5-2, according to BookMaker — was sired by Tapit, who won the 1 1/8-mile race in 2004. His half-brother Frosted took the event in 2015.
The 3-year-old made a pair of starts at 2, debuting with a fourth-place finish at Belmont Park on October 4, 2018, then winning at Aqueduct on November 10.
Tacitus took first in his third and most recent race, the Grade 2 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, on March 9.
“From the day we started training him, his fluent stride was an eye-catcher,” Juddmonte Farms general manager Garrett O’Rourke said, according to BloodHorse. “Obviously, the expectations for any horse with a pedigree like that of Tacitus brings Derby dreams. Maybe we should have been more specific on which Derby on our wish list!”
Trainer Todd Pletcher, bidding for his sixth Wood Memorial victory since 2010, will have a pair of horses running: Outshine and Overdeliver.
Overdeliver took first in his December 23 debut at Gulfstream Park, then finished second in the $75,000 Pasco at Tampa Bay Downs.
“We didn’t really have a firm plan (for Overdeliver) after the Pasco,” Pletcher said, according to Brisnet. “It’s really just been based on his last three works that he’s trained exceptionally well that we decided to take a shot at the Wood. I think his last couple works he’s shown some really strong gallop outs and indicates that he’s capable of stretching out.”
Outshine has four races under his belt, with wins at Belmont Park on May 17 and Gulfstream Park on February 10, 2019. He finished second to Tacitus at the Grade 2 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby.
“We’re excited about stretching him out to a mile and an eighth,” Pletcher said, per Brisnet. “We’ve been pointing to the Wood since the Tampa Bay Derby and we’re optimistic from what we’re seeing.
Outshine and Overdeliver are 6-1 and 20-1 to win, per BookMaker.
Haikal, of Shadwell Stable, has the second-best odds at 7-2. He ran second in his debut on December 15 at Aqueduct and has won three consecutive races since.
This will be his first two-turn run.
“I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t improve at two turns,” jockey Rajiv Maragh said, per BloodHorse. “The great thing about him is that we haven’t seen the best of him yet. He hasn’t hit his ceiling. So he just might be a superstar horse who gets better each time.”
Haikal’s trainer Kiaran McLaughlin told Bisnet: “The only question is the two turns, but we feel like it’ll be no problem. Hopefully he won’t be as far back as he was last time. He could be in the middle of the pack or last, but he won’t be 15 lengths off the pace like last time.”