Wood Memorial 2023: Morning line odds, picks and predictions for Kentucky Derby preview

The 2023 Wood Memorial Stakes will be held Saturday, April 8 at Aqueduct in Queens, New York. The race will take place on a 1 1/8 mile oval and since 2017 it has been a Grade 2 prep race for the Kentucky Derby this year. The last horse to win the Wood Memorial and the Kentucky Derby is Fusaichi Pegasus, who accomplished the feat in 2000. Last year’s winner Mo Donegal won the 2022 Belmont Stakes and Early Voting, who was the runner-up in last year’s race, won the 2022 Preakness Stakes.

Arctic Arrogance is going to come out of the gate strong and Dreamlike will try to keep that early pace. Hit Show, the morning-line favorite, is not in an ideal post position out wide at 13 so it’s going to try to move inside the pack and find a comfortable spot to draft. Classic Catch and Shadow Dragon are the closers in this race, but the pace might not be as fast as originally thought.

This race could go a number of directions. Sip Mahoney is going to be worth watching and obviously there will be some eyes on Hit Show to see if it’s worthy of a being a Derby top 8 favorite. Hit Show and Arctic Arrogance should be on every ticket. Shadow Dragon is an exceptional pick for the price and a very live sleeper.

2023 Wood Memorial post positions with morning line

1. Dreamlike (7-2)
2. Shadow Dragon (12-1)
3. Knox (50-1)
4. General Banker (20-1)
5. Slip Mahoney (6-1)
6. Clear the Air (15-1)
7. Artic Arrogance (6-1)
8. Lord Miles (30-1)
9. Crupi (12-1)
10. Uncle Jake (20-1)
11. Classic Catch (10-1)
12. Mr. Swagger (30-1)
13. Hit Show (5-2)