When Rick Dutrow watches Captain Cook train in the morning, very little about the son of Practical Joke stands out to the veteran horseman.  “He looks like a regular horse, a regular 9-to-5 horse, but he just gives these riders a feel that he can take them wherever he wants to go,” Dutrow said Sunday. “I swear to God, that’s the way it is with him, he’s a very unassuming horse, he doesn’t have much size to him, the whole thing is unbelievable that he can run like this.”  Dutrow was talking a day after Captain Cook rolled to a 2 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s $250,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct. Captain Cook not only handled the move up from a maiden race to facing winners in a listed stakes, but he also made the jump from seven furlongs to 1 1/8-miles and two turns.  That trip and configuration is what will await Captain Cook when he makes his next start in the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 5. Dutrow loves the nine-week spacing between races as well as being able to run him over a track at which he is 2 for 2.  “To be able to train him for two months coming up to the next race run on a track that he’s already won twice over ... I mean, it’s stuff that I love to do,” Dutrow said. “I’m a horse-for-course guy and I love time, so we got both of them here.” :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. Captain Cook was purchased out of the Whitney Stable dispersal sale in November at Keeneland following the passing of John Hendrickson, the widower of Marylou Whitney. Agent Steve Young purchased Captain Cook for $410,000 on behalf of Vinnie and Teresa Viola’s St. Elias Stable.  Dutrow said the two main riders who have gotten on Captain Cook at Belmont Park in the morning - the trainer Rachael Keithan and jockey Manny Franco - have given Dutrow nothing but positive feedback.  “I was not confident that he was going to get two turns, but I’m extremely confident that he is a nice horse because of all the riders that get on him and especially Manny and especially [Keithan], they say ‘Rick, he gives you a feeling that he is a runner,’ “ Dutrow said.  “When Manny jumped off of him [Saturday], he said 'man, I’m going to start dreaming, ‘ “ Dutrow said. “That was a really cool thing to hear.”  Captain Cook, who earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure, earned 20 qualifying points toward the May 3 Kentucky Derby. A top-three finish in the Wood Memorial would likely secure the points necessary for Captain Cook to qualify for the Derby. Dutrow won the 2008 Kentucky Derby with Big Brown. Dutrow ran Homeboykris (16th) in the 2010 Kentucky Derby.  Asked what it would mean if he could get back to the Derby, Dutrow said, “You can call me when I’m headed towards Kentucky, I’ll let you know then. I’m sure it’ll be an overwhelming feeling, I’m sure of that.”  One can also be sure the Wood will be tougher than the Withers, though it will include Withers runner-up Surfside Moon, who finished 6 1/2 lengths clear of third-place finisher Omaha Omaha. Surfside Moon was making his first start since Oct. 19, after which he was given a month off by trainer Chucky Lawrence.  “We were looking for a positive race to prove that he belonged in that company and he performed as well as I expected,” Lawerence said. “I’ve liked this horse all along and thought the extra distance would really help him. Knowing we didn’t have the screws completely tightened, I think there’s something more there. We’re very positive about his performance and as long as he tells us so, we’ll point to the Wood Memorial.”  McAfee back to work McAfee, another 3-year-old trained by Dutrow, returned to the work tab Sunday, going a half-mile in 52 seconds over the Belmont Park training track. It was his first work in almost a month, second since he was scratched from the Jerome Stakes on Jan. 4 due to a leg infection. Dutrow said McAfee, a half-brother to reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, was always sound but he backed off the colt to allow the infection to heal. Prior to Sunday’s work, McAfee had his previous move on Jan. 7. “I thought maybe when I’m breezing him it might prolong the healing process, so I backed off and took it easy with him every day on the track,” Dutrow said. “Now, it’s looking really, really good. I have total confidence that he’ll be able to run in a couple of weeks.” McAfee, a son of 2017 Preakness winner Cloud Computing, won a six-furlong maiden auction race at Churchill Downs on Nov. 1 before finishing second, beaten a head, in a starter allowance going one mile on Nov. 24. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.