OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Early Voting will use Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct to cast his ballot on whether to push forward to the Kentucky Derby in four weeks. With only two starts under his belt – both victories at Aqueduct – it’s fair to question whether even with a solid performance in the Wood if Early Voting has the necessary experience to compete in a 20-horse field of 3-year-olds who’ll attempt 1 1/4 miles on May 7 at Churchill Downs. Given the qualifying points likely needed to make the Derby field, Early Voting will need a top-three finish in the Wood to secure a spot in the Churchill Downs starting gate. Even then, trainer Chad Brown and owner Seth Klarman will have some decisions to make. “If he does everything right and takes another step forward, then certainly the Derby’s on the table,” Brown said Tuesday. “But we’re only going to do it if it looks like he has a chance to win the race.” :: DRF's Wood Memorial Day headquarters – Previews, past performances, picks, and more In 2017, the Brown-trained, Klarman-owned Cloud Computing had the necessary points to make the Derby field, though he had just a maiden win and placings in the Gotham and Wood. Cloud Computing was held out of the Derby and pointed to the Preakness, which he won narrowly over Classic Empire, the 2016 juvenile champion. The top four finishers in the Wood earn qualifying points to the Derby (100-40-20-10). Of the eight runners entered in the Wood on Wednesday, only Morello, winner of the Grade 3 Gotham, would seem to have enough to qualify for the Derby right now. Early Voting, a son of Gun Runner, didn’t join Brown’s stable until September. He was sent in from Niall Brennan’s farm well regarded, but Brown said the horse needed time to acclimate to racetrack surroundings. “Getting off the farm, some of these horses need a little time to adjust to new surroundings,” Brown said. “He was one of them, so we let him. He really started to pick it up in the fall.” Brown said Early Voting started working and holding his own “with horses that we liked in this crop.” Early Voting debuted Dec. 18, winning a one-mile maiden race by 1 1/2 lengths. Brown stretched him out to 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 5 in the Grade 3 Withers, and Early Voting, under Jose Ortiz, controlled the pace from the start and galloped to a 4 1/2-length victory in a field of 11. A final three furlongs in 41.61 seconds and final time of 1:55.90 did not impress, and the Beyer Speed Figure was a 78. But the form of the Withers was flattered when runner-up Un Ojo won the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn and the Withers fourth-place finisher Grantham ran second in the Tampa Bay Derby. Early Voting’s Beyer for the Withers was changed to an 87. “People were a little negative on the race as a key prep,” Brown said. “I could understand that with the figures. But you know, the horse only ran twice, it was his first time around two turns, I think he was a little lost when he made the lead. I’m not sure he was stopping; I don’t know that he had anything to run with him the last quarter. He was a little fatigued for sure, only his second start, but a little bit of inexperience as well. But it doesn’t bother me.” Brown said there was some conversation about taking Early Voting out of New York, but he felt the horse was training too well over the Belmont Park training track to make a change. Brown also thought squeezing another race in before the Wood might not be wise. :: Get DRF Betting Strategies for exclusive analysis and wager recommendations from our expert handicappers. In the Wood, Early Voting will take on seven rivals, including Mo Donegal, who won the Grade 2 Remsen here in December over Brown’s other Derby prospect, Zandon, who runs in Saturday’s Blue Grass at Keeneland. Also in the Wood are Morello, undefeated winner of the Grade 3 Gotham; Barese, undefeated winner of two New York-bred stakes; Golden Code, third in the Gotham; allowance winners Skippylongstocking and A. P.’s Secret; and the maiden Long Term. The Wood, which has not produced a Kentucky Derby winner since Funny Cide in 2003, will go as race 8 on an 11-race card that begins at 12:50 p.m. and includes five other stakes. The Wood (4:45 p.m. post) is part of a 90-minute NBC broadcast that also will show the Blue Grass from Keeneland and the Santa Anita Derby from Santa Anita.