$750,000 Wood, April 8, 2023 [100 qualifying points for first, 40 for second, 30 for third, 20 for fourth, and 10 for fifth]  Winner: Lord Miles, by Curlin Trainer: Saffie Joseph Jr. Jockey: Paco Lopez Owner: Vegso Racing Stable Distance / time: 1 1/8 miles / 1:51.17 Win margin: Nose Beyer: 93  This was a roughly run race, to be sure, and from all appearances the weakest of the three April 8 Kentucky Derby preps. That’s not to say the two horses likely to go on to the Derby, LORD MILES and HIT SHOW, should be dismissed out of hand, but unless we see some incredible spark from them at Churchill Downs, they’d be hard-pressed to make even a long list of contenders. You can’t fairly talk about the top two without giving equal credit to the maiden DREAMLIKE, who was part of a three-horse photo, a nose behind Hit Show, who was a nose behind Lord Miles.   Lord Miles was 59-1 here because after a debut victory he’d been third in the Mucho Macho Man, a well-beaten sixth in the Holy Bull, and fifth by 5 3/4 lengths in Tapit Trice’s Tampa Bay Derby. His top Beyer coming into the Wood was his 79 at Tampa Bay, where I did note in this space that the colt “appeared to be floundering coming into the homestretch but stayed on surprisingly well to tag a couple tiring pace players and finish fifth.”  A homebred who appears to be of modest size and scope, Lord Miles got away decently from post 8 and was in a perfect spot racing second just behind and outside ARCTIC ARROGANCE into the clubhouse turn. Then UNCLE JAKE, essentially running off while racing on the far outside, zoomed up at the end of the clubhouse turn and onto the backstretch, coming around everyone to take the lead. Lord Miles wound up about five paths wide, stalking outside Dreamlike and Arctic Arrogance down the backstretch.   :: Take your handicapping to the next level and play with FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic.  Jockey Paco Lopez neatly slipped in behind Dreamlike with Lord Miles for the turn run, coming up along his inside as Uncle Jake caved and Arctic Arrogance took over. Lopez went back outside Dreamlike partway around the turn, going into the No. 4 path while holding Hit Show in a tight spot, as Dreamlike collared Arctic Arrogance at the quarter pole. Hit Show became the meat in a sandwich, Lord Miles on the outside and Dreamlike on the inside the two slices of bread. It was Dreamlike who came out a bit, causing the bumping that most compromised Hit Show and led to a stewards’ inquiry. Lord Miles did drift slightly in, but the damage by that time already had been done, and after landing on the bright side of a very tight finish, Lord Miles properly was held blameless.  Young horses with talent are liable to make vast race-to-race jumps in performance this time of year. Lord Miles did so in the Wood. On speed figures, visual impression, and the competition in this race, even getting back to this level won’t be good enough in the Derby.  Hit Show, who’d won the Withers in his last start, ran the best race in the Wood. Breaking from post 13, he was caught about five wide on the first turn, and while he raced one path inside Lord Miles on the far turn, he still took the worst of things jammed between rivals through the stretch run while having little room to operate for the final three furlongs. Had Hit Show been capable of greater upper-stretch acceleration he could’ve gotten himself out of the spot. He wasn’t, and probably improved only mildly upon his Feb. 11 Withers, also over 1 1/8 miles. He’s a grinder who stays, but so far hasn’t been fast enough.   Dreamlike, second to the Bill Mott-trained Arthur’s Ride in his career debut and second in his second start to the Mott-trained Empirestrikesfast, broke from post 1, was steadied ever so slightly into the first turn, but otherwise got the best trip among the top three finishers. Losing less ground than the top two who beat him, Dreamlike got first run on Arctic Arrogance and stayed on gamely for an inexperienced horse, clearly one with ability. His trainer, Todd Pletcher, added blinkers, but that seemed to have no real effect. If nothing else, Dreamlike has surpassed Worcester, who threw a dud in the UAE Derby, as American’s leading maiden.  Arctic Arrogance is a nice 3-year-old who can’t stay 1 1/8 miles. Hit Show beat him by about the same margin as in the Withers, suggesting the two ran similar races again. Still in contention in upper stretch, Arctic Arrogance stayed on best he could but was lucky to hold fourth, more than five lengths behind Dreamlike.  Just missing him on the wire was CLASSIC CATCH, another Pletcher charge, this one making his stakes debut and coming into the race with a career-best 79 Beyer. Asked for some positional speed after breaking cleanly from post 11, Classic Catch couldn’t supply it, dropping back second last into the turn while climbing to try and avoid the kickback. He settled into a more comfortable stride racing outside SHADOW DRAGON, but despite the leaders’ moderate tempo down the backstretch, Classic Catch lost several lengths, coming under a ride past the six-furlong marker to maintain what little position he had. Classic Catch still hadn’t made much progress when pushed about four wide by Shadow Dragon at the three-furlong pole, came some eight paths wide into the homestretch, but got rolling at the three-sixteenth marker, turning in the fastest final furlong in the race, 12.64, to just miss fifth before galloping out well. Food for thought at some point.  SLIP MAHONEY essentially lost all chance early on the first turn. GENERAL BANKER, racing directly to his left, had become slightly unbalanced when KNOX passed on the inside, and at the vulnerable spot just leaning into the turn, Knox might have come out half a path. General Banker already was in very tight, overreacted, lurched out, and body-blocked Slip Mahoney to his outside. Slip Mahoney was fortunate not to go down. MR. SWAGGER, directly to his outside, also thrown off stride, though less severely. Slip Mahoney recovered, raced inside from seventh and tried to make some progress up the fence past the five-furlong marker, but Knox took away his path going into the turn. Slip Mahoney still had fight at the five-sixteenths, going past Knox and getting into fifth, but he went flat from there.  :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2023: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Shadow Dragon ran a similar but decidedly lesser version of Classic Catch’s race, while Knox had far less of an excuse than Slip Mahoney from the incident on the first turn but still finished more than three lengths behind him. CRUPI, another Pletcher-trained maiden, kept intact his perfect record of poor starts, raced from last, and, checking in ninth, probably ran slightly worse than his seventh-place Risen Star Stakes finish. He has talent, but it’s not being expressed in races. General Banker, after taking out Hit Show, made no mark on the race. Mr. Swagger raced wide both turns, but that and the early bump he took can’t alone account for his distant 11th-place finish. Uncle Jake, who has a distinct left-front leg paddling action, unsurprisingly stopped after running off early. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.