Deterministic Heads Big Field of 13 in Wood Memorial

If any trainer has a reason to develop Kentucky Derby (G1) Fever, it’s Christophe Clement.

In a Hall of Fame-worthy career that dates to 1991, Clement has won 2,447 races, more than 560 stakes, and has earnings of $170.4 million to place 12th on the all-time list.

He’s won a Triple Crown event and a Breeders’ Cup race.

Yet missing from that sparkling resume is mention of the Kentucky Derby. In more than 30 years of training on the sport’s premier circuits, he has yet to send out a starter in the opening leg of the Triple Crown. That could all change in four weeks, thanks to the 3-year-old Liam’s Map colt Deterministic , who won the Gotham Stakes (G3) a month ago at Aqueduct Racetrack and is 14th on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard.

Yet if you want to end a conversation with the 58-year-old Clement, just mention the Kentucky Derby.

Right now, rather than the first Saturday in May, his focus is squarely on the first Saturday in April, when Deterministic will head a field of 13 in the $750,000 Wood Memorial (G2) at the Big A in his final and most important prep for the Run for the Roses.

“At the moment I am taking it one race at a time. The goal is the Wood,” Clement said about the April 6 test. “We’ll see what happens. I’ve learned in racing it is best to take it one step at a time.”

Deterministic, owned by St. Elias Stable, Ken Langone, Steven Duncker, and Vicarage Stable, seems safely ensconced in the field of 20 for the Kentucky Derby, barring complete chaos in Saturday’s three 200-point preps, which besides the Wood include the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) and the Santa Anita Derby (G1).

Yet as much as Deterministic should have enough points to run on May 4, Clement wants to see a solid effort in the mile-and-an-eighth Wood, which will be the son of the Speightstown mare Giulio’s Jewel’s third career start and first around two turns.

“This is the right time to try two turns. How he handles it will determine what we do. You never know how a horse will handle two turns until they try it, but he is showing us signs that he will like it. He relaxes and is comfortable behind other horses in the morning.”

The nine furlongs of the Wood seemed well within Deterministic’s scope in the March 2 Gotham, when he rallied from fifth and drew off in the final furlong to win by two lengths on a sloppy track while racing for the first time since his Aug. 12 debut.

Bred by Hinkle Farm, Deterministic was bought for $625,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

The weight of the outside post in the field of 13 dropped on Uncle Heavy , the Pennsylvania-bred son of Social Inclusion trained by Butch Reid. Owned by Michael Milam and LC Racing, Uncle Heavy won the Feb. 3 Withers Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct at the same nine-furlong distance as the Wood.

He has 20 qualifying points, and with points awarded to the top five finishers on a 100-50-25-15-10 basis, he will likely need a top three placing to keep his Derby hopes alive.

Also in the Derby mix is Barry Schwartz’s El Grande O , who is 21st with 30 points and was third in the Gotham for trainer Linda Rice.

Other contenders include Resilience , who was fourth in the Risen Star Stakes (G2), and maiden winners Tuscan Sky and Society Man .