Back in 1973, the previous year's 2yo Champion Male and the defending Horse of the Year Secretariat went into the Wood Memorial with the confidence that he would win. However, somebody forgot to tell his stablemate Angle Light and rival Sham who went on to finish 1-2 in the Wood that year.
Flash foward to 2011, the previous year's 2yo Champion Male Uncle Mo went into the Wood with the confidnece that he would win. However, somebody forget to tell Toby's Corner and Arthur's Tale who went 1-2 in the Wood this year.
That's right Secretariat and Uncle Mo both finished third in the Wood. Now of course Big Red went on to win the Derby, Preakness and Belmont thus getting the Triple Crown earning him 3yo Champion Male honors as well as defending his Horse of the Year title. As for Uncle Mo, honestly I don't even think he's going to be the Derby winner, let alone the Triple Crown. He just doesn't seem to be a horse who wants to go mile and eighth let alone a mile and a quarter.
With that being said, Mo is far from the only horse to lose a race he should have won. It happens all the time when favorites lose... just not the way he lost. There is a reason why this is called horse racing and not horse walking.
As for the winner, Graham Motion is the one who is loaded now and not Todd Pletcher. Of course he won't be as loaded if Animal Kingdom skips the Derby. Kinda funny that the Englishman takes Team Valor horses away from the Texan and now the Wood. Toby is by Bellamy Road who I was not a fan of when he was running. But it helped that he was owned by George Stinebrenner who I dispised since he owned the Yankees and I'm a Phillie fan.
When I was in high school, my Economics teacher always say TINSTFL which stands for There Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch. For today, I think the TINSTFR: There Is No Such Thing as a Free Race.
A very different looking Derby list when it comes out on Weds.
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