There was a time the winner of the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack would have been hailed far and wide as the consensus choice to win the Kentucky Derby (G1). Future Hall of Famers Johnstown, Hill Prince, Native Dancer, Nashua, Bold Ruler, and Damascus all won the Wood on their way to starring roles at Churchill Downs. Only Johnstown delivered in Louisville, Ky., but it did not matter. The rest secured their place in the history of the sport by doing other things, like winning the Wood Memorial.
In stark contrast, the modern winner of the Wood comes equipped with a warning label—"Caution: Do not take seriously as a Kentucky Derby prospect"—a reflection of an unforgiving 21st century record which finds only Fusaichi Pegasus (2000) winning in both New York and Louisville. As a result, the impressive performance of Rodriguez last weekend on Long Island has been greeted with a round of heavily qualified praise. Had he done the same thing in the Florida Derby (G1) or the Santa Anita Derby (G1), his name would have been in lights.
The situation must be galling to New Yorkers, for whom being galled is an art form. Some of the great metropolitan racing writers of the age would have had a field day at the idea that only four Wood winners have even hit the board in the Derby this century, and one of them had to be moved up on a DQ. I can only imagine the scorn heaped upon the Wood's fall from grace delivered by the likes of Red Smith, William Leggett, Ray Kerrison, or Steven Crist, whose career witnessed the reputation of the race going from good to bad to downright ugly.
George Ryall would have been a bit gentler, but disappointed nonetheless. Writing in The New Yorker under the nom de plume Audax Minor, Ryall would have written something about every Wood Memorial from 1926, his first year at the magazine, until 1978, the year he retired, at 91.
The Wood and The New Yorker are the same age, having hit the ground running in 1925. Ryall, a native of Toronto, took his pen name in tribute to the British writer Arthur F. B. Portman, editor of the popular Horse and Hound who wrote under the byline "Audax." Portman was killed in a Nazi air raid of London in September of 1940. His death was acknowledged by Walter Winchell in his syndicated column. A brief obituary in the New York Times noted that Portman "claimed to have seen the running of every (Epsom) Derby for the last 60 years."
This reporter, green as grass at the time, met Ryall briefly in the Santa Anita Park press box in the mid-1970s when he made a rare westward migration for a major event. He was pushing 90, a bit bent over, and in every way the image of the Audax Minor I had envisioned after reading his weekly column, The Race Track, as if it was handed down from the mount.
Ryall came to mind after Rodriguez hit the finish line in the Wood 3 1/2 lengths clear of runner-up Grande. Since The New Yorker has easily accessible archives, it was a snap to roll back the years and learn how Audax Minor passed judgment on a variety of noted Wood winners, and how he thought they'd fare at Churchill Downs.
Ryall, who died in 1979, must have had a blast in his final years with the consecutive Derby victories of Wood winners Foolish Pleasure, Bold Forbes, and Seattle Slew, 1975-77. His personal run began in 1930 with Gallant Fox, the Wood winner he described as "a magnificent specimen of a Thoroughbred."
"Gallant Fox has not grown a great deal over the winter," Ryall wrote in his report on the Wood, "but he has filled out and carries an abundance of muscle in the right places." He flatly predicted that the colt would go on to win the Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes at a moment in history when the Triple Crown had yet to be given the name.
After Native Dancer won the 1953 Wood for his 11th straight win without a defeat, Ryall marveled at the way the Gray Ghost went about his business.
"As horsemen put it, he beats his field in an eighth of a mile," Ryall wrote. "Somewhere in the course of a race—it doesn't matter much whether it is in the early part, in the middle, or toward the end—he goes at top speed for about a furlong, and takes all the fight out of his opposition."
Ryall was not about to go against Native Dancer in the Derby. He was, however, careful to warn that, "I don't know anyone who scares more easily than a man who has backed an odds-on favorite, especially when his horse is not out in front." Native Dancer, unbeaten in 11 races, was odds-on in the Derby, badly bothered on the first turn, and never saw the front.
As for Angle Light's Wood victory in the 1973 Wood, coupled with Secretariat's dull third, Ryall declared himself "precious little the wiser, except for being reminded of the unpredictability of horses."
"After all, even the best horses are entitled now and then to a bad race," he added. "They're flesh and blood, and should be treated as such."
Ryall described himself as a "peevish fellow who believes that every horse deserves a good name and that, on the whole, the better racers are well named." I'm guessing Audax Minor would lean toward a 2025 Wood winner that evokes images of not only the remarkable musician Sixto Rodriguez, but also a third baseman for the New York Yankees, although he would be hard-pressed to dismiss a legitimate Derby favorite named Journalism.
A Tribute To Gordon Jones
If he were handicapping the race, Gordon Jones probably would be in Journalism's corner as well, and not only because the colt pencils out in many of the right places. Jones not only taught journalism at Arizona State University (before this reporter labored there as a student), but also was a bright light of the Los Angeles turf writing fraternity through the rewarding decade of the 1970s and into the '80s.
His seminal book on handicapping, "Gordon Jones to Win!" is considered by many to rank with the works of Andrew Beyer, Tom Ainslie, and Steve Davidowitz in bringing the art of handicapping to the masses.
"Gordon was very much a West Coast guy, while I was East Coast oriented, and his ideas were geared to the speed-favoring California racetracks," Beyer said. "I suppose you could say we were friendly rivals, but I had a lot of respect for his work. I'm so sorry he's not doing well."
Beyer was referring to Jones being placed in hospice this week, according to his daughter, former HRTV broadcaster Joanne Jones. Her father turns 95 April 14, and whether the end comes sooner or later, Gordon Jones will be remembered for his lifelong dedication to the sport, and his passion for sorting through the mysteries of the game.
