Enticed ready to confirm his Derby booking

Godolphin trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has declared ‘all systems go’ for Enticed to take another step closer Kentucky when the colt faces eight rivals in Saturday’s G2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, New York.

“It’s a big race for him,” McLaughlin said. “It’s part of the build-up to the Kentucky Derby. It was once a G1, and it’s still an important race,” he pointed out.

Enticed comes to this crucial ‘trial’ off the back of a solid win in the G3 Gotham Stakes, over one mile, also at Aqueduct.

In that race, the son of Medaglia D’Oro started from an outside gate, which had been McLaughlin’s preferred draw beforehand.

This time, the colt has drawn gate 5, right in the middle of the pack, though the distance of the race is one furlong longer.

“Yes, I wanted to be out wide because it is a one-turn mile at Aqueduct, and I wanted him to have a good clear run early, which he got,” the trainer explained.

“This time, it’s a two-turn mile and one-eighth, and the first turn comes up quick, so I’m happy he’s right in the middle.

“He’s got speed on his inside and speed on his outside, so on paper he could be stalking them. I think it’s set up great for him,” he said.

McLaughlin feels Enticed should have the beating of Old Time Revival and Firenze Fire, second and fourth, respectively, in the Gotham, but he fears the Bob Baffert-trained Restoring Hope and the Todd Pletcher-trained Vino Rosso.

“They are the two new shooters,” McLaughlin said.

“They have just broken their maiden, but if those guys bring horses like that to a US$750,000 race, you have to respect those horses,” he explained.