Pletcher ties mark at Wood

Trainer guides Mo Donegal to Aqueduct victory

Mo Donegal rallied to win the $750,000 Wood Memorial Saturday at Aqueduct in New York on the final weekend of major prep races for theKentucky Derby.

Ridden by Joel Rosario, Mo Donegal ran 1.125 miles in 1:47.96. Trainer Todd Pletcher tied “Sunny” Jim Fitzsimmons for most Wood winswith seven.

Mo Donegal earned 100 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby May 7 at Churchill Downs. He has three wins in four career starts and earnings of $621,800.

The 3-year-old bay colt paid$6.30, $3.10 and $2.70 at 21odds.

Santa Anita Derby

Taiba won the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby by 2¼ lengthsin Arcadia, Calif.

Ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, Taiba overtook pace-setter Messier in the stretch and went on to win against the West Coast’s top contenders for the first Saturday in May. Both colts are trained by Tim Yakteen, who took over for Bob Baffert, the six-time Kentucky Derby winner serving a 90daysuspension.

Taiba ran 1.125 miles in

1:48.67 and paid $10.60, $3.60 and$3.20 at 4-1 odds.

Blue Grass Stakes

Zandon rallied from the rear to overtake favorite Smile Happy in the stretch and win the $1 million Blue Grass by 2½ lengths at Keeneland. The Chad Brown-trained colt broke from the No. 4 post at 5-2 odds but fell off the pace to dead last nearing the far turn before charging through traffic into space at the top of the stretch. Zandon chased down Emmanuel before flying past Smile Happy for his second careerwin in four starts on a cold,overcast day.

Grand National

Amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen had quite the retirement ride in Liverpool, England. Waley-Cohen, 39, marked his final race as a jockey by winning the world-famous Grand National rac aboard a big outsider in 50-1 shot Noble Yeats. In a dramatic end to a race run before a crowd of around 70,000 spectators, Noble Yeats reached the last of the 30 fences neck-andneck with 15-2 favorite Any SecondNow.