Wood Memorial S. Presented by Resorts World Casino

When Jerry Crawford and his wife, Linda, first saw a son of Uncle Mo out of the Pulpit mare Callingmissbrown at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, it wasn't a full-blown case of love at first sight.

But it was pretty close.

"I liked a lot of things about him and so did my wife, who helps me at the sales," said Crawford, the CEO of the Donegal Racing partnership. "We have a really good selection team but we make the final decisions and this horse looked like he was out of balance as many of them are at that stage of his life. Our thought was he could balance out and really be something."

About a year-and-a-half after Donegal bought the colt they named Mo Donegal for $250,000, everything has indeed balanced out quite well.

Mo Donegal punched his ticket to the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve as he rallied strongly in the final furlong for trainer Todd Pletcher and beat Early Voting by a neck to capture the $750,000 Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by Resorts World Casino for 3-year-olds April 9 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

"He got a great ride from (Joel Rosario) and Todd did a great training job," Crawford said about the winner of 3 of 5 starts with earnings of $621,800. "In theory, 'Mo' had to be much the best to win today. I was here at Aqueduct all day yesterday and today and no one closed against the speed bias. When you consider how this horse came from way back, I think his performance is even better than it appeared."

For the throng of about 120 joyous Donegal partners who turned out at Aqueduct and jammed the winner's circle, the victory was more than good enough, given what it secured.

Going into Saturday, Mo Donegal was just 26th on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 12 points and needed a big effort to dream about Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May. But after rallying from last in the field of eight and erasing Early Voting's two-length lead at the eighth pole, Mo Donegal picked up 100 qualifying points to vault into fourth in points with 112 and can now safely point toward the May 7 opening leg of the Triple Crown at a 1 1/4-mile distance that should be well within his scope.

"We feel very good right now. We just have to keep him healthy and happy and I couldn't be more excited about the Kentucky Derby," Crawford said.  "This is why our partners do this. We focus on classic races and this will be our fourth Derby horse in 13 years which is pretty amazing considering what we spend opposed to what some other people spend."

In trying to become the first Wood winner since Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000 to win the Run for the Roses, he will also attempt to become the first winner of Aqueduct's Grade 2 Remsen Stakes to add a Kentucky Derby win to his resume since Thunder Gulch prevailed in the 1995 Run for the Roses. Without doubt, he'll have a large rooting section behind him as he tries to break those droughts.

"The pressure I feel in races like this is that I don't want to disappoint our Donegal partners," Crawford said.

Mo Donegal did earn a spot in the record books as he became the seventh Wood winner for Pletcher, tying him with the famed "Sunny Jim" Fitsimmons for the most wins in New York's definitive Kentucky Derby prep.

"What I feel best about is a terrific win for the owners, Donegal Racing. That's what always gives our stable a lot of joy is when we're able to win big races for our owners," said Pletcher who was at Keeneland Saturday, leaving the saddling of Mo Donegal to assistant Byron Hughes. "He was resolute. He kept coming and I was thrilled to see him get there. He was able to wear down a horse that was loose on the lead. So I thought it was a big race."

Bred by Ashview Farm and Colts Neck Farm and consigned to the Keeneland sale by Ashview, Mo Donegal is the second of three foals by Callingmissbrown and her lone stakes winner to date. She also has a 2-year-old Into Mischief  filly named Prank, who sold for $500,000 to Solis/Litt (Frank Brothers, agent), from Ashview's consignment at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

While Mo Donegal will be moving on to Churchill Downs, trainer Chad Brown was non-committal about Klaravich Stables' Early Voting, who made just his third career start Saturday.

 A winner of the 1 1/8-mile Grade 3 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct in his last start, the son of Gun Runner carved out the early fractions of :47.75 and 1:11.59 on a fast track and put away all of his pursuers, with one notable exception.

"He ran a great race. He was second best today but that was no disgrace. He made his own trip and had every chance to win but was nailed at the wire by a really nice horse. I'll talk to (owner Seth Klarman) and try to figure out what to do with him. I have to digest what happens everywhere today and, first and foremost, look at the horse and then we'll put it together to see if he would have a reasonable chance to win the Derby. All along we said we're not interested in going to the Derby unless we have a realistic chance to win the race and based on his limited experience and such, I'm not sure. But he has the points, so probably we'll go, but let's see how he comes out of it," said Brown, who did not rule out waiting for the May 21 Preakness Stakes with the 3-year-old colt who lost for the first time in three career starts.

Through the 40 points he picked up Saturday, Early Voting is 16th with 50 points in the race for 20 starting spots in the Kentucky Derby.

Of course, Brown's view of the Kentucky Derby took on a different perspective a few minutes later when Jeff Drown's Zandon rallied impressively to win the Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland to become his top Triple Crown hopeful.

Zandon finished a nose behind Mo Donegal after a spirited and controversial stretch duel in the Remsen last December.

After Mo Donegal ($6.30), the 2-1 second choice, crossed the wire in 1:47.96 for the 1 1/8 miles (the fastest time in the race since Bellamy Road's epic 2005 romp in 1:47), Daniel Alonso's Skippylongstocking finished 3 1/2 lengths behind Early Voting for third.

The son of Exaggerator trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. picked up 20 qualifying points but is 31st on the Leaderboard and will need a slew of defections to run in the Kentucky Derby. Fourth-place finisher A.P.'s Secret picked up 10 points.

Grade 3 Gotham Stakes winner Morello, the 9-5 favorite, hit the inside of the gate at the start and was eighth after the opening quarter-mile. Though he never entered contention and finished sixth, he is 17th on the Leaderboard and can still run in the Kentucky Derby if trainer Steve Asmussen and his connections elect to do so