Dutrow Eyes Wood with Captain Cook, McAfee

[Wandering Eyes]

St. Elias Stable's Captain Cook (Practical Joke), winner of Saturday's Withers Stakes at the Big A, is expected to make his next start in the GII Wood Memorial Apr. 5, according to trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. Sunday. The Wood awards the top-five finishers 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby points, respectively.

“He's got a big step forward next time when we run him back in the Wood, but he's got plenty of time and we love that–so does he,” Dutrow, Jr. said. “He'll be running back over a track he's won two races over, and it seems like he's all lined up to run big again, as long as he stays the way he is now.”

Captain Cook was sixth in his career debut in a six-furlong maiden at Churchill Downs for conditioner Norm Casse before selling to St. Elias for $410,000 at the Keeneland Horses of Racing Age Sale in November.

In his most recent start prior to the Withers, the bay ran off to an impressive 9 1/4-length score in a sloppy seven-furlong maiden at the Big A on Dec. 28.

“I don't care about Beyers,” Dutrow, Jr. said of the colt's latest race. “He's a very relaxed horse, and we're very lucky to have him. He's a pleasant surprise. He was running against better horses and when he broke his maiden with us, he liked the track well enough, but we don't really know if he beat anything that day. Facing these guys [Saturday], there were horses that had the credentials to run big. Our horse just ran a big race, man.”

He added, “We're lucky that he is the way he is in a race,” Dutrow, Jr. added of the colt's relaxed nature. “He doesn't have a lot of size to him, and he's going to need to conserve everything he's got, but man, he does that. When Manny [Franco] hopped off of that horse, he said, 'Rick, I'm starting to dream.'”

Also possible for the Wood, Black Type Thoroughbreds, Swinbank Stables, Judy Hicks and Campeche Stables' McAfee (Cloud Computing) continues to work his way back from a small infection that forced him to scratch from the Jan. 4 Jerome at the Big A. The half-brother to 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna made a successful debut on Nov. 1 to annex a six-furlong restricted maiden at Churchill Downs before a head defeat to finish second in a one-mile starter allowance on Nov. 24 at the Louisville oval.

McAfee had his first work in almost one month when covering a half-mile in :52 seconds flat over the Belmont dirt training track Saturday.

“Oh, we're excited about that guy,” Dutrow, Jr. said. “He's doing great. After Emily [Ellingwood, who frequently exercised MGISW White Abarrio during his tenure with Dutrow, Jr.] would breeze White Abarrio for us in California, I could see her molars because she was smiling so much–that's what happened [Saturday] when she breezed McAfee. She just loved the feeling the horse gave her.”

While Dutrow, Jr. did not commit to a firm plan in the coming weeks for McAfee, but did say the colt could also be on his way to the nine-furlong Kentucky Derby prep.

“We have a hopeful plan that if he stays the way he is, it could set him up for the Wood and we could have two horses–two live horses–for that race,” Dutrow, Jr. said. “That's never happened to me before, and I like to dream, too.”

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