Baffert loaded with Derby Day starters

[moses]

I’ve got a question about Rodriguez and the Wood. Maybe someone who understands DRF more can explain.

DRF lists the Wood as favoring closers with the C designation. My recollection of that race was that Rodriguez got a largely uncontested lead. Watching it again, Captain Cook pressed him a bit but the fractions don’t seem crazy fast. The timeform pace figures were fast for the first 1/4 and moderately fast for the remaining fractions.

That day, Aqueduct had 6/13 races where the winner went wire to wire. Another 5 of the winners were close to the pace. I don’t know if there was any track bias but it certainly seems like Rodriguez wasn’t running against a bias of any sort.

Really questioning that C designation. And maybe this question is more about Grande than Rodriguez. I don’t like the pace scenario for Rodriguez in the Derby but seems like Grande’s Wood performance might have been a pretty good one.