[Kasept]

Shagaf, Flexibility confirmed for Wood Memorial

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Beating the rain that fell this morning at Belmont Park, trainer Chad Brown worked a trio of his 3-year-olds at 7:40 a.m. with an eye on final-round Kentucky Derby preps. Shortly after the works, Brown confirmed that Grade 3 Gotham Stakes winner Shagaf and Grade 3 Jerome Stakes winner Flexibility will both run in the Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 9.

Working as a team, Shadwell Stable's Shagaf and Klaravich Stables and William H. Lawrence's Flexibility covered four furlongs on the training track in :48 2/5. Brown said the colts, who started and finished on even terms, got their first eighth of a mile in :13 1/5.

"This is the first week that I worked them together," Brown said. "Shagaf and Flexibility are generally good work horses. They had plenty left and were well within themselves - pretty even work. That would be a normal half-mile work for them."

The undefeated Shagaf will be ridden in the Wood Memorial by Irad Ortiz Jr., who piloted him to a 1 1/4-length victory in the Gotham.

In the weeks since the Gotham, Shagaf has been schooled at the starting gate, as well as practice sessions loading onto a van. Brown said the colt has done very well in both exercises.

"The horse is a little quirky; particularly with tight spots," Brown explained. "If he decides he doesn't want to do something, he will stick his toes in there. He won't get mean or hot or aggressive, he just won't do it. Going into the starting gate was a problem early on and loading into vans was a problem. Sometimes going into the saddling enclosure is a problem, but we can avoid that by saddling outside of it. But, unfortunately, we can't avoid the starting gate or the van.

"My staff and the gate crew have been working with him and he has made a lot of progress," Brown continued. "We've been schooling him going into the van since the Gotham, and he has been going right in, and the same with the gate. All in all, I'm proud of the horse's progress mentally in terms of being agreeable to the stuff we want him to do."

Flexibility, who will be ridden by Manny Franco in the Wood Memorial, is coming off a layoff. After winning the Jerome to open his 3-year-old campaign on Jan. 2, Flexibility finished fourth as the favorite in the Grade 3 Withers at Aqueduct on Jan. 30.

"I think Flexibility can be competitive in the Wood, particularly with the way he is training - he is training really well," Brown remarked. "I think the layoff has done him well. As far as where he needs to be numbers-wise to compete with the top group of 3-year-old dirt horses, I think the race will do him well for his next start after that. If he is able to run good enough in the Wood, and grab some more [qualifying] points for the Derby, I think his second start off the layoff will be his best.

"We're trying to accomplish two things here," Brown continued. "Obviously, we would love the horse to win, but if he just runs well, and earns his way into the Derby with both a good performance and points, I'm inclined to take him to Kentucky, knowing his second start off a layoff will be his better start."

Brown indicated that his other Wood Memorial nominee, My Man Sam, who worked a half-mile in :50 Saturday at Belmont, will ship Sunday to Keeneland to run in the Blue Grass Stakes on April 9.