Civil Liberty (Independence Hall), third-place finisher in last summer's GI Del Mar Futurity and a maiden of four career starts, will look to graduate in the GII Wood Memorial S. at Aqueduct Apr. 4. The 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial offers 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points.
“That's definitely our goal,” trainer Doug O'Neill said of the Wood Memorial. “He acts like the distance won't be a problem for him at all. It wasn't a problem for his pops–his dad could run the distance. We're excited about him.”
Carrying the colors of Great Friends Stables and Mark Davis, Civil Liberty was a close second behind 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Crude Velocity (Beau Liam) going 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita Mar. 7.
“It was a great effort,” O'Neill said. “It was a strong field of maidens, and he ran a winning race. I'm very proud of him. He came out of it in great shape.”
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