Sole Volante Points to Wood Memorial

Owner Dean Reeves, who operates Reeves Thoroughbred Racing alongside his wife, Patti, believes it is important to prepare a horse for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) on a surface similar to Churchill Downs. That is one reason why graded stakes winner Sole Volante will point toward the April 4 Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by Resorts World Casino (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Patrick Biancone and owned by Reeves in partnership with Andie Biancone and Limelight Stables, the 3-year-old Karakontie  gelding ranks ninth on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 30 points.

Sole Volante earned 10 points when he won the Feb. 8 Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs and another 20 points with a runner-up finish in the March 7 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2). He has never finished off the board in five starts and will look to add to his tally in the Wood Memorial, which offers 100-40-20-10 points to the top four finishers.

"He's a pretty neat horse, and he's been very consistent," Reeves said. "He's had three races where the (Beyer Speed Figures) were in the 90s, so that's pretty consistent. I like the fact he's shown a good closing kick, and I think that bodes well for a race like the Wood or the Derby when you've got that long finish. One of the reasons we're looking (at Aqueduct) is because we think the surface is similar to Churchill, and we have a good distance from the final turn to the wire." 

Sole Volante was acquired for $20,000 from the New Hope AB consignment to the 2019 Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. He was bred in Kentucky by Flaxman Holdings out of the Kingmambo mare Light Blow.

"It just shows that good horses can come from any price range, any place, any stallion, any broodmare," Reeves said. "That's what makes this business so much fun and as good as it is. It's all about the chase to find a good horse, whether it's $20,000 or $2 million."  

Reeves is also a part-owner of multiple graded stakes winner Tax, who was second in last year's Wood Memorial Presented by NYRA Bets to Tacitus. The Danny Gargan-trained son of Arch has not raced since running ninth in the Jan. 25 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by Runhappy (G1) at Gulfstream Park and has options for his next start.

"He's probably going to run at Keeneland or Oaklawn or maybe Charles Town," Reeves said, speaking respectively of the April 11 Ben Ali Stakes (G3), April 18 Oaklawn Handicap (G2), and April 18 Charles Town Classic (G2). "He had a good work the other day, and we'll probably decide where we'll go in the next couple of weeks." 

Tax, owned by Reeves in partnership with R. A. Hill Stable, Corms Racing Stable, and Hugh Lynch, last found the winner's circle in the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) in July at Saratoga Race Course.