War Pass, Robert V. LaPenta’s 2007 juvenile champion, breezed a half mile this morning in :47.80 at Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, as he prepares for his next start – Aqueduct’s 84th running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Wood Memorial on Saturday, April 5. The Wood Memorial will be race 9 (5:15 p.m., NBC) of an 11-race card that begins at 1 p.m.

The work further added to the puzzle of his last-place finish in the Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs on March 15. It was the first loss in six starts for the son of 1994 sprint champion Cherokee Run. While some suggest his pedigree has distance limitations, Cherokee Run’s sire, Runaway Groom, won the 1982 Travers at Saratoga Race Course.

“The work went terrific, and we’re glad to have another chance at the Wood Memorial,” said Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito, who won the Wood Memorial previously with Thirty Six Red (1990), Adonis (1999) and Bellamy Road (2005).

War Pass’s jockey is Cornelio Velasquez, who won the Wood Memorial last year with Nobiz Like Shobiz.

Zito, who is expected in on Thursday, has seven horses nominated to the Wood Memorial, and may also decide to run Four Roses Thoroughbred’s Anak Nakal in the nine-furlong race. A son of 1998 Belmont Stakes winner Victory Gallop, Anak Nakal was second in the Grade 3 Nashua here last October and then won the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs. He is 0-for-2 this year, badly beaten in both the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park and the Grade 2 Rebel at Oaklawn Park.

Meanwhile, stablemate Commentator worked a half-mile in :48.20, handily. Owned by Tracy Farmer, the 7-year-old Distorted Humor gelding is nominated to Aqueduct’s 108th running of the Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap at seven furlongs, also on Wood Memorial Day.

Although they have barns at Belmont Park, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and trainer Barclay Tagg will ship their respective Wood Memorial entries, Court Vision and Tale of Ekati, to Aqueduct next week.

Mott is in search of his first Wood Memorial victory, and IEAH Stable and WinStar Farm’s Court Vision scored his biggest victory here at Aqueduct when he won the Grade 2, nine-furlong Remsen last fall.

Tagg got a big victory from Big Truck in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby and now looks for a second straight victory in the Wood Memorial with Charles E. Fipke’s Tale of Ekati. Tagg won the 2007 Wood Memorial with Nobiz Like Shobiz..

Also heading to Aqueduct will be WinStar Farm’s Spring at Last. Trainer Doug O’Neill plans to run him in the Carter.

The 5-year-old Silver Deputy horse is on a three-race winning streak, with his last victory coming in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park on February 2.

Friday, Aqueduct will offer advance wagering on Saturday’s Dubai International Racing Carnival, featuring the $6 million Dubai World Cup and 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin.

On Saturday, March 29, Big A fans can bet on Dubai races 2-4 via Telebet/internet wagering only; Race 5 will be Telebet/internet and Self-Service wagering only. Races 6-7 will be available for wagering at all windows.