The Wood Memorial, contested April 21 as the final New York prep to the Kentucky Derby, established Sham as a formidable rival to Secretariat. Although Secretariat's stable mate Angle Light set the pace and won, Sham lost by just a head and outfinished Secretariat by 4 lengths. Secretariat and Sham, at odds of 3:2 and 5:2, respectively, clearly established themselves as the betting favorite and second choice for the Kentucky Derby to be contested May 5, the first Saturday of May.