Calvin Borel will be aboard Always in a Tiz in the $1 million Wood Memorial (gr. I) at Aqueduct Racetrack, trainer Dominick Schettino confirmed March 28.
MeB Racing Stables' 3-year-old Tiznow colt enters the 1 1/8-mile Wood off a fifth-place finish in the Southwest Stakes (gr. III) at Oaklawn Park over a sloppy track at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 18. Always in a Tiz posted a five-furlong breeze in 1:03.35 on the Belmont Park training track March 28.
"Anthony Bonomo Jr., who is the racing manager for MeB Stables, and I discussed it before making the decision," said Schettino of the move to Borel. "He knows how to win the big races and he knows how to win the Derby."
The 47-year-old Borel, who scored his 5,000th career victory March 7 at Oaklawn Park, has won three of the past six Derbies: in 2007 with Street Sense , in 2009 with 50-1 shot Mine That Bird, and in 2010 with Super Saver .
Borel's last appearance at Aqueduct came in 2010, when he was second on Jackson Bend in the Wood Memorial and second on Hurricane Ike in the Bay Shore.
Paco Lopez had ridden Always in a Tiz in both of his starts this year.
Always in a Tiz, a $175,000 yearling purchase at the Fasig-Tipton sale at Saratoga in 2011, broke his maiden Sept. 3 at Saratoga Race Course. He finished second to Vyjack in the Traskwood overnight stakes Dec. 9 at Aqueduct and was third by a neck Jan. 21 in Oaklawn's Smarty Jones stakes.