A pair of Laurel-based sophomores saw their paths converge two weeks ago in the Virginia Derby, where they ran virtually identical races while never far apart.

But they’re headed in different directions now.

Omaha Omaha and Studlydoright finished a neck and a nose apart in the $500,000 Virginia Derby, a race in which they were right next to each other for the final six furlongs.

But that margin was also the difference between third and fifth, an $82,000 payday and a $15,000 payday – and 15 Kentucky Derby points versus five.

Omaha Omaha finished on the good side of that coin flip, now has 26 Kentucky Derby points, and is expected to make a bid for a Kentucky Derby berth in next Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. The Wood Memorial offers 100 Derby points to the winner.

With 26 points already in the bank, Omaha Omaha will likely secure a Kentucky Derby berth with a top four finish over an Aqueduct surface on which he’s already run second, in the Jerome, and third, in the Withers.

“I thought he ran good [in the Virginia Derby],” said Michael Gorham, who trains Omaha Omaha for owner-breeder On Your Left Racing. “I think the track probably worked against us, but the winner was impressive.”

Winner American Promise pressed favored Getaway Car into submission and then drew away to win by nearly eight lengths. Omaha Omaha, however, was just three parts of a length out of second, which went to Render Judgment.

“Probably should have been second,” Gorham lamented, “but he ran great.”

Omaha Omaha was back on the worktab for the first time since the Virginia Derby March 29, when he breezed a half-mile in 50 seconds flat, which ranked 20^th among 46 to work at the distance at Laurel that morning.

While allowing that Omaha Omaha, a Virginia-bred son of Audible, is “not an impressive workhorse,” Gorham said that he was pleased with the work and expected to head to New York next weekend. Regular pilot Raul Mena is expected to have the return mount.

Omaha Omaha has two wins and $209,800 in earnings from seven career starts. His only out-of-the-money finish came on debut, on the Delaware Park turf.

With his complete lack of early foot, Omaha Omaha is pretty pace-dependent. Versus higher level horses, that generally means he will need a torrid pace to exhaust the horses with more tactical speed. Of course, one race that often develops in precisely that way is the Kentucky Derby.

“With his style, he’s gonna grind it out,” Gorham said. “Probably won’t win a lot of races, but he’ll be there in a lot of them, hit the board in a lot of them, and in these bigger races, if you’re one-two-three, [you can be successful].”

Studlydoright, a Maryland-bred Nyquist colt, ran a virtually identical race to Omaha Omaha at Colonial Downs. He and that rival were sixth and seventh, respectively, both 7 ¼ lengths off the lead after a half-mile. After three quarters they were fifth and sixth, eight lengths back. With a furlong to go, they were sixth and fifth, both 7 ½ lengths back.

In the end, Studlydoright finished a quarter-length behind Omaha Omaha and just one length out of second.

“I think he ran a lot better race in the Virginia Derby,” Studlydoright’s trainer Jerry Robb said. “I mean, he got beat a couple noses for third, or second, for that matter.”

Studlydoright won three times as a juvenile, including victories in the Tremont Stakes at Saratoga and the Nashua at Aqueduct. He also was a closing second in the Grade 3 Sanford at the Spa.

The Virginia Derby was his fourth consecutive fourth- or fifth-place finish, three of those having come this year in Kentucky Derby prep races. But after Studly’s recent troubled trips, Robb was happy to see his charge with a cleaner trip that had him slugging it out for a top-three slot.

For all that, Studlydoright has just 11 Kentucky Derby points and would need a one-two finish in one of the remaining 100-point preps to qualify for the Run for the Roses. Robb said he and owners Mens Grille Racing will pass.

“He was never really on the Derby trail,” Robb said. “Pointed to the Preakness, maybe. We’ll probably wait, run here, and if he runs good, wait for the horses to thin out and maybe try the Preakness, If he fits.”

Robb said the most likely next spot for his charge, who was bred by Glenangus Farm LLC and was a $110,000 yearling purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic fall yearling sale in 2023, is the $150,000 Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel Park April 19. That race provides free entry to the Preakness to the winner.

There he may tangle with another locally-connected horse, the Pennsylvania-bred Surfside Moon, who is trained by Chuckie Lawrence for Manor Stable and Mair Lee Stables and most recently was second in the Withers.