—Apr 7— With three major stakes races for three-year-olds occurring today and the Arkansas Derby scheduled for next Saturday, April 14, the battle to earn a spot in the 144th Kentucky Derby begins in earnest. One hundred qualifying points are up for grabs in each of the four races beginning with the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, the Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita, and Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn. As things stand now, the top 20 horses in Derby qualifying points are shown in the table below.
| Rank | Horses | Points |
| 1 | Principe Guilherme | 121 |
| 2 | Catholic Boy | 100 |
| 3 | My Boy Jack | 74 |
| 4 | McKinzie | 60 |
| 5 | Promises Fulfilled | 60 |
| 6 | Quip | 60 |
| 7 | Avery Island | 54 |
| 8 | Noble Indy | 50 |
| 9 | Runaway Ghost | 50 |
| 10 | Title Ready | 50 |
| 11 | Hofburg | 45 |
| 12 | Audible | 30 |
| 13 | Bravazo | 30 |
| 14 | Solomini | 22 |
| 15 | Vino Rosso | 22 |
| 16 | Bolt d’Oro | 20 |
| 17 | Good Magic | 20 |
| 18 | Sky Promise | 20 |
| 19 | Untamed Domain | 20 |
| 20 | High North | 15 |
Top contenders like Combatant, Core Beliefs, Enticed, Flameaway, Free Drop Billy, Instilled Regard, Justify, Magnum Moon and Mendelssohn don’t even crack the Top 20. With so much on the line, trainers are understandably anxious.
Justify, a chestnut colt by Scat Daddy with a tremendous stride, looked great winning the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields in mid-February at odds of 1/20, but it represents his only start this year, and the margin of victory (just two lengths) in a non-graded race against so-so company leaves room for concern. When asked about his colt’s Derby prospects, trainer Bob Baffert’s quipped “It’s not too late!” which falls short of an endorsement. He has earned only 10 points and will need to win the Santa Anita Derby to be assured of a sport in the Derby.
Purchased for $1,050,000 at a March 2-year-old in training sale, Kentucky-bred Instilled Regard was an early Kentucky Derby favorite following his dominant win in the Lecomte Stakes, but since then finished fourth then last in the Risen Star and Private Terms Stakes, respectively. He has earned just 15 points to date.
Todd Pletcher’s Magnum Moon has been a disaster to date, losing all three of his starts as the odds-on favorite. He was fifth in an allowance race at Gulfstream in his debut, despite being bet down to 1/5 on the board. He followed that effort with a third place finish in the Swale Stakes as the 3/5 favorite, before regressing to finish fifth in the Rebel as the 2/5 favorite. Consequently, he faces the daunting task of having to win the Arkansas Derby, beating the undefeated Quip, to have any shot at the Derby.
But the situation is little better for every horse in the top twenty. Indeed, only Principe Guilherme, who annexed the Grade II Louisiana Derby (at 20/1) in his last start after finishing second in the Risen Start, is likely to make the cut regardless of the outcomes of the upcoming races. With 100 points offered to the winner of each race, the Kentucky Derby field is likely to be decided by the winners of those races.
Retro Horse Racing Game 