First Look: 2 Kentucky Derby preps are among 5 key stakes

The new year’s first two Kentucky Derby 2025 points preps coming Saturday could not be more different.

The $250,000 Smarty Jones, a two-turn, 1 1/16-mile race, produced eventual Derby winner Mystik Dan this year. He finished fifth at Oaklawn and was one of the three graduates who would run for the roses. In fact, the Smarty Jones has yielded four top-six Derby finishers from its last three runnings.

Kentucky Derby odds: 97 horses are in Nevada futures.

Conversely, the $150,000 Jerome is a one-turn mile at Aqueduct. Run for nearly 1 1/2 centuries in the fall, the race was moved in 2013 to its current place on the calendar to make it a points prep. In that time the Jerome has produced only two Derby starters. Vyjack in 2013 and Firenze Fire in 2018 finished outside the top 10 at Churchill Downs.

The Derby qualifiers are among five noteworthy stakes this weekend, including three at Santa Anita.

Saturday

Smarty Jones, Oaklawn, 1 1/16 miles, 3-year-olds, Kentucky Derby 10-5-3-2-1 points race

Coal Battle already has 10 Derby qualifying points thanks to his victory 17 days ago in the Remington Springboard Mile. The son of Coal Front wheels right back in search of his third consecutive win, all in stakes, for trainer Lonnie Briley. Moving from turf to dirt, Kale’s Angel finally had a trouble-free trip when he won the 5 1/2-furlong Advent Stakes by 5 3/4 lengths Dec. 6 at Oaklawn. Debut winner Hot Property goes for trainer Brad Cox, who is looking for his fourth win in the last five runnings of this race.

2025 Smarty Jones

Jerome, Aqueduct, 1 mile, 3-year-olds, Kentucky Derby 10-5-3-2-1 points race

Studlydoright already has seven races in his past performances highlighted by a second-place finish during the Saratoga summer in the Sanford (G3) and a win Nov. 2 in the Nashua over the same course and distance as the Jerome. Last out the Nyquist colt was a distant fourth in the Dec. 7 Remsen (G2). McAfee, a son of Cloud Computing trained by Rick Dutrow, was a 10-1 winner on debut racing six furlongs and then second by a head going a one-turn mile, both last month at Churchill Downs.

San Vicente (G2), Santa Anita, 7 furlongs, 3-year-olds

Bullard comes into the new year with a 2-for-2 record, most recently closing on a torrid pace to win the seven-furlong Bob Hope (G3) by 4 3/4 lengths Nov. 17 at Del Mar. A partnership led by Vinnie Viola owns the Gun Runner colt who cost $675,000 as a yearling. Bullard and Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) winner Journalism, the 17-1 Las Vegas favorite for Kentucky Derby 2025, give trainer Michael McCarthy a strong one-two punch from the foal class of 2022. Barnes looked green in a victorious debut last month in trainer Bob Baffert’s return to Churchill Downs. If he goes here, the $3.2 million Into Mischief colt would aim to come out of the race as the new 2-for-2 sophomore.

Las Flores (G3), Santa Anita, 6 furlongs, fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

Pushiness will be asked again to step up from being a stakes winner against state-breds. McCarthy tried her in the 2023 Del Mar Futurity (G1) only to see her finish seventh. Owner Mike Repole’s soon-to-be 4-year-old Kantharos filly wilted to third as the odds-on favorite last month against older Cal-breds in the Betty Grable at Del Mar. Richi was a four-time group winner in her native Chile before she came north to Baffert. About to turn a young 5, the Practical Joke filly has not raced since June, when she placed second making her U.S. debut in the seven-furlong Desert Stormer at Santa Anita.

Sunday

Santa Ynez, Santa Anita, 7 furlongs, 3-year-old fillies

Silent Law was an odds-on favorite in all three of her 2-year-old starts for Baffert. The daughter of Tiz the Law ran away by 10 lengths in her five-furlong debut in September at Los Alamitos and won by 3 1/2 in the six-furlong Anoakia in October at Santa Anita. She came up 1 1/4 lengths short when she finished second Nov. 16 in the seven-furlong Desi Arnaz. Practical Dream, who won that day at Del Mar, has split two meetings with Silent Law. She finished second to her new rival in the Anoakia. The Practical Joke filly trained by Tim Yakteen cuts back from a wilting sixth in the 1 1/16-mile Starlet (G2) on Dec. 7 at Los Al. The Santa Ynez was downgraded this month from a Grade 3 to a listed stakes.