How the Derby leaderboard would look with Baffert horses

Photo: Eclipse Sportswire

If Bob Baffert's horses were eligible to earn points in Kentucky Derby qualifiers, he would have three colts in the top 10 on the leaderboard.

One of those, Corniche, would be No. 6, with 30 points. But he has not raced since winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and has no published works. Newgrange, however, would be at No. 8, with 20 points after wins in the Sham (G3) and Southwest (G3). And Doppelganger would be No. 10 after his second-place finish in the San Felipe (G2).

The cut-off line to make the starting gate on the first Saturday in May has never been above 40, so Newgrange likely could have made the cut with a runner-up effort in a 50-point race or a third-place finish in a 100-point race.

Baffert is banned from Churchill Downs Inc. tracks for two years, and his horses are ineligible to earn Kentucky Derby points. The Hall of Fame trainer also was suspended for 90 days by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, a penalty that is subject to a court review next week.

Both suspensions stemmed from Medina Spirit's failed drug test after the Kentucky Derby, and Baffert has been trying to have both suspensions overturned.

Meanwhile, any points his entries would have earned in Derby preps are vacated, meaning nobody else picks them up.

The table below shows what the leaderboard looks like with and without Baffert-trained horses, who are shown in boldface.

Note: This report has been updated to include Doppelganger.

With BaffertWithout Baffert  HorsePoints  Stakes earnings*
  1  1Epicenter64  $340,000
  2  2Un Ojo54  $655,000
  3  3Simplification54  $378,150
  4  4Morello50  $220,000
  4  4Forbidden Kingdom50  $220,000
  6  xCorniche30$1,220,000
  7  6Smile Happy30  $314,410
  8  xNewgrange20  $513,334
  9  7Ethereal Road20  $200,000
10  xDoppelganger20    $92,000
11  8In Due Time20    $76,800
12  9Dean's List20    $60,000
1310Barber Road18  $339,700
1411Classic Causeway16  $246,100
1512Pappacap14  $562,000
16xMessier14  $203,730
1713Zandon14    $90,000
1814White Abarrio12  $186,850
1915Mo Deongal12  $161,500
20xBlackadder10    $60,000
2116Tiz the Bomb10  $661,210
2217Rattle N Roll10  $300,000
2318Make It Big10  $240,000
2419Slow Down Andy10  $184,000
2520Major General10  $177,525
2621Dash Attack10  $175,834
2722Early Voting10  $137,500
2823Call Me Midnight10  $123,500
2924Courvoisier10    $83,750
3025Happy Jack10    $52,000
3126Golden Code10    $36,000
3227Kavod  7  $248,500
3328Commandperformance  6  $200,000
3429Mackinnon  5  $296,000
35xRockefeller  5  $122,300
3630Life is Great  5    $48,000
3731Emmanuel  5    $19,200
3832Pioneer of Medina  5    $16,000
3933Giant Game  4  $182,500
4034Cabo Spirit  4  $112,000
4135Stolen Base  4    $95,700
4236Tough to Tame  4    $57,750
4337Shipsational  4    $40,000
4438Smarten Up  4    $31,250
4539Ben Diesel  3    $97,983
4640Cooke Creek  2    $79,250
47xBarossa*  2    $56,000
4841Red Knobs  2    $53,075
4942Midnight Chrome  2    $32,500
5043Gilded Age  2    $30,000
5144Ignitis  2    $29,643
52xWharton  2    $24,000
5345Volcanic  2    $21,500
5446My Prankster  1  $121,380
5547American Sanctuary  1  $104,600
5648Strike Hard  1    $42,250
5749Rich Strike  1    $17,750
5850Grantham  1    $15,000
5951Bourbon Heist  1    $14,438
6052Trafalgar  1    $12,000
6153Sir London  1    $12,000
6254Galt  1    $12,000
6355Unbridled Bomber  1    $10,250
6456Il Bellator  1      $6,000
  *Now trained by Rodolphe Brisett *Non-restricted stakes

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