Road to Kentucky Derby 2023: Standings after 20 points preps

Photo: NYRA

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The leaderboard for Kentucky Derby 2023 has three new names in the top 10 after Saturday's points preps.

Hit Show and Litigate are new to the leaderboard after winning the Withers (G3) and Sam F. Davis (G3), respectively. Arctic Arrogance jumped to No. 8 from No. 13 for his second-place finish in the Withers.

Another Derby points prep Saturday was the El Camino Real, which was won by Chase the Chaos. He earned 10 points for the win, but he's not assigned a ranking by Churchill Downs because he's not an early nominee for the Triple Crown. Horses still can be nominated with a late payment of $6,000 through March 27.

The rest of the road to the Kentucky Derby consists mostly of races that offer 50 or 100 points to the winner, likely guaranteeing them an opportunity to run for the roses at Churchill Downs on May 6.

Those bigger points races start with Saturday's Risen Star (G2) at Fair Grounds, which offers 50-20-15-10-5 points to the five top finishers and will put a new name atop the standings.

Here is the complete, updated Kentucky Derby 2023 leaderboard.

 Rank  Horse Points  Trainer  Earnings *
  1Forte40Todd Pletcher$1,545,650
  2Instant Coffee32Brad Cox   $385,065
  3Rocket Can20Bill Mott   $150,350
  4Hit Show20Brad Cox   $137,500
  5Litigate20Todd Pletcher   $120,000
  6Curly Jack17Tom Amoss   $348,120
  7Blazing Sevens16Chad Brown   $411,000
  8Arctic Arrogance16Linda Rice   $130,000
  9Jace's Road15Brad Cox   $100,350
10Red Route One13Steve Asmussen   $219,375
11Victory Formation10Brad Cox   $152,750
12Dubyhnell10Danny Gargan   $137,500
13Practical Move10Tim Yakteen   $132,000
14Lugan Knight10Michael McCarthy     $82,500
 x-Chase the Chaos10Ed Moger Jr.     $81,000
15General Banker  9James Ferraro     $48,000
16Two Phil's  8Larry Rivelli   $195,850
17Shadow Dragon  8Bill Mott     $48,500
18Denington  8Kenny McPeek     $43,110
19Hayes Strike  7Kenny McPeek     $95,750
20Andiamo a Firenze  7Kelly Breen     $72,000
21Confidence Game  7Keith Desormeaux     $28,730
22Frosted Departure  6Kenny McPeek   $207,112
23West Coast Cowboy  6Saffie Joseph Jr.     $24,250
24Classic Car Wash  6Mark Casse     $20,000
25Verifying  4Brad Cox   $140,000
26Loggins  4Brad Cox   $106,500
27Honed  4Kenny McPeek     $65,700
28Angel of Empire  4Brad Cox     $47,000
29Legacy Isle  4Rohan Crichton     $40,325
30Raise Cain  4Ben Colebrook     $39,750
31Sun Thunder  4Kenny McPeek     $35,250
32Classic Legacy  4Bill Mott     $10,000
33Gulfport  3Steve Asmussen   $267,070
34Tuskegee Airmen  3John Servis     $90,000
 x-Echo Again  3Steve Asmussen     $46,625
35Determinedly  3Mark Casse     $20,500
 x-Harcyn  3Steve Sherman     $12,000
 x-Packs a Wahlop  2Jeff Mullins   $196,000
 x-Zydeceaux  2Ramon Minguet   $111,000
 x-Passarando  2Steven Specht     $64,450
 x-Prove Right  2James Chapman     $37,375
36Western Ghent  2D. Wayne Lukas     $35,110
 x-Gunflash  2Karl Broberg     $24,000
 x-Quick to Accuse  2Horacio De Paz     $15,000
37Il Miracolo  2Antonio Sano     $12,535
38Tall Boy  2Leandro Mora     $12,000
39Neural Network  2Chad Brown       $9,000
 x-Bromley  2Paulo Lobo       $4,000
 x-Andthewinnneris  1Wayne Catalano   $248,363
 x-Campfire Creed  1Danny Pish     $77,000
 x-How Did He Do That  1Steve Asmussen     $50,400
 x-Midnight Trouble  1Peter Walder     $35,000
 x-Man Child  1Ryan Hanson     $30,000
40Champions Dream  1Danny Gargan     $20,000
 * Non-restricted stakes   
 x-Not an early Triple Crown nominee  

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