Road to Kentucky Derby 2023: Standings after 31 points preps
With the first Kentucky Derby 2023 preps that offer 100 points to the winner and 40 to second, the leaderboard has a much different look.
After the weekend's Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks, Group 2 UAE Derby and Grade 3 Sunland Park Derby, five names have joined the top 10 of the standings.
Two Phil's is now in the No. 1 slot with 123 points after winning the Jeff Ruby. Louisiana Derby winner Kingsbarns and UAE Derby winner Derma Sotogake are at Nos. 2 and 3 for their wins at Fair Grounds and Meydan. Derma Sotogake is the second millionaire on the board after Saturday's win, and his owner said his next stop will be Churchill Downs on May 6.
The upset win by
The other new name in the top 10 is Jace's Road, ranked 10th after picking up 30 points for his third-place finish in the Louisiana Derby.
Forte dropped to fourth place, but he would regain the lead with a win or a runner-up effort in the Florida Derby (G2) on Saturday.
With 31 points preps in the books, six races remain on the road to the Kentucky Derby. Saturday's Arkansas Derby (G1) and Florida Derby (G1) each award 100 points to the winner.
The Wood Memorial (G2), Blue Grass (G1) and Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April 8 all have 100 points for the winner, and the last race in the series is the Lexington (G3), where the winner would earn 20 points.
A note about the table: Continuar, third in the UAE Derby, accepted an invitation to the Kentucky Derby for accruing 40 points in the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby series. On American points Continuar would rank 18th on the overall leaderboard with 30, but Churchill Downs removed him from that spot because of the automatic invitation. He is ranked as No. 20, and will hold that spot no matter what other horses earn in the coming weeks.
Kentucky Derby standings
Rank Horse Points Trainer Earnings * 1 Two Phil's 123 Larry Rivelli $643,850 2 Derma Sotogake 100 Hidetaka Otonashi $1,112,319 3 Kingsbarns 100 Todd Pletcher $600,000 4 Forte 90 Todd Pletcher $1,783,730 5 Practical Move 60 Tim Yakteen $372,000 6 Confidence Game 57 Keith Desormeaux $610,480 7 Angel of Empire 54 Brad Cox $287,000 8 Raise Cain 54 Ben Colebrook $204,750 x-Wild On Ice 50 Joel Marr $366,400 9 Tapit Trice 50 Todd Pletcher $210,000 10 Jace's Road 45 Brad Cox $200,350 11 Dura Erede 40 Manabu Ikezoe $774,897 12 Major Dude 40 Todd Pletcher $401,595 13 Rocket Can 40 Bill Mott $227,150 14 Disarm 40 Steve Asmussen $200,000 15 Sun Thunder 34 Kenny McPeek $132,250 16 Red Route One 33 Steve Asmussen $398,375 17 Instant Coffee 32 Brad Cox $385,065 18 Funtastic Again 30 Wesley Ward $150,116 19 Classic Car Wash 26 Mark Casse $100,000 20 Continuar Yoahiro Yahagi $289,954 21 General Banker 24 James Ferraro $84,000 22 Perriere 20 Yoichi Kuroiwa $332,805 23 Congruent 20 Antonio Sano $211,585 24 Hit Show 20 Brad Cox $137,500 25 Low Expectation 20 Antonio Garcia $130,680 26 Geaux Rocket Ride 20 Richard Mandella $80,000 27 Slip Mahoney 20 Brad Cox $60,000 28 Shopper's Revenge 20 Steve Asmussen $40,000 29 Wadsworth 20 Brad Cox $34,000 30 Classic Legacy 19 Bill Mott $45,000 31 Curly Jack 17 Tom Amoss $348,120 32 Blazing Sevens 16 Chad Brown $411,000 33 Arctic Arrogance 16 Linda Rice $130,000 34 Reincarnate 15 Tim Yakteen $149,500 x-Henry Q 15 Todd Fincher $119,400 35 Skinner 15 John Shirreffs $84,500 36 Cyclone Mischief 15 Dale Romans $44,525 37 Verifying 14 Brad Cox $184,750 38 Shadow Dragon 13 Bill Mott $60,020 x-How Did He Do That 11 Steve Asmussen $100,100 39 Victory Formation 10 Brad Cox $152,750 40 Dubyuhnell 10 Danny Gargan $137,500 x-Go Soldier Go 10 Fawzi Nass $132,062 41 Lugan Knight 10 Michael McCarthy $82,500 x-Chase the Chaos 10 Ed Moger Jr. $81,000 42 Tapit's Conquest 10 Brad Cox $26,000 43 Mage 10 Gustavo Delgado $19,200 44 Eyeing Clover 10 Brad Cox $18,000 45 Prairie Hawk 10 Saffie Joseph Jr. $17,500 x-Maker's Candy 10 Mike Maker $14,400 46 Scoobie Quando 8 Ben Colebrook $105,200 47 Denington 8 Kenny McPeek $43,110 x-Groveland 8 Eoin Harty $40,000 x-Bromley 8 Paulo Lobo $18,300 48 Hayes Strike 7 Kenny McPeek $95,750 49 Andiamo a Firenze 7 Kelly Breen $72,000 50 Frosted Departure 6 Kenny McPeek $207,112 51 West Coast Cowboy 6 Saffie Joseph Jr. $24,250 52 One in Vermillion 5 Esteban Martinez $163,143 53 Fort Bragg 5 Tim Yakteen $32,000 54 Lord Miles 5 Saffie Joseph Jr. $27,100 55 Bourbon Bash 5 D. Wayne Lukas $15,000 56 Clear the Air 5 Will Walden $12,000 57 Single Ruler 5 Keith Desormeaux $8,000 58 Determinedly 3 Mark Casse $20,500 59 Western Ghent 2 D. Wayne Lukas $35,110 60 Il Miracolo 2 Antonio Sano $16,535 61 Miranda Rights 2 Mark Casse $4,290 x-Andthewinnneris 1 Wayne Catalano $248,363 62 Champions Dream 1 Danny Gargan $20,000 * Non-restricted stakes x-Not an early Triple Crown nominee