The Road to Kentucky Derby 2021 — after 15 prep races
Two more 2021 Kentucky Derby prep races give us three new names in the top 10 on the points leaderboard.
Medina Spirit's win in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita vaulted him to No. 4 on the list, with 14 points. The win gives trainer Bob Baffert two in the top 10; Spielberg has 13 points after a fourth-place finish in the Robert B. Lewis.
Roman Centurion picked up 4 points with his second-place finish, gaining his first points on the Derby trail, and Hot Rod Charlie earned 2 points to stay in the top 10 with a total of 10 points.
Greatest Honor jumped into the top 10 for trainer Shug McGaughey with a win in the Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream. The next three finishers join the board for the first time: Tarantino, Prime Factor and Papetu.
Two more Derby preps are on the calendar for Saturday: the Withers (G3) at Aqueduct and the Sam F. Davis (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs. Both offer 10-4-2-1 points.
Over one third of the way through the 36-race calendar, here's a look at the races so far and the next several on the calendar, with this past weekend's race in bold type.
Road to the Kentucky Derby - After 15 races
| Date | Race | Track | Distance | 1st-4th (points) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/5 | Iroquois | CD | 1 mile | Sittin On Go (10), Midnight Bourbon (4), Super Stock (2), Therideofalifetime (1) |
| 9/26 | American Pharoah | SA | 1 1/16 miles | Get Her Number (10), Rombauer (4), Spielberg (2), Waspirant (1) |
| 10/3 | Breeders' Futurity | Kee | 1 1/16 miles | Essential Quality (10), Keepmeinmind (4), Super Stock (2), Upstriker (1) |
| 10/10 | Champagne | Bel | 1 mile | Jackie's Warrior (10), Reinvestment Risk (4), Midnight Bourbon (2), Civil War (1) |
| 11/6 | Breeders' Cup Juvenile | Kee | 1 1/16 miles | Essential Quality (20), Hot Rod Charlie (8), Keepmeinmind (4), Jackie's Warrior (2) |
| 11/28 | Kentucky Jockey Club | CD | 1 1/16 miles | Keepmeinmind (10), Smiley Sobotka (4), Arabian Prince (2), Swill (1) |
| 12/5 | Remsen | AQU | 1 1/8 miles | Brooklyn Strong (10), Ten for Ten (4), Known Agenda (2), Pickin' Time (1) |
| 12/18 | Springboard Mile | RP | 1 mile | Senor Buscador (0), Cowan (4), Red N Wild (0), Saffa's Day (0) |
| 12/19 | Los Alamitos Futurity | LRC | 1 1/16 miles | Spielberg (10), The Great One (4), Petruchio (2), Red Flag (1) |
| 1/1 | Jerome | AQU | 1 mile | Capo Kane (10), Eagle Orb (4), Hold the Salsa (2) |
| 1/2 | Sham | SA | 1 mile | Life Is Good (10), Medina Spirit (4), Parnelli (2) |
| 1/16 | Lecomte | FG | 1 1/16 miles | Midnight Bourbon (10), Proxy (4), Mandaloun (2), Santa Cruiser (1) |
| 1/22 | Smarty Jones | OP | 1 mile | Caddo River (10), Cowan (8), Big Thorn (2), Moonlite Strike (1) |
| 1/30 | Holy Bull | GP | 1 1/16 miles | Greatest Honour (10), Tarantino (4), Prime Factor (2), Papetu (1) |
| 1/30 | Robert B. Lewis | SA | 1 1/16 miles | Medina Spirit (10), Roman Centurian (4), Hot Rod Charlie (2), Spielberg (1) |
| 1/30 | Withers | AQU | 1 1/16 miles | |
| 2/6 | Sam F. Davis | Tam | 1 1/16 miles |
Note: Senor Buscador (1st), Red N Wild (3rd) and Saffa’s Day (4th) did not accrue points in the Dec. 18 Springboard Mile because they competed with Lasix on race day.
Essential Quality retains the top spot on the leaderboard, with 30 points. It looks like we'll see him next in the Feb. 15 Southwest Stakes (G3) which offers 10-4-2-1 points, though trainer Brad Cox also had considered the Feb. 13 Risen Star (G2), with 50-20-10-5 points.
Also possible for the Southwest is Keepmeinmind, No. 2 on the leaderboard.
Here are the points totals, with horses who earned points this past weekend in bold.
Road to the Kentucky Derby - Points leaders
| Rank | Horse | Pts | Trainer | Stakes earnings* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Essential Quality | 30 | Brad Cox | $1,280,000 |
| 2 | Keepmeinmind | 18 | Robertino Diodoro | $379,040 |
| 3 | Midnight Bourbon | 16 | Steve Asmussen | $190,000 |
| 4 | Medina Spirit | 14 | Bob Baffert | $80,000 |
| 5 | Spielberg | 13 | Bob Baffert | $212,000 |
| 6 | Jackie's Warrior | 12 | Steve Asmussen | $457,500 |
| 7 | Hot Rod Charlie | 10 | Doug O'Neill | $352,000 |
| 8 | Get Her Number | 10 | Peter Miller | $186,000 |
| 9 | Sittin On Go | 10 | Dale Romans | $141,800 |
| 10 | Greatest Honour | 10 | Shug McGaughey III | $119,040 |
| 11 | Caddo River | 10 | Brad Cox | $90,000 |
| 12 | Brooklyn Strong | 10 | Daniel Velazquez | $82,500 |
| 13 | Capo Kane | 10 | Harold Wyner | $82,500 |
| 14 | Life Is Good | 10 | Bob Baffert | $60,000 |
| 15 | Cowan | 8 | Steve Asmussen | $320,477 |
| 16 | Rombauer | 4 | Michael McCarthy | $120,500 |
| 17 | Reinvestment Risk | 4 | Chad Brown | $120,000 |
| 18 | Super Stock | 4 | Steve Asmussen | $59,000 |
| 19 | Tarantino | 4 | Rodolphe Brisset | $58,400 |
| 20 | Ten for Ten | 4 | Shug McGaughey III | $50,000 |
| 21 | The Great One | 4 | Doug O'Neill | $40,500 |
| 22 | Proxy | 4 | Mike Stidham | $40,000 |
| 23 | Smiley Sobotka | 4 | Dale Romans | $38,400 |
| 24 | Eagle Orb | 4 | Rudy Rodriguez | $30,000 |
| 25 | Roman Centurian | 4 | Simon Callaghan | $20,000 |
| 26 | Arabian Prince | 2 | Dallas Stewart | $28,063 |
| 27 | Petruchio | 2 | Richard Mandella | $24,000 |
| 28 | Waspirant | 2 | John Shirreffs | $24,000 |
| 29 | Mandaloun | 2 | Brad Cox | $20,000 |
| 30 | Prime Factor | 2 | Todd Pletcher | $19,200 |
| 31 | Hold the Salsa | 2 | Richard Lugovich | $19,125 |
| 32 | Swill | 2 | Brad Cox | $18,600 |
| 33 | Known Agenda | 2 | Todd Pletcher | $18,000 |
| 34 | Big Thorn | 2 | Steve Asmussen | $16,000 |
| 35 | Parnelli | 2 | John Shirreffs | $14,000 |
| 36 | Pickin' Time | 1 | Kelly Breen | $157,925 |
| 37 | Red Flag | 1 | John Shirreffs | $72,000 |
| 38 | Papetu | 1 | Antonio Sano | $39,925 |
| 39 | Therideofalifetime | 1 | Ignacio Correas IV | $39,500 |
| 40 | Upstriker | 1 | Ron Moquett | $20,000 |
| 41 | Civil War | 1 | Tom Albertrani | $15,000 |
| 42 | Santa Cruiser | 1 | Keith Desormeaux | $8,000 |
| 43 | Moonlite Strike | 1 | Saffie Joseph Jr. | $7,500 |
Bold - points earned this weekend
Italics - no recent published workouts