Graded stakes-winning Aqueduct specialist Morello will make a return to graded stakes company when facing elders for the first time in next Saturday’s one-mile Grade 2, $300,000 Kelso at Belmont at the Big A.
This season’s Kentucky Derby preps have come and gone. Barring defections, the top 20 spots on the Derby leaderboard are locked up, and we know which horses are likely to enter the starting gate on the first Saturday in May.Up until this point, this list had been a hybrid of one handicapper’s opinion and runners likely to make the field. Now, though, we can exclusively focus on the top 20 horses on the leaderboard.
The 100-point Kentucky Derby preps have come and gone. All that’s left on the road to the Run for the Roses is Saturday’s Grade 3 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, which serves as a last resort for connections with horses on the outside looking in.
Three major Kentucky Derby preps came and went on Saturday. With those races came sweeping changes in the points standings and these rankings, and more of those are still in store with several 100-point races yet to be run.As a reminder, this list serves as a hybrid of sorts. If a horse has earned enough Derby points to make the field, he’ll be on this list. However, that doesn’t mean an exceptionally-talented 3-year-old without sufficient points will be ignored if it’s eyeing a race that could serve as a springboard to the first Saturday in May.
The final round of Kentucky Derby preps are officially in full swing. These are where we’ll learn a lot about some horses, and this past week provided plenty of education (plus a few key news items that have led to significant changes to this list).