Kentucky Derby

Chris Pomerleau’s 2022 Kentucky Derby Contenders Rankings

Kentucky Derby Prep Race Picks

To date there have been (18) Kentucky Derby prep races with (2) scheduled for this weekend with the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs and the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields awarding points of (10-4-2-1).  As we move towards the first weekend of May at Churchill Downs, we are starting to see some separation of the contenders.  The Bob Baffert trained horses continue to collect ‘unrewarded’ points in these prep races.  I am going to assume that if something doesn’t change with the Baffert situation soon that the owners are going to have to make some hard decisions about making a trainer change.

My Top 3 Rankings after this weekend.

#1 CORNICHE

This Baffert trained horse is 3 for 3 and has done nothing to make me change my mind.  Has already won two Grade 1’s.  I haven’t seen anything to make me think he’s not legit.  Has already beaten a bunch of contenders.

#2 SMILE HAPPY

Horse has been pointed to a couple of recent stakes but not entered.  The win in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) was a good effort going 4-wide into the stretch with a ton of kick.  I’m excited to see what he does in his next race, could be the one.

#3 MESSIER

My 2nd rated Baffert trained runner.  You can find some knocks but the small field he faced in the Robert B. Lewis looked inferior.  Was a good effort and just looked like he took a nice step forward.

Notes on other contenders:

NEWGRANGE the last effort wasn’t the best in the Southwest but he’s 3/3 and you could find excuses in the trip of why he could have lost.  Good horses just find ways to win. MO DONEGAL has more to give, completely disadvantaged on pace last race when the speed of the race didn’t break from the gate.  PAPPACAP needs the right situation on pace to connect from off the pace, currently the leader in Derby points.  WHITE ABARIO ran well in the Holy Bull, but he benefited by the trip, also concerned if Saffie can win outside of Gulfstream.    EMMANUEL is 2/2 with some quality speed figures; I need to see more as he’s had little competition. EARLY VOTING looked like Secretariat dominating a poor field in the Withers, needs to take another step forward. EPICENTER in the Lecomte got the perfect trip on the front with reasonable fractions but just seemed to hang in the stretch.

Official Kentucky Derby Point Standings

Rank Horse Derby Points Earned Trainer
  1 Pappacap 14 Mark Casse
  2 Epicenter 14 Steve Asmussen
  3 White Abarrio 12 Saffie Joseph Jr.
  4 Mo Donegal 12 Todd Pletcher
  5 Rattle N Roll 10 Kenny McPeek
  6 Jack Christopher 10 Chad Brown
  7 Make It Big 10 Saffie Joseph Jr.
  8 Smile Happy 10 Kenny McPeek
  9 Slow Down Andy 10 Doug O’Neill
10 Major General 10 Todd Pletcher
11 Dash Attack 10 Kenny McPeek
12 Early Voting 10 Chad Brown
13 Call Me Midnight 10 Keith Desormeaux
14 Courvoisier 10 Kelly Breen
15 Barber Road 8 John Ortiz
16 Commandperformance 6 Todd Pletcher
17 Classic Causeway 6 Brian Lynch
18 Double Thunder 4 Todd Pletcher
19 Giant Game 4 Dale Romans
20 Tejano Twist 4 Bret Calhoun
21 Simplification 4 Antonio Sano
22 Cabo Spirit 4 George Papaprodromou
23 Oviatt Class 4 Keith Desormeaux
24 Osbourne 4 Ron Moquett
25 Tough to Tame 4 Chris Davis
26 Un Ojo 4 Tony Dutrow
27 Zandon 4 Chad Brown
28 Smarten Up 4 Alfredo Velazquez
29 Ben Diesel 3 Dallas Stewart
30 Wit 2 Todd Pletcher
31 Kavod 2 Chris Hartman
32 Cooke Creek 2 Jeremiah O’Dwyer
33 Red Knobs 2 Dale Romans
34 Midnight Chrome 2 Tyler Servis
35 Gilded Age 2 Bill Mott
36 Ignitis 2 Wayne Lukas
37 Surfer Dude 2 Dallas Stewart
38 Mackinnon 1 Doug O’Neill
39 My Prankster 1 Todd Pletcher
40 American Sanctuary 1 Chris Davis
41 Kevin’s Folly 1 Tom Amoss
42 Durante 1 Doug O’Neill
43 Mr Jefferson 1 Mike Trombetta
44 Grantham 1 Mike Maker
45 Bourbon Heist 1 Ian Wilkes
46 Unbridled Bomber 1 Jim Ryerson
47 Sir London 1 Simon Callaghan
48 Galt 1 Bill Mott
49 Trafalgar 1 Al Stall Jr.

source: https://www.kentuckyderby.com/horses/leaderboard

You May Also Like

Uncategorized

By: Rich Bieglmeier follow me on X @HRTRich A skinny field of five horses will run in the $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday,...

Kentucky Derby

By: Rinaldo Del Gallo, III I don’t hold myself as an expert handicapper (I am more a history of horse racing and policy type...

Kentucky Derby

By Jalen Santos Twitter @jalen_santos7 Here are my top five three-year-olds. Quick disclaimer, this is facing the triple crown, specifically the Kentucky Derby and...

Kentucky Derby

We are yet another week closer to the Kentucky Derby, we ran the top Derby contenders and simulated the 2023 Derby results. All the...

Copyright © 2021 Horse Racing Today - ZoxPress Theme. Theme by MVP Themes, powered by WordPress.

Exit mobile version