With a weekend off from the Kentucky Derby prep races we will provide our top 5 ranked horses while including the updated points standings.
Classic Causeway showed he really was the cream of the crop in the two prep races at Tampa Bay Downs. He got to the front, and no one really challenged him in either race, it will be interesting to see how he runs with more pressure. What is getting interesting are true contenders are starting to appear and how many of them are early speed types. I’m thinking this may be a perfect derby for a longshot coming from off the pace. For now, I am going to keep my top ranked contenders in the same order until after the Louisiana Derby at Fairgrounds on Saturday March 26th.
My current Top 5 rankings:
#1 SMILE HAPPY
He’s the current favorite in Vegas to win the derby. I still feel he is the cream of the crop until he races again. We saw his return after the lay-off and showed he may have needed a race to get back into form. As trainer Kenny McPeek tweeted out that he maybe needed to be a tad closer, was valiant to get up for 2nd and had a good gallop out. I would have liked to have seen him urged a little quicker than he was, but the reality is that he wasn’t catching Epicenter who had the perfect trip to go wire to wire. I’m surprised he got up for 2nd as he had to weave through a couple of horses to get there.
#2 SIMPLIFICATION
I thought he ran well in the Holy Bull in what was a tough trip. I thought he was a one-dimensional early speed front-runner and that race showed he had some tactical speed. That was exactly how he ran in the Fountain of Youth running off the pace and looking good. To win the Kentucky Derby you need to be forwardly placed and in good position. I really like what I’ve seen with Simplification as he’s continuing to improve race to race. I’m excited to see what he’s going to do in the Florida Derby.
Simplification is the #2:
#3 FORBIDDEN KINGDOM
Put the field away easily in the San Felipe at Santa Anita. Front speed running son of American Pharoah is on the board after that performance.
Forbidden Kingdom is the #6.
#4 CLASSIC CAUSEWAY
Winner of the 2022 Tampa Bay Derby. He glides out of the gate so smoothly, grabbed the front end and was in control the entire way. I still want to see what he does running head-to-head with more pace pressure and if he can put talented early speed horses away outside of Tampa which really plays to front speed and position into the stretch.
Classic Causeway is the #4:
#5 ZANDON
I could easily put Morello in the 5-spot but I’m going to favor Zandon until I can see his next race. He hopped out of the gate and went right to the back. Made a strong move on the turn and kept coming. Would’ve liked to have seen what he could have done with better placement out of the starting gate.
Official Kentucky Derby Point Standings as of 3/17/22
Typically (40) earned derby points pretty much guarantees a spot in the Kentucky Derby field. Using that criteria (6) horses below should have already punched their ticket to the 2022 Kentucky Derby.
| Rank | Horse | Points | Trainer |
| 1 | Classic Causeway | 66 | Brian Lynch |
| 2 | Epicenter | 64 | Steve Asmussen |
| 3 | Un Ojo | 54 | Tony Dutrow |
| 4 | Simplification | 54 | Antonio Sano |
| 5 | Forbidden Kingdom | 50 | Richard Mandella |
| 6 | Morello | 50 | Steve Asmussen |
| 7 | Smile Happy | 30 | Ken McPeek |
| 8 | Grantham | 21 | Mike Maker |
| 9 | Ethereal Road | 20 | D. Wayne Lukas |
| 10 | In Due Time | 20 | Kelly Breen |
| 11 | Dean’s List | 20 | Todd Pletcher |
| 12 | Barber Road | 18 | John Ortiz |
| 13 | Pappacap | 14 | Mark Casse |
| 14 | Zandon | 14 | Chad Brown |
| 15 | Shipsational | 14 | Ed Barker |
| 16 | White Abarrio | 12 | Saffie Joseph Jr. |
| 17 | Mo Deongal | 12 | Todd Pletcher |
| 18 | Tiz the Bomb | 10 | Ken McPeek |
| 19 | Rattle N Roll | 10 | Ken McPeek |
| 20 | Slow Down Andy | 10 | Doug O’Neill |
| 21 | Major General | 10 | Todd Pletcher |
| 22 | Dash Attack | 10 | Ken McPeek |
| 23 | Early Voting | 10 | Chad Brown |
| 24 | Call Me Midnight | 10 | Keith Desormeaux |
| 25 | Courvoisier | 10 | Kelly Breen |
| 26 | Happy Jack | 10 | Doug O’Neill |
| 27 | O Captain | 10 | Gustavo Delgado |
| 28 | Golden Code | 10 | Todd Pletcher |
| 29 | Kavod | 7 | Jim Chapman |
| 30 | Commandperformance | 6 | Todd Pletcher |
| 31 | Mackinnon | 5 | Doug O’Neill |
| 32 | Life is Great | 5 | Robert Klesaris |
| 33 | Golden Glider | 5 | Mark Casse |
| 34 | Emmanuel | 5 | Todd Pletcher |
| 35 | Pioneer of Medina | 5 | Todd Pletcher |
| 36 | Giant Game | 4 | Dale Romans |
| 37 | Cabo Spirit | 4 | George Papaprodromou |
| 38 | Stolen Base | 4 | Mike Maker |
| 39 | Tough to Tame | 4 | Chris Davis |
| 40 | Smarten Up | 4 | Alfredo Velazquez |
| 41 | Ben Diesel | 3 | Dallas Stewart |
| 42 | Cooke Creek | 2 | Jeremiah O’Dwiyer |
| 43 | Red Knobs | 2 | Dale Romans |
| 44 | Midnight Chrome | 2 | Tyler Servis |
| 45 | Gilded Age | 2 | Bill Mott |
| 46 | Ignitis | 2 | D. Wayne Lukas |
| 47 | Volcanic | 2 | Mark Casse |
| 48 | My Prankster | 1 | Todd Pletcher |
| 49 | American Sanctuary | 1 | Chris Davis |
| 50 | Strike Hard | 1 | Matthew Williams |
| 51 | Rich Strike | 1 | Eric Reed |
| 52 | Bourbon Heist | 1 | Ian Wilkes |
| 53 | Trafalgar | 1 | Al Stall Jr. |
| 54 | Galt | 1 | Bill Mott |
| 55 | Unbridled Bomber | 1 | James Ryerson |
| 56 | Il Bellator | 1 | Matthew Williams |
| 57 | Sir London | 1 | Simon Callaghan |
