Is there anything more entertaining than the mad scramble for those precious points required for admission to the field for the Kentucky Derby (G1)? Ever since Rich Strike made the race in 2022 by the skin of his fourth-place finish worth a single point in the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes, owners and trainers have obsessed over any drop in the eligibility bucket.
The top finishers in the big three races of April 6 at Keeneland, Santa Anita Park, and Aqueduct Racetrack will hoover up most of the remaining Derby points. But credit is due to those who have labored so far.
For instance, through the most recent round of prep races, Common Defense was sitting 17th in the Derby standings with 37 points. Most of that total was earned by his stout second in the Rebel Stakes (G2) to Timberlake —now excused from the Derby clamor—but if those 37 points hold up well enough to barely make the field, the people in the Common Defense corner can look back on that rainy day in February when their colt caught Otto the Conqueror to finish fifth in the Southwest Stakes (G3), some 17 lengths behind victorious Mystik Dan, and grab the last two points on the board.
What to think of Catalytic, whose 50 points earned finishing second in the Florida Derby (G1) puts him snugly in the Derby field? Could he be another Mage , a Florida Derby runner-up who entered the 2023 Kentucky Derby with only three starts, like Catalytic, and went home with the roses? Then again, Mage was beaten only a length in a hard-fought Florida race, while Catalytic disappeared in the vapor trail left by Fierceness and crossed the line 13 1/2 lengths later. Someone had to be second.
The amusing array of international races on the Derby points roster are always good for a chuckle. Godolphin's 2 million euro colt Ancient Wisdom earned 10 points for winning the Kameko Futurity Trophy Stakes (G1) over a straight mile at Doncaster last year. He will be running on Derby Day, May 4, but at Newmarket in the Two Thousand Guineas (G1) instead of Churchill Downs.
The Patton Stakes (obviously named for comedian Patton Oswalt) is run over an all-weather surface at Dundalk, a dog and pony show located in the upper right-hand corner of Ireland. Aidan O'Brien sneaks up there from time to time to win the Patton, like he did in 2018 with Mendelssohn before bringing him to the Kentucky Derby. How did he do there? He was eased, although the heartless chart declares he was beaten 70 lengths by Justify .
"We weren't prepared for the level of atmosphere," O'Brien said afterward. "There were around 170,000 people—all wet, all screaming. There was rain coming from everywhere and everyone was drowned. There were people and creatures everywhere and he was mind-blown by the whole thing."
So was Aidan. He has not been back.
O'Brien tried to win a three-horse Patton in March with Kentucky Derby nominee Navy Seal but was beaten by the gelding Bergamasco, who will find better things to do with his 20 Derby qualifying points.
And then there is Japan. Churchill Downs management is praying for the day a Japanese horse wins the Kentucky Derby. Next stop, co-mingled pools. This time around, the undefeated Forever Young looks like a colt of true quality, rocking the international scene back-to-back in the Saudi Derby (G3) and UAE Derby (G2) to go along with the 20 Kentucky Derby points he earned in winning the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun in December at Kawasaki Racecourse.
Another Japanese runner, somewhat less accomplished, could take up one of the 20 Derby gates. His name is T O Password, who has run and won exactly twice, the most recent coming on March 23 in the Fukuryu Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse, worth 40 Derby points. In 149 years, no horse has won the Derby in its third start.
For the 2023-24 prep season, there were 21 racetracks offering races promoted with Derby points. Of those, 10 are located beyond the Western Hemisphere, which only underlines the idea that Churchill Downs would like its flagship event to have international appeal, even though the last overseas import to hit the board came in 1986.
But if Kempton, Chelmsford City, and Dundalk can get in on the action, how about a little domestic love for the Turf Paradise Derby and this year's winner, E J Won the Cup?
The son of Omaha Beach is all dressed up and ready to run on Saturday in the Santa Anita Derby (G1), with two-time Kentucky Derby winners Mike Smith and Doug O'Neill in his corner. He is among eight in the nine-furlong race topped by Imagination, winner of the San Felipe Stakes (G2), and Stronghold, winner of the Sunland Park Derby (G3), which if you look at a map is a lot closer to Turf Paradise than Churchill Downs, both geographically and culturally.
O'Neill admits he was not thinking Kentucky Derby with E J Won the Cup when he finished second in a maiden race at Ellis Park last August. For that matter, he was not even thinking Turf Paradise Derby. But who knows what the horseplayers were thinking last Oct. 21 at Santa Anita when they made E J Won the Cup the firm favorite to beat Nysos, the once and former king of the Bob Baffert 3-year-old crop.
"That tells you what he does in the mornings," O'Neill said. "He's a very impressive-looking individual and he trains very impressively. It's hard to really criticize a horse running second and third like he was as a 2-year-old, and still we were disappointed. But now here we are going two-for-two going two turns, and trying to make it three."
E J Won the Cup was originally owned by a partnership that included Erik Johnson, who won the Stanley Cup. The colt is now owned by Superfecta Kings Stable, run by Gary Margolis for 11 partners. "E J" won the Turf Paradise Derby on March 14 by 3 1/2 lengths at 1-to-10 odds.
"He didn't beat any world-beaters," O'Neill said. "But he did open up down the lane and got the job done."
This followed closely his maiden score at Santa Anita Feb. 23.
"He's going to have to pick up his game if he's going to run with these on Saturday," O'Neill said. "But there's nothing better in this sport than having a nice young colt who's giving you the inkling he could be a Kentucky Derby type of horse."
One of those was I'll Have Another, who completed the SA-KY Derby double in 2012. O'Neill has been back to Kentucky five times since then, winning again in 2016 with Nyquist and finishing second with Hot Rod Charlie in 2021.
"We've seen over and over that so many horses who run well in the Santa Anita Derby run well in Kentucky," O'Neill said. "He's got zero Derby points going in, so we know what we have to do. But that's the fun of it—you never know unless you try."
