The 2024 Kentucky Derby is a mere 4 months away, and the Derby preps will be coming hard and fast now- leading up to the first Saturday in May.
Beginning in 2013, the Kentucky Derby prep races were officially bundled under the banner of The Road To The Kentucky Derby.
Known fondly as the Derby Trail, the introduction of the prep series has led to a much easier guideline for both horsemen and horse racing fans.
In the United States there are two groupings that make up the Kentucky Derby prep races.
The first is the Kentucky Derby Prep Season with 21 races:
Beginning with the Iroquois Stakes in mid-September and running through the John Battaglia Memorial in early March, most of the initial prep events award 10-5-3-2-1 points to the first five finishers respectively.
Churchill Downs awards 20-10-6-4-2 points to the top five finishers at select prep races, including the Lecomte Stakes, Southwest Stakes, Withers Stakes, Holy Bull Stakes, Robert B. Lewis Stakes, Sam F. Davis Stakes and the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes.
Lastly, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile awards 30-15-9-6-3 points to the top five horses.
The next series is the Kentucky Derby Championship Series which offers 16 races total. Seven of these races deliver a 50-25-15-10-5 point split.
The final prep races double the reward with an offering of 100-50-30-20-10. The exception is the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland with a split of 20-10-6-4-2.
The races of highest value include the UAE Derby, the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park; Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds; Wood Memorial at Aqueduct; Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita Park; Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park; the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, and the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park.
This Championship Series design places a significant value on the most important prep races of the Kentucky Derby overall, as the Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports draws near.
The cornerstone prep races attract significant handle as bettors sort out Kentucky Derby contenders and the points system enables the casual fan to understand how horses come to be eligible to participate as opposed to the former graded earnings system.
Kentucky Derby Winners tend excel in the Championship Series where races are worth the most points and the competition keener.
On New Years Day at Oaklawn Park, a Brad Cox trainee- CATCHING FREEDOM Won the first prep of the new calendar year by capturing the Smarty Jones Stakes.
This weekend brings us two prep races; on Saturday (1-1), should the weather cooperate, The Jerome will be contested at Aqueduct Park.
While on Sunday the Sham Stakes will run at Santa Anita. Both races awarding points on a 10-5-3-2-1 basis.
