Kentucky Derby: Who's hot, who's not for April 24

WHO'S HOT

Perhaps this headline should be "Who's lukewarm," because at this stage, everything is relative. The lone newcomer to this week's Derby Watch top 20 is Titletown Five, solely because if he wins the Derby Trial on Saturday, he would have enough points, and earnings in unrestricted stakes races, to run in the Kentucky Derby one week later. There are others in the Derby Trial for whom that may apply, too. Basically, the Derby Watch committee just needed to fill out the bottom slot in the top 20, and he was chosen. Reflecting the committee's level of enthusiasm, Titletown Five is 50-1 on the Derby future line set by Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form's national handicapper.

WHO'S NOT

With it looking increasingly likely that Tiz a Minister will run in the Snow Chief at Betfair Hollywood Park on Saturday, rather than hope to draw into the Derby field, he was removed from the top 20. In addition, owing to the compromised training schedule of late for Govenor Charlie, Watchmaker bumped him up to 20-1 from last week's 15-1.

ON THE BUBBLE

This is the last Derby Watch top 20 for the year. Those who did not make the final cut included Winning Cause, who is 20th on the points list, but is extremely unlikely to run in the Derby, and Code West, currently 21st on the points list. The Derby Trial winner will have 20 points, and will rank above Code West in unrestricted earnings, so keep that in mind when poring over the points list and trying to figure out who could grab the coveted final spots in this Derby field.

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]