The aftermath of the 2021 Kentucky Derby still hangs over the sport of Thoroughbred racing and its most famous horse race nearly two years later and three months before the 149th Run for the Roses is to be conducted, May 6, at Churchill Downs. Medina Spirit’s disqualification from first in the 2021 Derby due to a positive test for betamethasone, a regulated therapeutic medication, led to Churchill Downs banning Bob Baffert, Medina Spirit’s trainer, from starting a horse in the Kentucky Derby through this year’s running and prohibits horses he trains from earning Derby qualifying points. But it hasn’t led to a lack of top-flight Derby prospects emanating from Baffert’s barn. Arabian Knight emerged as a leading Kentucky Derby contender with his runaway victory in last Saturday’s Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park. Though Arabian Knight has zero qualifying points toward the Derby, he is, at 6-1, the early favorite on David Aragona’s Kentucky Derby line as Daily Racing Form unveils its inaugural 2023 Derby Watch top 20. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2023: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Arabian Knight is one of seven Baffert-trained horses in the top 20, compiled by Aragona and Brad Free. The others are Cave Rock (12-1 on Aragona’s line), National Treasure (15-1), Reincarnate (20-1), Faustin (30-1), Hejazi (30-1), and Arabian Lion (50-1). The Kentucky Derby field is limited to 20 starters. The field comprises horses who earn qualifying points in races designated by Churchill Downs, a series that began last September. There are 18 spots reserved for North American-based horses, and one each for horses based in Europe and Japan, for which Churchill has created a racing series. To date, there have been 15 points-scoring races in North America as part of Churchill Downs’s Road to the Derby. The top five horses in each of those races earn points. Baffert-trained runners have finished in 14 of the 74 points-earnings placings – one race drew four horses – which translates to 86 points not being awarded. Additionally, the first two finishers from the Springboard Mile – Wildatlanticstorm and Giant Mischief – didn’t earn qualifying points because they raced on Lasix – medication not permitted for use in the Derby – in the Springboard, so a total of 100 points have gone unawarded. That trend wlll continue in Saturday’s Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita, where Baffert has the only four entrants in a race that would have awarded a total of 40 points, 20 to the winner. The depth of Baffert’s 3-year-old division is such that Arabian Lion is the only one among the Lewis quartet who made it onto Derby Watch, at 50-1. On Thursday, Baffert’s attorneys were scheduled to be in U.S. District Court in Kentucky seeking to have his Derby ban overturned. Barring a result in his favor, horses currently under Baffert’s care will, by Feb. 28, have to be moved to trainers not suspended by Churchill Downs in order to be eligible to earn points in Derby qualifying races conducted in March and April. That rule was put in place by Churchill Downs and is listed on the Triple Crown nomination form. Last year, two horses trained by Baffert , Taiba and Messier, were transferred to Tim Yakteen before the Santa Anita Derby and competed in the Kentucky Derby. The disqualification of Medina Spirit made Mandaloun the recognized winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Mandaloun is trained by Brad Cox, who was left somewhat hollow by his first Derby victory since it didn’t come with any of the feels that typically accompany such an achievement. “I don’t feel like I won the Derby, I’d admit that,” Cox said this week. “I’ve said this several times: The Derby’s not the richest race in the world or the richest race in America – it’s the race I want to win. It’s the thrill of the victory; it’s not the purse money. It’s a hard race to get to, a hard race to win. It’s the only race in America where 20 horses line up. I want to experience the thrill of the victory.” Cox may have the ammunition to do that. He has four horses in the Derby Watch top 20, led by Instant Coffee (15-1), winner of the Lecomte at Fair Grounds and last November’s Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs. The other Cox-trained Derby prospects on the Derby Watch list are Victory Formation (20-1), the undefeated winner of the Smarty Jones Stakes; Giant Mischief (20-1), the Springboard Mile runner-up; and Verifying (20-1), a recent allowance winner. Cox hasn’t given up on Jace’s Road as a Derby prospect, noting his two bad performances came on sloppy tracks. Saturday, Cox is planning to run Hit Show in what is expected to be a small field in the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers at Aqueduct, a race worth 40 qualifying points. That race is headed by Arctic Arrogance, who has earned eight Derby points based on runner-up finishes in the Remsen and Jerome at Aqueduct. :: DRF Bets players have exclusive access to FREE DRF Past Performances - Classic or Formulator! Join today.  Cox also trains the well-bred Slip Mahoney, a game maiden winner at Aqueduct on Jan. 21 who is likely targeting the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham on March 4. Meanwhile, Forte, the recently-crowned 2-year-old champion of 2022 and current Derby points leader, is on schedule to make his seasonal debut in the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park on March 4, trainer Todd Pletcher said. Forte has had two easy breezes at Palm Beach Downs in Florida and Pletcher said he expects to pick up the pace this weekend by working Forte in company. Pletcher, a two-time Kentucky Derby winner who has started multiple horses in 19 of the 23 Derbies run since 2000, has no other 3-year-old with Derby points. He is not represented in Saturday’s Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park, but does have a bevy of lightly raced prospects in Tapit Trice and Shesterkin, who are both entered in a first-level allowance Saturday at Gulfstream; Litigate, who is pointing to the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Downs on Feb. 11; and the debut winning Kingsbarns. Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park drew a field of eight, with Cyclone Mischief, a recent allowance winner trained by Dale Romans, the only one in the Derby Watch top 20. There are two deadlines to nominate horses to the Triple Crown. The first one passed last Saturday, at which time a $600 fee was due. That list is expected to be made public next week. The second nomination deadline is March 27, at which time a $6,000 fee is due. Thereafter, an eligible horse could be supplemented to the Derby by entry date for a fee of $200,000. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.