Greyvitos, My Boy Jack pursue Kentucky Derby berths in Lexington Stakes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A couple of final tweaks to the Kentucky Derby field could be forthcoming Saturday at Keeneland when a field of 12 3-year-olds goes postward in the 37th running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Lexington Stakes.

The Lexington and the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn are the last two races in which horses can earn qualifying points toward the 144th Kentucky Derby on May 5, but only two Lexington starters, both in from California, stand a realistic chance at making the final cut. The points offering for the Lexington is 20-8-4-2 for the first four finishers.

My Boy Jack, with 32 points already, could advance with just a decent showing, while Greyvitos (10) likely will need to win the 1 1/16-mile Lexington to move 75 miles down Interstate 64 to Churchill Downs.

“It’s a big dream right now,” said Adam Kitchingman, who trains Greyvitos for Triple B Farms. “I could have opted to run in Arkansas and go for more points. I just didn’t feel it was in the horse’s best interest, for what he’s gone through. And if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. But if it does, then it does.”

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Greyvitos has recovered from knee surgery and escaped the infamous San Luis Rey fire, and would become one of the more popular Derby stories this year if he comes through Saturday. The gray Malibu Moon colt clearly has ability – he won the Grade 3 Bob Hope as a maiden in November at Del Mar prior to winning the Springboard Mile at Remington Park from post 12 in December.

Greyvitos has been on a tight schedule since the surgery.

“We just started back on him, and he hasn’t missed a beat,” Kitchingman said. “He’s been to the track every day, he’s galloped, he’s worked every five to six days, and he’s looking better and better every week. The horse is training great.”

Joel Rosario, whose Kentucky Derby victory in 2013 came aboard Orb, a son of Malibu Moon, has picked up the mount on Greyvitos, who was assigned post 6 for the Lexington.

My Boy Jack, winner of the Southwest Stakes prior to finishing third in the Louisiana Derby, will start from post 12. Trainer Keith Desormeaux will give a leg up on the late-running Creative Cause colt to his brother, three-time Derby-winning jockey Kent Desormeaux.

“If I was a pace horse, I might be more concerned with the post, but we’re going to drop back anyway,” Keith Desormeaux said. “Kent can just drop back and say hello to the Keeneland faithful going into the first turn.”

Besides the two favorites, there are two other Lexington starters to have earned Derby points – Seven Trumpets, with 9, and Pony Up, with 8.

Pony Up (post 7, John Velazquez), a one-time winner from six starts, is a Calumet Farm homebred trained by Todd Pletcher, the leading trainer in Lexington history with five wins (2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013).

The Lexington first became noteworthy as a Derby prep in 1984, when Swale finished second behind He Is a Great Deal and went on to win the Derby. The only Lexington winner to win the Derby was Charismatic in 1999.

The Lexington is carded as the ninth of 11 Saturday races, with post time set for 5:34 p.m. Eastern.

Main-track races here at 1 1/16 miles begin and end at what otherwise is the sixteenth pole.