Kentucky Derby 2022: Qualifiers heat up starting with Risen Star

It seems appropriate that New Orleans, adopted home of Emeril Lagasse, is the locale where the Road to the Derby kicks it up a notch.

The Risen Star Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds is the first race on the road to the 2022 Kentucky Derby on May 7 at Churchill Downs that offers 85 points overall, with 50 going to the winner. To borrow from the Breeders’ Cup, it’s essentially a Win and You’re In for the Derby.

Melding with its importance is the high-quality field assembled for this 1 1/8-mile race. Of the 20 horses on Daily Racing Form’s inaugural Derby Watch top 20, released Wednesday, six of them are in the Risen Star, including the current favorite, Smile Happy.

Smile Happy, trained by Kenny McPeek, is rated as a 5-1 chance on the Derby line set by Marty McGee of Daily Racing Form. The Derby Watch top 20 is listed in order of McGee’s line, with the odds calculated as though those 20 were the starting Derby field. McPeek also has Rattle N Roll in the top 20.

Todd Pletcher – represented by Pioneer of Medina in the Risen Star – is the trainer with the most Derby Watch top 20 runners, with four, including McGee’s current second choice, Mo Donegal (6-1). Steve Asmussen and Chad Brown have two each, and both – like McPeek and Pletcher – also have runners in the Risen Star. Asmussen sends out Epicenter and Brown will run Zandon. Pappacap, trained by Mark Casse and McGee’s fourth choice at 10-1, and Slow Down Andy, 15-1, trained by Doug O’Neill, are the other Derby Watch members in the Risen Star.

There are many miles to travel before the first Saturday in May, which is still 2 1/2 months away. And in coming weeks, attention will be focused both on and off the track.

The Derby Watch list published Wednesday does not include any runners trained by Bob Baffert, who is currently barred from the 2022 Derby by Churchill Downs in the aftermath of last year’s Derby, in which Medina Spirit finished first but was subsequently found to have traces of a medication that is legal to use, but not on race day.

Officially, Medina Spirit remains the winner of the 2021 Derby, which was Baffert’s record-setting seventh in the race. Stewards from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission earlier this week conducted a hearing into whether to disqualify Medina Spirit from that Derby victory, with Baffert’s team arguing the medication’s route of administration – topical vs. injected – is a salient point. The stewards’ ruling, whenever it is rendered, figures to be challenged by whoever is on the losing end of that decision.

Because of Churchill’s position regarding Baffert, horses trained by him have not been able to earn points so far in point-scoring preps. That is among the reasons his horses are not in the current Derby Watch rankings. But a decision favorable to Baffert – be it from the stewards, on appeal to the racing commission, or through the courts – would be grounds for subsequently including Baffert runners in the rankings.

His banishment has had a significant impact already. Of the 20 point-scoring races run so far in North America, Baffert has won six of them – two with Corniche and Newgrange, one each with Blackadder and Messier. Those four colts are among seven Baffert runners for whom points – thus far totaling 83 – have gone unawarded.

If Baffert currently were eligible, Messier (who would have 14 points) and Newgrange (20) would be ranked in the top 20, and McGee said that Messier, in fact, would be favored over Smile Happy based on his victory in the Robert Lewis at Santa Anita earlier this month.

Corniche, the Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old male and unbeaten winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, has yet to have a timed workout this year and remains, as of Wednesday, at WinStar Farm in Kentucky, preparing for his return to action. Because of his late start this year, he would not have been on the Derby Watch list, even if currently eligible.

Both Messier and Newgrange, as well as Blackadder, are owned by a large partnership headed by SF Racing and Starlight Racing. Under Churchill’s current policy, those horses could begin to earn points after being moved to another trainer. But with the point-scoring races about to be significantly raised in value – and with that group expected to have something, perhaps Doppelganger, in the Rebel on Feb. 26 at Oaklawn – the partnership has given zero indication at this time that it intends to move any of its top-ranked runners, like Messier and Newgrange.

Barring a ruling favorable to Baffert, or those horses being moved to another trainer, they will not be included on the Derby Watch list.

:: KENTUCKY DERBY 2022: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more

The Risen Star is the first of seven races offering 85 points overall, with 50 points to the winner. It has drawn entrants from all over the country, with Slow Down Andy in from California and Zandon from New York via winter training in Florida to take on Epicenter and Pappacap, second and third, respectively, in last month’s Lecomte. The Lecomte winner, Call Me Midnight, is on the Derby Watch list, but is bypassing this race to await next month’s Louisiana Derby.

As the Derby draws closer, there are eight races – such as the Louisiana Derby – that offer 170 points overall, including 100 to the winner.

All these races will significantly impact the make-up of the Derby field, which has a maximum of 20 runners, with preference based on points.

Two of the 20 slots are set aside for potential entrants from Europe and Japan via separate paths to the Derby carved out by Churchill Downs. The European Road to the Derby series numbers seven races, four of which were held last year. All three remaining this year are run on all-weather surfaces.

The Japan Road to the Derby series numbers four races, with two already run. The next in the series is the Hyacinth this Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse.

Based on nominations to this year’s Triple Crown, Japanese interest in this year’s Derby could be significant, especially following Japan’s successful Breeders’ Cup, which resulted in two victories and a year-end Eclipse Award for female turf star Loves Only You.

It’s time to kick it up a notch. Bam!