Kentucky Derby: Who's hot, who's not for March 13, 2024

WHO’S HOT

Derby Watch prices for top-ranked Sierra Leone and second-ranked Timberlake ticked lower following a key defection and a low-rated prep. Linemaker David Aragona dropped Sierra Leone to 6-1, Timberlake to 8-1.

Ramjet, current points leader on the Japan Road to the Derby, is new to Derby Watch. Winner of the Hyacinth Stakes on Feb. 18 in Tokyo, Ramjet is 3 for 5. He would go into the Kentucky Derby off an 11-week break. The plan for Ramjet is to skip the final race in the Japan Road to the Derby series. The Fukuryu Stakes on March 23 does not ordinarily produce Derby starters. Ramjet opens at 40-1.

WHO’S NOT

Locked is off the Derby trail due to a frayed ligament in his left knee, news reported by David Grening in Daily Racing Form. Locked, a Grade 1 winner who finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in his most recent start, entered the winter ranked among the top Derby prospects. The defection of Locked opened a Derby Watch spot for Ramjet.

Domestic Product and No More Time finished one-two March 9 in the low-rated Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby. The 82 Beyer Speed Figure is the lowest by a Tampa Bay Derby winner in 30 years. Domestic Product will start once more before the Kentucky Derby. No More Time reportedly will train into the Derby, assuming 45 qualifying points is sufficient. With a career-high Beyer of just 82, No More Time will be a Derby outsider.

Due to the slow time (1:45.47) for the 1 1/16-mile Tampa Bay Derby, and corresponding low figure, Derby Watch odds for Domestic Product and No More Time remain unchanged at 25-1 and 40-1, respectively.

ON THE BUBBLE

Hall of Fame, whose dazzling 94-Beyer maiden win in January was followed by a flat seventh in the Grade 2 Risen Star, is back in the picture. Trainer Steve Asmussen told DRF reporter Marcus Hersh that Hall of Fame will run next in a to-be-determined Derby prep. Hall of Fame is based at Fair Grounds, where the Louisiana Derby will be run March 23.