The one-two finishers from both the Louisiana Derby and Sunland Park Derby last weekend are the four newcomers to this week's Derby Watch top 20, which is increasingly driven by the points list as Derby Day draws closer because you can't win it if you're not in it.
Trainer Todd Pletcher’s 3-year-olds are starting to come to hand, punctuated by Cutting Humor’s track-record win Sunday in the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Park Derby.
Jose Ortiz will take over as the rider on Improbable when he makes his final start before the Kentucky Derby in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 13 at Oaklawn Park.
Road to the Derby: Sunland Park Derby analysis
Road to the 2019 Kentucky Derby: Louisiana Derby analysis
Gunmetal Gray, who won the Grade 3 Sham Stakes in January, was diagnosed with a condylar fracture after a workout at Santa Anita on Sunday and was scheduled to undergo surgery later in the day.
Although they will take different paths to get there, the top two finishers in Saturday's Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds are set to make their next starts in the Kentucky Derby on May 4, and the beaten favorite, War of Will, still has the Derby in play following a freak incident leaving the gate.
War of Will, who finished ninth as the favorite in the Louisiana Derby on Saturday at Fair Grounds, was reported "much improved this morning" on Sunday by his trainer, Mark Casse, who had said Saturday night following the race that War of Will was "off significantly."
Still body sore from a spill earlier in the week, jockey Gabriel Saez went out and guided By My Standards – who only owned a maiden win in four starts – to a 22-1 upset in the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby on Saturday at Fair Grounds.
Omaha Beach, who won one of the two divisions of the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on March 16, will return to that track for the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on April 13, while stablemate Extra Hope will be pointed for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 6.
