The Lexington Stakes is the last race with eligibility points toward the Kentucky Derby, but that will be a moot point Saturday when the 1 1/16-mile race is run at Keeneland.
If trainer Gary Contessa were a gambling man, he’d double down on his chances to make the Derby with his 3-year-old Uncle Sigh, who currently sits 21st on the list of horses with qualifying points for the May 3 Kentucky Derby.
Although Saturday’s Grade 3, $500,000 Illinois Derby at Hawthorne does not offer qualifying points to the Kentucky Derby, the race is set to have a possible Kentucky Derby starter in the lineup Saturday in Midnight Hawk.
With the final round of Kentucky Derby preps with rich point values having been run Saturday, the current point standings mirror the prospective 20-horse field for the May 3 Derby. But there are several horses in the top 20 whose Derby status is cloudy, most notably Blue Grass Stakes winner Dance With Fate, so the possibility looms large of horses currently on the outside eventually earning a berth in the Derby.
Dance With Fate, winner of the Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland, will return to California on Monday, and a decision as to whether he runs in the Kentucky Derby will be made by his owners, trainer Peter Eurton said Sunday at Santa Anita.
In a “do or die” Kentucky Derby qualifying race for seven of the eight starters, the Todd Pletcher-trained Danza skimmed the rail coming out of the final turn to post a 41-1 upset over Ride On Curlin.
Santa Anita Derby winner California Chrome will have his own training time at Los Alamitos for the next few weeks in the buildup to the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 3.
Trainer Bob Baffert currently has three horses with sufficient points to run in the Kentucky Derby on May 3, and all soon will be traveling from California to Kentucky.
Danza was en route to Churchill Downs on Sunday morning after earning a trip to the Kentucky Derby with his victory in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on Saturday.
On Keeneland’s synthetic Polytrack racing surface, which favored stretch-runners all day, a pair of 6-1 shots - Dance With Fate and Medal Count - successfully used that running style to earn tickets to the Kentucky Derby.
