The Field for Kentucky Derby 148 is set, kind of

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are only 19 days away from Kentucky Derby 148. For the first time in three years the Churchill Downs grandstands will be full for the first Saturday in May. The buzz around the city of Louisville is palpable as the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field nears completion.

Saturday afternoon Tawny Port won the Grade III Lexington Stakes, the final prep race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard at Keeneland. The victory gave the Jeff Ruby Steaks runner-up 20 points to solidify its spot in the field for Kentucky Derby 148. Joining Zozos and Cyberknife, Louisville trainer and Eclipse Award winner Brad Cox now has three horses in the top 20. Cox is the first ever Louisville native to train a Kentucky Derby Champion, but last year’s win for Mandaloun was by disqualification and is still being argued by Bob Baffert’s attorneys.

The lengthy Road to the Kentucky Derby has reached a conclusion after points were divvied out at almost 50 different prep races. Epicenter is atop the leaderboard after wins in the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby. Trained by Steve Asmussen, he has the most wins by a trainer in North America, yet Asmussen has never won the Fastest Two Minutes in Sports.

Final Kentucky Derby 148 Leaderboard

Rk.	Horse	Pts.	Trainer	*Earnings
1	Epicenter	164	Steve Asmussen	$940,000
2	Zandon	114	Chad Brown	$663,500
3	White Abarrio	112	Saffie Joseph Jr.	$769,650
4	Mo Donegal	112	Todd Pletcher	$561,500
5	Tiz the Bomb	110	Kenny McPeek	$1,012,610
6	Cyberknife	100	Brad Cox	$752,000
7	Crown Pride	100	Koichi Shintani	$671,544
8	Taiba	100	Tim Yakteen	$450,000
9	Simplification	74	Antonio Sano	$482,150
10	Smile Happy	70	Kenny McPeek	$499,410
11	Tawny Port	60	Brad Cox	$351,400
12	Barber Road	58	John Ortiz	$589,700
13	Un Ojo	54	Ricky Courville	$661,250
14	Early Voting	50	Chad Brown	$277,500
15	Morello	50	Steve Asmussen	$242,500
16	Messier	40	Tim Yakteen	$390,000
17	Zozos	40	Brad Cox	$200,000
18	Summer Is Tomorrow	40	Bhupat Seemar	$200,000
19	Charge It	40	Todd Pletcher	$188,000
20	Happy Jack	30	Doug O’Neill	$142,000
21	Pioneer of Medina	25	Todd Pletcher	$116,000
22	In Due Time	24	Kelly Breen	$113,800
23	Ethereal Road	22	D. Wayne Lukas	$231,000
24	Rich Strike	21	Eric Reed	$74,500
25	Rattle N Roll	20	Kenny McPeek	$356,500
26	Skippylongstocking	20	Saffie Joseph Jr.	$86,350
27	Major General	18	Todd Pletcher	$251,525
28	Golden Glider	15	Mark Casse	$87,250
	*Non-restricted stakes

Just because a horse is in the Top 20, doesn’t mean its ownership group is going to race it in the Kentucky Derby. They may choose to save it for later, race it on the undercard at a shorter distance (like the Pat Day Mile) or a late illness/injury could create a scratch, paving the way for those outside of the Top 20 to climb into the field. Most folks in the know doubt Early Voting will in fact be in the gate for the big race.

To get a better idea of who is in contention, Circa Sports and Caesar Sports at William Hill have early odds on who will win the Running of the Roses May 7. Each year folks say, “This race is wide open.” Only four horses have single-digit odds right now, making this race truly wide open.

Here are the @KentuckyDerby futures from @CircaSports and @CaesarsSports at @WilliamHillNV in Las Vegas. (No changes from Sunday night.) pic.twitter.com/dtT7aDullI

— Horse Racing Nation (@HR_Nation) April 18, 2022