Saturday, 4/10/21, will feature The Stonestreet Lexington Stakes at Keeneland and the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn. The KY Derby leaderboard now has 33 ranked thoroughbreds for just 20 spots. Note that neither the European Road or the Japan Road led to any entries for the 147th KY Derby. Competition will be tough. The currently top ranked thoroughbred has earned 140 points, while the 20th ranked has 34 points. With 204 points up for grabs, there is ample opportunity for shuffling on the leaderboard.
First up, is the Grade III, 39th Stonestreet Lexington Stakes. Historically, the race dates back to 1936. 34 points will be awarded, assigned 20-8-4-2 to the respective first four finishers of the race. This stakes is race 9 on a card of 11. It will post at 5:30 pm ET. The Lexington offers a purse of $200,000. It is a 1 and 1/16 miles (8.5 furlongs) dirt race. Ten contenders are entered. They are listed by post/horse/jockey/trainer/morning-line odds/and current KY Derby prep points:
- Noble Reflection/Javier Castellano/Richard Baltas/15-1/zero points
- Swiftsure/Irad Ortiz, Jr./Steven Asmussen/5-1/zero points
- Bezos/Drayden Van Dyke/Bob Baffert/8-1/zero points
- It’s My House/Umberto Rispoli/Robert Hess, Jr./30-1/zero points
- Unbridled Honor/Julien Leparoux/Todd Pletcher/10-1/5 points
- Hockey Dad/Mario Gutierrez/Doug O’Neill/8-1/20 points
- Proxy/John Velazquez/Michael Stidham/6-5/34 points(in 3 KY Derby preps)
- Ultimate Badger/Corey Lanerie/Dale Romans/15-1/zero points
- King Fury/Brian Hernandez Jr./Kenneth McPeek/10-1/zero points
- Starininmydreams/Luis Saez/Dallas Stewart/6-1/zero points
Later that day, The Grade I, 85th Arkansas Derby will race. This stakes was also inaugurated in 1936. 170 points are up for grabs. The top four finishers will earn 100-40-20-10 points respectively. The AR Derby is the 12th of 13 races on the card. This stakes will post at 7:41 pm ET. This race offers a purse of $1 million dollars. The dirt stakes is 1 and 1/8 miles (9 furlongs). A small field of 6 horses are entered:
- Super Stock/Ricardo Santana, Jr./Steve Asmussen/6-1/9 points(in 3 KY Derby preps)
- Caddo River/Florent Geroux/Brad Cox/7-2/10 points
- Hozier/Martin Garcia/Bob Baffert/3-1/20 points
- Get Her Number/Francisco Arrieta/Peter Miller/6-1/10 points
- Concert Tour/Joel Rosario/Bob Baffert/1-150 points
- Last Samurai/Jon court/Dallas Stewart/15-1/zero points
While this is my last post on The Road to the 147th KY Derby, I am just getting started on Triple Crown facts and fever. I will continue to attend and report on Keeneland throughout the Spring Meet and will write more on the approaching KY Derby too. I hope you are all enjoying the races whether you do so live or through various media. Thanks for reading and feel welcome to comment and share. Enjoy these last laps!
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