The Los Alamitos Derby on Saturday was one of the races providing three-year-olds with qualification points that they would need to make it into the field of the Kentucky Derby, set for September 5. Because there were only four starters at Los Alamitos, though, each horse got points, using the scale of 20-8-4-2, running from first through fourth place. This is a fairly low points scale, due to the small number of horses, and so each of these horses made some progress toward qualification, but they all have work to do. Let’s take a look at how the Los Alamitos Derby impacted the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard.
Kentucky Derby Update: Who’s In and Who’s Out?
Current Leaderboard
Position Horse Points
1 Tiz the Law 272
2 Honor A.P. 120
3 Authentic 100
4 King Guillermo 90
5 Ete Indien 74
6 Modernist 70
7 Ny Traffic 70
8 Dr Post 60
9 Basin 50
10 Mischievious Alex 50
11 Shivaree 40
12 Max Player 40
13 Storm the Court 36
14 Enforceable 33
15 Thousand Words 33
16 Sole Volante 30
17 Major Fed 30
18 Finnick the Fierce 25
19 Pneumatic 25
20 Anneau d’Or 22
21 Uncle Chuck 20
22 Candy Tycoon 20
23 Farmington Road 15
24 Attachment Rate 15
25 Eight Rings 10
26 Winning Impression 10
27 Three Technique 9
28 South Bend 8
29 Green Light Go 4
30 Cosmo 4
31 Rowdy Yates 2
32 Lebda 2
33 Great Power 2
34 Express Train 1
Uncle Chuck helped himself out with the win, but just picking up 20 points puts him on the bubble, so he will need to take part in other points races. He could become one of the latest Kentucky Derby bloomers ever, as he did not race until June 12, 2020, but he won his debut at Santa Anita. He then made it two for two at the Los Alamitos Derby. Trained by Bob Baffert, this horse needs more points behind him
Thousand Words won the Robert B. Lewis and looked like a lock for Churchill Downs. He won his first three career starts, but then he finished fourth at San Felipe (Grade II) and slid down to 11th place at the Oaklawn Stakes. Yet another horse in Bob Baffert’s stable, he would have had a lot more certainty for qualification with a win. He has moved up to #15 as a result of finishing as the runner-up, but he needs to keep moving.
Great Power came in fourth and is now officially on the leaderboard. However, this was just his third career race, and it took a lot of string-pulling to get him into this race. He now faces an uphill challenge before he can think about Churchill Downs.
Cosmo came in third at Los Alamitos, remaining winless in four career starts but now having qualification points. He has not been nominated for the Triple Crown, though, and given his current point total, jumping into the top 20 would be one of the longest of shots. Don’t forget to check out all the betting pools and other racing options available at JAZZ Sports’ Racebook; they’ve got prices on the Triple Crown races, daily betting odds and much more.
