The lead up to the Kentucky Derby consists of 36 races that award points to the Top 4 finishers in each race. The top 20 point earners will earn a spot in the starting gate for the 147th running of the first leg of the Triple Crown on Saturday, May 1st, 2021 at Churchill Downs. One invitation will be extended to the top point earners in the Europe Road to the Kentucky Derby and one invitation will be extended to the top point earners in the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. The field has been limited to 20 starters since 1975. We will update this page every weekend and you can see our predictions for every race on our Free Horse Picks page.
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Kentucky Derby Points Standings
as of April 23rd, 2021*Not Eligible
| # | Horse | Trainer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Essential Quality | Brad Cox | 140 |
| 2 | Hot Rod Charlie | Doug O'Neill | 110 |
| 3 | Super Stock | Steve Asmussen | 109 |
| 4 | Like the King | Wesley Ward | 104 |
| 5 | Known Agenda | Todd Pletcher | 102 |
| 6 | Rock Your World | John Sadler | 100 |
| 7 | Bourbonic | Todd Pletcher | 100 |
| 8 | Rebel's Romance (Ire) OUT | Charlie Appleby | 100 |
| 9 | Greatest Honour OUT | Shug McGaughey | 80 |
| 10 | Medina Spirit | Bob Baffert | 74 |
| 11 | Concert Tour OUT to Preakness S. | Bob Baffert | 70 |
| 12 | Midnight Bourbon | Steve Asmussen | 66 |
| 13 | ++ Weyburn OUT to Belmont S. | James Jerkens | 60 |
| 14 | Life is Good OUT | Bob Baffert | 60 |
| 15 | Mandaloun | Brad Cox | 52 |
| 16 | Caddo River | Brad Cox | 50 |
| 17 | Highly Motivated | Chad Brown | 50 |
| 18 | ++ Helium | Mark Casse | 50 |
| 19 | Crowded Trade OUT to Preakness | Chad Brown | 40 |
| 20 | Soup and Sandwich | Mark Casse | 40 |
| 21 | Dynamic One | Todd Pletcher | 40 |
| 22 | Sainthood | Todd Pletcher | 40 |
| 23 | Proxy OUT | Michael Stidham | 36 |
| 24 | Rombauer OUT to Preakness S. | Mike McCarthy | 34 |
| 25 | Hidden Stash | Victoria Oliver | 32 |
| 26 | Dream Shake OUT to Pat Day Mile | Peter Eurton | 30 |
| 27 | O Besos | Greg Voley | 25 |
| 28 | King Fury | Ken McPeek | 20 |
| 29 | *Drain the Clock OUT | Saffie Joseph, Jr. | 20 |
| 30 | Get Her Number | Peter Miller | 20 |
| 31 | ++ Hockey Dad OUT | Doug O'Neill | 20 |
| 32 | Hozier OUT | Bob Baffert | 20 |
| 33 | Keepmeinmind | Robertino Diodoro | 18 |
| 34 | Spielberg OUT | Bob Baffert | 17 |
| 35 | Unbridled Honor OUT | Todd Pletcher | 16 |
| 36 | Jackie's Warrior OUT | Steve Asmussen | 14 |
| 37 | Nova Rags OUT | Bill Mott | 14 |
| 38 | Capo Kane OUT | Harold Wyner | 12 |
| 39 | Papetu OUT | Antonio Sano | 11 |
| 40 | Moonlite Strike | Saffie Joseph, Jr. | 11 |
| 41 | Hard Rye Guy | Ian Wilkes | 11 |
| 42 | Candy Man Rocket | Bill Mott | 10 |
| 43 | Big Lake | Steve Asmussen | 10 |
| 44 | Risk Taking | Chad Brown | 10 |
| 45 | Brooklyn Strong OUT- to Preakness | Daniel Velazquez | 10 |
| 46 | Sittin On Go | Dale Romans | 10 |
| 47 | Hush of a Storm | William Morey | 10 |
| 48 | Defunded | Bob Baffert | 10 |
| 49 | Tarantina | Rodolphe Brisset | 9 |
| 50 | Starrininmydreams | Dallas Stewart | 8 |
| 51 | Roman Centurian | Simon Callaghan | 8 |
| 52 | Freedom Fighter | Bob Baffert | 8 |
| 53 | Cowan | Steve Asmussen | 8 |
| 54 | *Reinvestment Risk | Chad Brown | 4 |
| 55 | The Great One | Doug O'Neill | 4 |
| 56 | *Javanica (f) | Eoin Harty | 4 |
| 57 | Smiley Sobotka | Dale Romans | 4 |
| 58 | Overtook | Todd Pletcher | 4 |
| 59 | *Eagle Orb | Rudy Rodriquez | 4 |
| 60 | *Ten for Ten | Shug McGaughey | 4 |
| 61 | Gretzky the Great | Mark Casse | 2 |
| 62 | *Swill | Brad Cox | 2 |
| 63 | Hold the Salsa | Richard Lugovich | 2 |
| 64 | Waspirant | John Shirreffs | 2 |
| 65 | *Govenor's Party | Daniel Franco | 2 |
| 66 | Big Thorn | Steve Asmussen | 2 |
| 67 | Prime Factor | Todd Pletcher | 2 |
| 68 | Arabian Prince | Dallas Stewart | 2 |
| 69 | Petruchio | Richard Mandella | 2 |
| 70 | *Therideofalifetime | Ignacio Correas | 1 |
| 71 | Pickin' Time | Kelly Breen | 1 |
| 72 | Red Flag | John Shirreffs | 1 |
| 73 | Parnelli | John Shirreffs | 1 |
| 74 | *Civil War | Tom Albertrani | 1 |
| 75 | Woodhouse | C. R. Trout | 1 |
| 76 | *Royal Number | Michael Trombetta | 1 |
| 77 | *Boca Boy | Cheryl Winebaugh | 1 |
| 78 | ++ It's My House | Jamey Thomas | 1 |
| 79 | *Upstriker | Ron Moquett | 1 |
| 80 | Santa Cruiser | Keith Desormeaux | 1 |
