We're now one-third of the way through the road to the 2021 Kentucky Derby, and there's a new No. 3 on the leaderboard.
Saturday's Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds offered Derby points on a 10-4-2-1 bases, vaulting winner Midnight Bourbon to No. 3 on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard from No. 11. The next three finishers — Proxy, Mandaloun and Santa Cruiser — make their first appearance on the list.
Twelve races into the 36-race calendar, here's a look at the races so far and the next several on the calendar, with this past weekend's race in bold type.
Road to the Kentucky Derby - After 11 races
| Date | Race | Track | Distance | 1st-4th (points) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/5 | Iroquois | CD | 1 mile | Sittin On Go (10), Midnight Bourbon (4), Super Stock (2), Therideofalifetime (1) |
| 9/26 | American Pharoah | SA | 1 1/16 miles | Get Her Number (10), Rombauer (4), Spielberg (2), Waspirant (1) |
| 10/3 | Breeders' Futurity | Kee | 1 1/16 miles | Essential Quality (10), Keepmeinmind (4), Super Stock (2), Upstriker (1) |
| 10/10 | Champagne | Bel | 1 mile | Jackie's Warrior (10), Reinvestment Risk (4), Midnight Bourbon (2), Civil War (1) |
| 11/6 | Breeders' Cup Juvenile | Kee | 1 1/16 miles | Essential Quality (20), Hot Rod Charlie (8), Keepmeinmind (4), Jackie's Warrior (2) |
| 11/28 | Kentucky Jockey Club | CD | 1 1/16 miles | Keepmeinmind (10), Smiley Sobotka (4), Arabian Prince (2), Swill (1) |
| 12/5 | Remsen | AQU | 1 1/8 miles | Brooklyn Strong (10), Ten for Ten (4), Known Agenda (2), Pickin' Time (1) |
| 12/18 | Springboard Mile | RP | 1 mile | Senor Buscador (0), Cowan (4), Red N Wild (0), Saffa's Day (0) |
| 12/19 | Los Alamitos Futurity | LRC | 1 1/16 miles | Spielberg (10), The Great One (4), Petruchio (2), Red Flag (1) |
| 1/1 | Jerome | AQU | 1 mile | Capo Kane (10), Eagle Orb (4), Hold the Salsa (2) |
| 1/2 | Sham | SA | 1 mile | Life Is Good (10), Medina Spirit (4), Parnelli (2) |
| 1/16 | Lecomte | FG | 1 1/16 miles | Midnight Bourbon (10), Proxy (4), Mandaloun (2), Santa Cruiser (1) |
| 1/22 | Smarty Jones | OP | 1 mile | |
| 1/30 | Holy Bull | GP | 1 1/16 miles | |
| 1/30 | Robert B. Lewis | SA | 1 1/16 miles | |
| 1/30 | Withers | AQU | 1 1/16 miles | |
| 2/6 | Sam F. Davis | Tam | 1 1/16 miles |
Note: Senor Buscador (1st), Red N Wild (3rd) and Saffa’s Day (4th) did not accrue points in the Dec. 18 Springboard Mile because they competed with Lasix on race day.
Essential Quality retains the top spot on the leaderboard. We could see him next in the Feb. 13 Risen Star (G2), which offers 50-20-10-5 points, or the (G2) or the Feb. 15 Southwest (G3), at 10-4-2-1.
Here are the points totals, with horses who earned points this past weekend in bold.
Road to the Kentucky Derby - Points leaders
| Rank | Horse | Pts | Trainer | Stakes earnings* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Essential Quality | 30 | Brad Cox | $1,280,000 |
| 2 | Keepmeinmind | 18 | Robertino Diodoro | $379,040 |
| 3 | Midnight Bourbon | 16 | Steve Asmussen | $190,000 |
| 4 | Jackie's Warrior | 12 | Steve Asmussen | $457,500 |
| 5 | Spielberg | 12 | Bob Baffert | $206,000 |
| 6 | Get Her Number | 10 | Peter Miller | $186,000 |
| 7 | Sittin On Go | 10 | Dale Romans | $139,800 |
| 8 | Brooklyn Strong | 10 | Daniel Velazquez | $82,500 |
| 9 | Capo Kane | 10 | Harold Wyner | $82,500 |
| 10 | Life Is Good | 10 | Bob Baffert | $60,000 |
| 11 | Hot Rod Charlie | 8 | Doug O'Neill | $340,000 |
| 12 | Cowan | 4 | Steve Asmussen | $290,477 |
| 13 | Rombauer | 4 | Michael McCarthy | $120,500 |
| 14 | Reinvestment Risk | 4 | Chad Brown | $120,000 |
| 15 | Super Stock | 4 | Steve Asmussen | $59,000 |
| 16 | Ten for Ten | 4 | Shug McGaughey III | $50,000 |
| 17 | The Great One | 4 | Doug O'Neill | $40,500 |
| 18 | Proxy | 4 | Mike Stidham | $40,000 |
| 19 | Smiley Sobotka | 4 | Dale Romans | $38,400 |
| 20 | Eagle Orb | 4 | Rudy Rodriguez | $30,000 |
| 21 | Medina Spirit | 4 | Bob Baffert | $20,000 |
| 22 | Arabian Prince | 2 | Dallas Stewart | $28,063 |
| 23 | Petruchio | 2 | Richard Mandella | $24,000 |
| 24 | Waspirant | 2 | John Shirreffs | $24,000 |
| 25 | Mandaloun | 2 | Brad Cox | $20,000 |
| 26 | Hold the Salsa | 2 | Richard Lugovich | $19,125 |
| 27 | Swill | 2 | Brad Cox | $18,600 |
| 28 | Known Agenda | 2 | Todd Pletcher | $18,000 |
| 29 | Parnelli | 2 | John Shirreffs | $12,000 |
| 30 | Pickin' Time | 1 | Kelly Breen | $157,925 |
| 31 | Red Flag | 1 | John Shirreffs | $72,000 |
| 32 | Therideofalifetime | 1 | Ignacio Correas IV | $39,500 |
| 33 | Upstriker | 1 | Ron Moquett | $20,000 |
| 34 | Civil War | 1 | Tom Albertrani | $15,000 |
| 35 | Santa Cruiser | 1 | Keith Desormeaux | $8,000 |
*Non-restricted stakes earnings
