Races to Watch on the Road to the Kentucky Derby
The Run for the Roses is the most exciting two minutes in sports and all spring the top three-year-olds will vie for a spot in the starting gate through a series of prep races held coast to coast.
The
Kentucky Derby is one of the most historic and anticipated sporting events of the year, and while the picture has yet to come into focus for the 2017 edition of the Run for the Roses, there is plenty of early intrigue. In recent years, the majority of the major players on the Triple Crown trail have come from the West Coast and, with the recent downgrade of the prestigious Wood Memorial to a Grade II, it looks likely that the California prep races will again have serious Kentucky Derby implications.
The last five editions of the Santa Anita Derby have showcased some of the best sophomores in the sport. Since 2012, the Santa Anita Derby has produced two Kentucky Derby winners (I’ll Have Another, 2012 and California Chrome, 2014), three Preakness Stakes winners (I’ll Have Another, 2012, California Chrome, 2014 and Exaggerator, 2016) and a Breeders’ Cup winner (Goldencents, Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, 2013 and 2014). There is no denying that at this point, the star power is in California.
The top Kentucky Derby prep race in Florida is the Florida Derby, held traditionally at the end of March or the first weekend in April. This is another key race on the road to Louisville and has yielded two Kentucky Derby winners from the last five renewals. In 2013, Orb parlayed a victory in the Florida Derby into a win in Kentucky and last year's juvenile champion Nyquist remained undefeated in a stunning win to head to the Kentucky Derby where he delivered handily.
The Arkansas Derby is another top tier Kentucky Derby prep with a rich recent history. From the last five years, American Pharoah is the most noteworthy horse to make the trip to Hot Springs and then to the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle. In 2015, American Pharoah thrilled fans with an eight-length romp as the overwhelming favorite and went on to win not only the Kentucky Derby but the Triple Crown. In 2016, Creator won the Arkansas Derby, and while he faltered in Kentucky, rebounded to win the Belmont Stakes.
It has been quite a few years since the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland has yielded a serious Kentucky Derby contender but, with the switchover to conventional dirt in 2015, that trend may change. One of the most memorable winners of the Bluegrass Stakes was Skip Away in 1996 – while he did poorly in the Run for the Roses, he ran second in both the Preakness and Belmont Stakes and capped off his three-year-old year with back-to-back Grade 1 victories, enough to earn him the Eclipse Award that year.
Though it was demoted to Grade 2 status for 2017, the Wood Memorial still has one of the richest histories of all of the Kentucky Derby prep races. In 2000, Fusaichi Pegasus won impressively on his way to a romp in the Kentucky Derby.
In 2003, Empire Maker and Funny Cide began their rivalry which would extend throughout the Triple Crown. Empire Maker won the Wood Memorial but Funny Cide pulled off the upset in the Kentucky Derby. It was Empire Maker, however, that denied Funny Cide the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes.
