Rebel winner Will Take Charge is the leader in points with 60 (Photo courtesy of Oaklawn Park)
Black Onyx and Govenor Charlie, two colts that were not on the Derby radar came up with big efforts last weekend and moved their way up the 2013 Kentucky Derby Points Standings.
Black Onyx was not even Triple Crown nominated, but shortly after winning the Grade 3 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park and earning 50 points his connections put up $6,000 to make him eligible.
Govenor Charlie won Sunday’s Grade 3 Sunland Derby at Sunland Park in his stakes debut, earning 50 points for the victory and giving hall of fame trainer Bob Baffert another legitimate Kentucky Derby contender.
Baffert also trains Flashback, Code West, Super Ninety Nine, War Academy and Den’s Legacy.
The D. Wayne Lukas trained Will Take Charge is the points leader with 60. The colt won the Grade 2 Rebel at Oaklawn Park on Mar. 16 in his last outing. Lukas is pointing the colt to the Grade 1 Blue Grass at Keeneland on Apr. 13.
There are currently seven horses that have earned at least 50 points, and there are seven races coming up in the next three weeks that offer 100-40-20-10 points to the top four finishers.
If the Kentucky Derby is oversubscribed with more than 20 entrants, points with be the determining factor. It appears it likely will take between 40 and 50 points to assure a starting spot in the gate on the first Saturday of May.
Road to the Kentucky Derby
These are the final prep races for the Kentucky Derby coming up, each offering points toward a starting spot in the gate for the Run for the Roses:
Kentucky Derby Championship Series (points 100-40-20-10)
Mar. 30: Gulfstream Park: Florida Derby, Meydan: UAE Derby, Fair Grounds: Louisiana Derby
Apr.6: Aqueduct: Wood Memorial, Santa Anita: Santa Anita Derby
Apr. 13: Oaklawn Park: Arkansas Derby, Keeneland: Blue Grass
Wild Card races (points: 20-8-4-2)
Apr. 20: Keeneland: Lexington
Apr.27: Churchill Downs: Cliff’s Edge
| Rank | Horse | Points | Trainer | Non-Restricted Stakes Earnings |
| 1. | Will Take Charge | 60 | D. Wayne Lukas | $512,971 |
| 2. | Vyjack | 50 | Rudy Rodriguez | $405,000 |
| 3. | Govenor Charlie | 50 | Bob Baffert | $400,000 |
| 4. | Black Onyx | 50 | Kelly Breen | $317,130 |
| 5. | Orb | 50 | Shug McGaughey III | $240,000 |
| 6. | Verrazano | 50 | Todd Pletcher | $210,000 |
| 7. | Hear the Ghost | 50 | Jerry Hollendorfer | $195,400 |
| 8. | Oxbow | 36 | D. Wayne Lukas | $316,000 |
| 9. | Uncaptured | 30 | Mark Casse | $394,674 |
| 10. | Flashback | 30 | Bob Baffert | $180,000 |
| 11. | Goldencents | 29 | Doug O’Neill | $758,000 |
| 12. | Shanghai Bobby | 24 | Todd Pletcher | $1,731,000 |
| 13. | Java’s War | 22 | Ken McPeek | $201,772 |
| 14. | Den’s Legacy | 20 | Bob Baffert | $325,000 |
| 15. | Falling Sky | 20 | John Terranova II | $157,500 |
| 16. | West Hills Giant | 20 | John Terranova II | $89,000 |
| 17. | Code West | 20 | Bob Baffert | $80,000 |
| 18. | Dynamic Sky | 13 | Mark Casse | $289,168 |
| 19. | Speak Logistics | 11 | Eddie Plesa Jr. | $52,500 |
| 20. | Itsmyluckyday | 10 | Eddie Plesa Jr. | $393,600 |
| 21. | Overanalyze | 10 | Todd Pletcher | $308,381 |
| 22. | Super Ninety Nine | 10 | Bob Baffert | $218,000 |
| 23. | Power Broker | 10 | Bob Baffert | $210,000 |
| 24. | Giant Finsh | 10 | Tony Dutrow | $133,050 |
| 25. | Revolutionary | 10 | Todd Pletcher | $120,000 |
| 26. | Abraham | 10 | Todd Pletcher | $96,000 |
| t-27. | Elnaawi | 10 | Kiaran McLaughlin | $40,000 |
| t-27. | Palace Malice | 10 | Todd Pletcher | $40,000 |
| 29. | Tiz a Minister | 10 | Paul Aguirre | $36,000 |
| 30. | Texas Bling | 9 | Danele Durham | $241,200 |
| 31. | Siete de Oros | 7 | Ramon Preciado | $80,000 |
| 32. | He’s Had Enough | 6 | Doug O’Neill | $442,000 |
| 33. | Fear the Kitten | 6 | Mike Maker | $100,235 |
| 34. | Shakin It Up | 5 | Bob Baffert | $150,000 |
| 35. | Tesseron | 5 | Josie Carroll | $49,017 |
| 36. | Taken by the Storm | 5 | Kenny McPeek | $25,575 |
| 37. | Capo Bastone | 4 | Todd Pletcher | $251,500 |
| 38. | Normandy Invasion | 4 | Chad Brown | $58,000 |
| 39. | Golden Soul | 4 | Dallas Stewart | $44,000 |
| 40. | Escapefromreality | 4 | Dominick Schettino | $41,334 |
| 41. | Frac Daddy | 4 | Ken McPeek | $40,596 |
| 42. | Fortify | 3 | Mahmood Al Zarooni | $225,000 |
| 43. | Mylute | 2 | Tom Amoss | $163,365 |
| 44. | Carving | 2 | Bob Baffert | $145,750 |
| 45. | Clearly Now | 2 | Brian Lynch | $145,086 |
| 46. | Heaven’s Runway | 2 | Joseph Martin | $111,198 |
| 47. | My Name Is Michael | 2 | Bill Mott | $55,671 |
| 48. | Always in a Tiz | 2 | Dominick Schettino | $39,000 |
| 49. | Dewey Square | 2 | Dale Romans | $16,298 |
| 50. | Manando | 2 | Bob Baffert | $12,000 |
| 51. | Dry Summer | 1 | Joel Marr | $150,000 |
| 52. | Amerigo Vespucci | 1 | Timothy Tullock Jr. | $71,334 |
| 53. | Joshua’s Comprise | 1 | Barry Rose | $56,000 |
| 54. | Quinzieme Monarque | 1 | Tom Albertrani | $27,500 |
| 55. | Channel Isle | 1 | D. Wayne Lukas | $20,500 |
| 56. | Little Jerry | 1 | Richard Baltas | $12,000 |
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