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On the Derby Trail: Pre-Lexington Graded Earnings

Saturday's Lexington Stakes at Keeneland is the last chance to pick up meaningful graded earnings for Kentucky Derby hopefuls but given where the graded earnings stand right now, this prep is likely just window dressing.

Below is the current graded earnings list with horses in bold the probable Lexington starters.  The Lexington is a race that offers a purse of $300,000 with approximately $180,000 going to the winner.  

Looking at the current graded earnings list it is entirely likely that the winner of the Lexington will still not have enough earnings to get into the Derby.  Uptowncharlybrown currently has $29,000 in earnings, add in $180,000 and he's a shade under $210K...which puts him at 25th on the current list.  (UPDATED: There is a possibility that Drosselmeyer will enter the Lexington, although I can't seem to find anything current on his status.  If he were to enter, then a win would most certainly get him in the Derby.)

Other thoughts on the current graded earnings list:

  • I'd love to see Uh Oh Bango find his way into the Derby just for the mere fact that I'd like there to something besides fifteen speed horses in the race.  Plus, he might be an interesting long shot play should we see the race fall apart in the stretch...which at this point wouldn't surprise me. (UPDATED: From the DRF...looks like Uh Oh Bango is now off the Derby trail with an injury.)
  • We got a bunch of turf horses in the current Top 20, I think partly due synthetic racing and partly due to a thin crop of good three year olds.  Dean's Kitten, Interactif, Paddy O'Prado, and Stately Victor are all horses that are essentially "turf/synthetic only".
  • It was announced today that Odysseus, winner of the Tampa Bay Derby and last place finisher in the Polytrack Blue Grass, is off the Derby trail with a bone chip.
  • One good thing about the low earnings of the probable Lexington contenders, it's a pretty safe bet that if a zero earnings horse wins the race he still won't have enough to get in.  I'm sure some don't view that as a "good" thing but after a prep season where we've seen a bunch of mediocre performances I really don't need to see any more N1X horses squeezed into the Derby.  Just my take.

The complete graded earnings list is below the jump.

Rank

Horse

GrStk Earnings

1

Lookin At Lucky

$1,480,000

2

Noble's Promise

738,000

3

Rule

645,000

4

Sidney's Candy

630,000

5

Line of David

600,000

Eskendereya

600,000

7

Mission Impazible

485,934

8

Ice Box

457,500

9

Stately Victor

451,112

10

Endorsement

400,000

11

Conveyance

386,000

12

American Lion

378,000

13

Dublin

373,208

14

Super Saver

363,832

15

Discreetly Mine

340,000

16

Dean's Kitten

326,475

17

Interactif

307,950

18

Awesome Act

285,000

19

Paddy O'Prado

250,950

20

Homeboykris

250,500

21

Uh Oh Bango

237,952

22

Jackson Bend

230,000

23

Backtalk

225,916

24

Make Music for Me

218,750

25

Setsuko

180,000

A Little Warm

180,000

27

Pleasant Prince

166,250

28

Tempted to Tapit

156,000

29

Caracortado

153,000

30

Connemara

138,500

31

Schoolyard Dreams

137,500

32

Northern Giant

132,000

33

Eightyfiveinafifty

120,000

34

First Dude

97,500

35

Alphie's Bet

90,000

36

Drosselmeyer

87,000

37

Pulsion

85,000

38

The Program

75,500

39

Ron the Greek

70,500

40

Ailalea

69,900

41

Nacho Friend

64,500

42

Who's Up

60,000

43

Fly by Phil

58,280

44

Switch

58,000

45

Hurricane Ike

56,111

46

Smiling Tiger

54,000

47

Roman Invasion

50,000

48

Marcello

50,000

49

Codoy

47,500

50

Classical Slew

45,000

Litigation Risk

45,000

Ibboyee

45,000

53

Dave in Dixie

44,550

54

Turf Melody

42,957

55

Peppi Knows

41,000

56

Lentenor

37,500

57

Tiny Woods

31,000

58

Cardiff Giant

29,000

Uptowncharlybrown

29,000

60

Chief Counsel

24,250

61

Worldly

23,360

62

Letsgetitonmon

22,700

63

Gleam of Hope

22,650

64

Citrus Kid

21,000

Stay Put

21,000

66

Remand

20,000

Maximus Ruler

20,000

Brady Blue Eyes

20,000

69

Our Champion

19,700

70

Domonation

19,500

71

Lost Aptitude

18,800

72

Lucky Rave (GB)

18,000

Fearless Cowboy

18,000

74

Hear Ye Hear Ye

16,667

75

Privilaged

15,000

Toboggan Slide

15,000

77

Activity Report

14,787

78

Outlaw Man

14,000

n/a

Exhi

358

Prince Will I Am

0

Distored Dave

0

Game on Dude

0

Kettle River

0

Krypton

0

Workin for Hops

0