Graded Stakes Divisional Standings

Now that we've got the Kentucky Derby out of the way, along with a whole host of Graded stakes action from the last couple of weeks, it's time to take a look at the updated Graded Stakes Divisional Standings. Due to all of the prep race activity over the last couple of months, both three-year-old divisions include horses that have acquired quite a few points. Conversely, the Distaff and Classic divisions aren't fully ramped up and are littered with horses that have won only a race or two this season.

Another storyline that we'll probably witness with these standings throughout the years is the back-and-forth natures of certain horses with regards to the divisions that they'll fall under. For example, a horse like Caleb's Posse will likely run in races carded at distances between seven furlongs (Dirt Sprint Division) and a mile (Dirt Mile Division). I'm just going to wait and see how that plays out over the course of the season before I make too many adjustments to the divisions. If things seem really out of line at the end of the year, I'll go a different route for 2013.

The As a refresher, you can find results and standings at the Google document linked below at any time.

Graded Stakes Results and Divisional Standings

As an additional frame of reference, below are the division classifications and the points system assigned to for each win, place and show.

The charts below include the Top 10 in each division, along with a notation of the graded stakes races the horse has won during the 2012 season. Some horses in the Top 10 haven't won a single graded stakes race but accumulated enough points from 2^nd or 3^rd place finishes to make their way into the standings. As I wrote above, iIt's still somewhat early in the racing season, especially with regards to turf racing outside of Florida or California, and some horses are bouncing between a couple of different divisions, like Nates Mineshaft; he's in the Top 10 for both the Older Classic Division and the Dirt Mile Division.

While there is a great deal of subjectivity as to where to "cut-off" the conditions for each division (and I'm still contemplating revising the Turf Classic conditions to races greater than or equal to 10 furlongs), the goal is to create a snap-shot of where horses stand given the races they've run in over the year.

Below are the Divisional Standings as of graded stakes completed on or before May 6th.