Kentucky Derby Point System

[The Hog]

Article from Arkansas DemGaz by Robert Yates, January 7, 2013.

OAKLAWN COUNTDOWN 4 DAYS

New Derby road paved with points
ROBERT YATES
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE


    HOT SPRINGS — Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas isn't a fan of the new "Road to the Kentucky Derby" points system.
    Just ask him.
    "There were two things I thought you couldn't screw up — Coca-Cola and the Kentucky Derby," Lukas said following training hours Saturday morning at Oaklawn Park. "And now we just have Coca-Cola. The worst decision, I think, they've made on the Kentucky Derby in my 50-year career."
    The pointed comments from Lukas, a four-time Derby winner, came almost seven months after Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., announced it was ditching graded-stakes earnings, part of the track's traditional method to determine Kentucky Derby eligibility, in favor of a points system.
    Implemented by Churchill Downs in 1986, graded-stakes earnings became part of the eligibility process if more than the maximum 20 horses entered the Kentucky Derby.
    If more than 20 horses entered, which has become the norm because of the race's enormous popularity, starting preference was previously given to horses with the highest earnings in graded stakes races.
    According to a news release from Churchill Downs, the new points system is based on 36 stakes races, including 17 "marquee" events weighted more heavily in 10 weeks leading up the Kentucky Derby on May 4.
    Horses earn points by finishing in the top four in the designated races, with more points available in a race like the $1 million Grade I Arkansas Derby on April 13 at Oaklawn, one of the country's final major Kentucky Derby prep races.
    In its release, Churchill said the "Road to the Kentucky Derby" points system was created to establish a clear, practical and understandable path to the first leg of horse racing's Triple Crown, as opposed to the approximately 185 graded stakes races worldwide, including 60 open races and another 43 races restricted to fillies in North America, that counted toward the Kentucky Derby selection under the previous eligibility process.
    Under the new format, Oaklawn and Santa Anita near Los Angeles have more points available (289) than any other track in the country this year.
    "We love our series," said David Longinotti, Oaklawn's assistant general manager/racing.
    Two of Oaklawn's races, the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes on Jan. 21 and the $300,000 Grade III Southwest Stakes on Feb. 18, fall in the "Prep Season" category, mostly events of at least a mile run on dirt or synthetic surfaces between late September and late February.
    Each of those races is worth 10 points for first, 4 for second, 2 for third and 1 for fourth.
    The $600,000 Grade II Rebel Stakes on March 16 is a "Championship Series" event — 17 races of at least a mile on dirt or a synthetic surface.
    Each race in the first leg of the series will award 50 points for first, 20 for second, 10 for third and 5 for fourth.
    The Arkansas Derby is among seven races in the second leg of the "Championship Series.
    Those races are worth 100 points for first, 40 for second, 20 for third and 10 for fourth.
    If the points system would have been used last year, Arkansas Derby winner Bodemeister would have ranked first with 120.
    He was No. 9 in graded stakes earnings ($660,000), securing his Kentucky Derby spot by a runaway victory in the Arkansas Derby, which was worth $600,000.
    But Lukas said the new system eliminates the importance of a 2-year-old program, noting the winner of the $2 million Grade I Breeders' Cup Juvenile — one of 19 races in the "Prep Season" — receives only 10 points.
    "It's absolutely ridiculous to think that the Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner wouldn't automatically be eligible for the Kentucky Derby," Lukas said.
    Churchill Downs officials said they believe the points system, because of its uniform structure, will be easier for fans to understand than graded-stakes earnings and spark interest in the certification process, particularly in the final major prep races like the Arkansas Derby.
    Lukas still isn't a fan.
    "Any third-grade girl in an Arkansas elementary school can tell you the difference between $250,000 and $200,000," Lukas said. "You try to explain that points system to her, and it might take her all the way until she graduates from college. It is the most ridiculous, dumbest thing, I think, we've ever had done."
Three-tiered points system
    Breaking down points distribution among 36 races included in new "Road to the Kentucky Derby" system. Previously, Kentucky Derby eligibility has been established by money earned in graded stakes races:
    PREP SERIES
12 DESIGNATED RACES from late September to late February, including Jan. 21 Smarty Jones and Feb. 19 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park. 10-4-2-1 point scale for horses finishing 1-4.
    CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
FIRST LEG 17 races, including March 16 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. 50-20-10-5 point scale for horses finishing 1-4. SECOND LEG 7 races, including April 13 Arkansas Derby. 100-40-20-10 point scale for finishes 1 through 4

[showhimthewhip]

How do you hogvillians feel about the new system?  I think I am still undecided.

[kingoftherapids]

i think i like it but it needs to be adjusted. better for the timing of horses who are running good around kentucky derby time. but bad in the fact that the BC world juvenile gets such a low number of points.

[songofthesword]

well darn when is the last time a BC Juvenille horse has ran worth a darn in the kentucky derby?

the BC juvenille wants an auto pass because  it's the BC Juvenille.

here are the results of the top 3 finishers of the BC Juvenille the last 8 years

2011
Hansen
Union Rags
Creative Cause

2010

Uncle Mo
Boys at Tusconova
Rouge Romance

2009

Vale of York
Lookin at Lucky
Noble's Promise

2008

Midshipman
Square Eddie
Street Hero

2007

War pass
PYro
Kodiak Kowboy

2006

Street Sense
Circular Quay
Great Hunter

2005

Stevie Wonderboy
Henny Huges
First Sammari

2004

Wilko
Afleet Alex
Sun King



Everyone is quick to say "well look at streen sense he won the breeders cup and the derby" what they don't tell you is that he is the ONLY HORSE TO HIT THE FREAKING BOARD since 2007 in the derby. and only the 2nd since 2004 (afleet alex).

runners from the BC Juve are hitting the board in the Derby at at 8% clip. that's KOTR handicapping bad (lol just joking)

morso the 2 horses that actually ran worth a darn in the derby, would have qual8ified under the new rules.. SS won the Tampa bay derby and came in 2nd in the blue grass.   that alone would have gotten him in and if Carl though he actaully had to try he could have ran him again and could have gotten points but the 2nd place and the win would have been enough.

also afleet alex won the arkansas derby.

the fallacy i see is saying that a horse shoudl be good enough to win the derby but should not be good enough to win a prep to get in the derby. if a B C juvenille horse is good enough to actually run in the derby and run well he should be good enough to hit the board or get in through the new system. all this does is weed out the undesirable 50 to 1 sprinters

[cbhawg03]

I am taking a wait and see approach, but think that the later races are weighted to heavily compared to the early season stakes races.

BTW, I was at the BC and I had Wilko, but did not get to bet him. Got stuck behind a lady trying to bet with nickels and dimes

[showhimthewhip]

It almost seems like if i have a horse that wins a couple stakes races, I can't afford to give him a few months light work before the derby