May 6th will mark the 143rd running of the Kentucky Derby, where 20 of the world’s fastest thoroughbred horses will battle it out for the prized, golden Kentucky Derby Trophy.
Exactly how do the owners, trainers, and to an extent horses, fulfill their dreams of participating in and hopefully win the first leg of the Triple Crown? Let’s find out below.
Prior to 2013, many horse-racing fans were left wondering how exactly horses qualify for the Kentucky Derby. As such, the committee behind the race implemented The Road to the Kentucky Derby; a stretch of 35 races wherein horses that finish within the top four of those races will be awarded points determined by order of finish. The 20 horses with the most points at the end of those 35 races will earn a spot at the starting gate of Churchill Downs for the actual Kentucky Derby set on the first Saturday in the month of May.
There are two sets of qualyfing races in The Road to the Kentucky Derby. First is the Prep Season, where 19 of the 35 races will be held. The 16 remaining races on the schedule, meanwhile, are from the Championship Series, with these races awarding more points for top finishers compared to those from the Prep Season.
Eastern Challengers Await
This 2017, there’s been a unique addition to the qualifiers: the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. This event consists of two races in Japan, where points will be awarded to the top-four finishers of these races and the top points-earner will be offered one of the 20 spots for the Kentucky Derby itself. Now obviously, since these races are held in The Land of the Rising Sun, the owner, trainer and horse must be of Japanese descent. The jockey, on the other hand, need not meet this criteria.
The inaugural top-qualifier from the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby is Epicharis, who unfortunately opted to sit out the Derby to focus more on a solid push at the Preakness or Belmont Stakes. The respective runners-up in points to Epicharis are Mont Saint-Legame and Adirato – the only two other eligible horses from Japan that could replace Epicharis at Churchill Downs – also declined to participate, so we may have to wait until next year to possibly have a Japanese colt contend at the Kentucky Derby.
