Road to the Kentucky Derby

A few weeks ago, the GIII Matt Winn S. was added as a points race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, reconstituted when Churchill Downs relocated the 2020 'Run for the Roses' to Sept. 5. The race took on added importance earlier this week, when officials at Belmont Park announced that its marquee race, the GI Belmont S., would be the first of this year's Triple Crown races and take place June 20. Saturday's first graded stakes of the season beneath the Twin Spires therefore takes on added importance...

Churchill Downs Racetrack released a preliminary list of races Tuesday that could be used for the extension of the "Road to the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve," pending agreeable race placement by the host tracks. The first race in the extended series, the $150,000 GIII Matt Winn S. May 23 at Churchill Downs, will have top four points raised from the previously announced 10-4-2-1to 50-20-10-5. "Based on measured interest from horsemen and limited racing opportunities for 3-year-olds across the country, the Matt Winn at the home of the Kentucky...

Patrick Biancone pulled off the improbable last Saturday in the GII Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream, winning a major prep for the GI Kentucky Derby with a horse who cost relatively little at the sales and appeared headed for a career on the grass. Now, can he do it all over again? A week after Ete Indien (Summer Front) won the Fountain of Youth, Sole Volante (Karakontie {Jpn}) will look to emulate his stablemate with a win in the GII Tampa Bay Derby. The similarities with the two are...