Kentucky Derby points: Changes at the top after major preps
HRN staff March 23, 2026 7:18am
Photo: Casey Laughter / Eclipse Sportswire
As expected, the Kentucky Derby 2026leaderboard has a much different look this week after two preps that offered 100-50-25-10-5 points to the top five finishers.
Fulleffort shot to the top with 110 points after his win in the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) for trainer Brad Cox. Ten of those points came from his runner-up effort in the John Battaglia Memorial, also at Turfway Park.
Emerging Market won the Louisiana Derby (G2) in his second start, which put him at no. 2 in the standings with 100 points.
Pavlovian, second in the Louisiana Derby, is at no. 3 on the leaderboard with 70 points, and Golden Tempo, who picked up 25 points for finishing third, is at no 6. Jeff Ruby runner-up Stark Contrast joined the leaderboard at no. 10 after earning 50 points.
More changes in the standings will come this weekend, with the Florida Derby (G1) and Arkansas Derby each offering 100 points to the winner. The following weekend brings the Blue Grass (G1), Santa Anita Derby (G1) and Wood Memorial (G1), also with 100 points to the winner, and the Derby trail wraps up with the Lexington (G3) on April 11, with 20 points to the winner.
Road to the Kentucky Derby
| Rank | Horse | Pts | Trainer | Earnings* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fulleffort | 110 | Brad Cox | $507,900 |
| 2 | Emerging Market | 100 | Chad Brown | $600,000 |
| 3 | Pavlovian | 70 | Doug O’Neill | $527,000 |
| 4 | Paladin | 60 | Chad Brown | $437,500 |
| 5 | Incredibolt | 60 | Riley Mott | $424,570 |
| 6 | Golden Tempo | 60 | Cherie DeVaux | $300,000 |
| 7 | The Puma | 56 | Gustavo Delgado | $230,000 |
| 8 | Silent Tactic | 50 | Mark Casse | $742,630 |
| 9 | Class President | 50 | Todd Pletcher | $569,700 |
| 10 | Stark Contrast | 50 | Michael McCarthy | $439,900 |
| 11 | Commandment | 50 | Brad Cox | $329,220 |
| 12 | Iron Honor | 50 | Chad Brown | $165,000 |
| 13 | Potente | 50 | Bob Baffert | $120,000 |
| 14 | Chip Honcho | 49 | Steve Asmussen | $190,000 |
| 15 | Universe | 38 | Kenny McPeek | $244,650 |
| 16 | Grittiness | 36 | Todd Pletcher | $150,000 |
| 17 | Further Ado | 35 | Brad Cox | $312,470 |
| 18 | Litmus Test | 34 | Bob Baffert | $392,188 |
| – | +Crown the Buckeye | 28 | Mike Maker | $73,500 |
| 19 | Renegade | 25 | Todd Pletcher | $170,000 |
| – | +Medici | 25 | Richard Mandella | $94,950 |
| 20 | Chief Wallabee | 25 | Bill Mott | $76,800 |
| 21 | Robusta | 25 | Doug O’Neill | $40,500 |
| 22 | Intrepido | 23 | Jeff Mullins | $260,000 |
| 23 | Express Kid | 20 | Justin Evans | $308,800 |
| 24 | Nearly | 20 | Todd Pletcher | $170,950 |
| 25 | Talk to Me Jimmy | 20 | Rudy Rodriguez | $110,000 |
| 26 | Great White | 20 | John Ennis | $107,440 |
| 27 | Bravaro | 20 | Saffie Joseph Jr. | $68,700 |
| 28 | Buetane | 16 | Bob Baffert | $212,500 |
| 29 | Secured Freedom | 16 | Tim Yakteen | $24,000 |
| 30 | Napoleon Solo | 15 | Chad Summers | $286,520 |
| 31 | Blackout Time | 15 | Kenny McPeek | $182,375 |
| 32 | So Happy | 15 | Mark Glatt | $144,000 |
| 33 | Confessional | 15 | Brad Cox | $55,000 |
| 34 | Stop the Car | 15 | Brendan Walsh | $39,975 |
| – | +Right to Party | 15 | Kenny McPeek | $36,000 |
| 35 | Canaletto | 15 | Chad Brown | $35,000 |
| 36 | Brant | 14 | Bob Baffert | $364,000 |
| 37 | Balboa | 14 | Brittany Russell | $144,000 |
| 38 | Carson Street | 11 | Brendan Walsh | $35,000 |
| 39 | Argos | 10 | Brad Cox | $265,160 |
| 40 | Talkin | 10 | Danny Gargan | $111,750 |
| – | +Wayne’s Law | 10 | Amador Sanchez | $105,000 |
| 41 | Redland Rebels | 10 | Patrick Biancone | $51,900 |
| 42 | Baytown Dreamer | 7 | Paul McEntee | $171,109 |
| 43 | Maximus Prime | 7 | Anthony Mitchell | $81,411 |
| 44 | Bricklin | 6 | Rodolphe Brisset | $52,000 |
| 45 | Ottinho | 6 | Chad Brown | $24,000 |
| 46 | Rancho Santa Fe | 5 | Brad Cox | $83,750 |
| 47 | Blacksmith | 5 | Bob Baffert | $50,000 |
| 48 | Cannoneer | 4 | Brad Cox | $12,375 |
| 49 | Cherokee Nation | 3 | Bob Baffert | $13,805 |
| 50 | Civil Liberty | 2 | Doug O’Neill | $54,000 |
| 51 | Courting | 2 | Todd Pletcher | $20,000 |
| – | +I Did I Did | 2 | Mike Maker | $11,175 |
| – | +American King | 1 | Ruben Gomez | $4,000 |
| 52 | Exosome | 0 | Kelsey Danner | $2,500 |
| – | +Timeless Victory | 0 | Eddie Plesa Jr. | $750 |
| – | +Taptastic | 0 | Steve Asmussen | $0 |
| – | +Gregarious | 0 | Jose Castro | $0 |
* Non-restricted stakes earnings
+ Not nominated to the Triple Crown
Euro-Mideast road to the Kentucky Derby
No races, so no changes on this leaderboard. The Euro-Mideast path ends Saturday with the UAE Derby (G2), which awards 100-60-30-15-10 points. Expected starters include Saudi Derby (G3) winner Al Haram. Up to two Kentucky Derby invitations will be extended to horses on the Euro-Mideast road.
| Rank | Horse | Pts | Trainer | Earnings* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | +Al Haram (IRE) | 30 | Abdullah Alsidrani | $900,000 |
| – | +Hawk Mountain (IRE) | 20 | Aidan O’Brien | $233,829 |
| – | +Brotherly Love (GB) | 20 | Jamie Osborne | $130,704 |
| 1 | Six Speed | 20 | Bhupat Seemar | $114,366 |
| – | +Hidden Force (GB) | 20 | Charlie Appleby | $0 |
| – | +f-Blanc de Blanc | 20 | Robson De Aguiar | $0 |
| 2 | Puerto Rico (IRE) | 10 | Aidan O’Brien | $476,281 |
| – | +Bow Echo (IRE) | 10 | George Boughey | $132,683 |
| – | +Duke of Immatin | 10 | Musabbeh Al Mheiri | $43,568 |
| – | +Devon Island | 10 | Charlie Appleby | $38,122 |
| 3 | Lino Padrino | 10 | Bhupat Seemar | $31,315 |
| – | +Whatchadoin (IRE) | 10 | Josh Halley | $1,170 |
| – | +Venetian Prince (GB) | 10 | Andrew Balding | $0 |
| – | +Satono Voyage (JPN) | 9 | Hiroyasu Tanaka | $328,707 |
| – | +Action (IRE) | 8 | Aidan O’Brien | $76,531 |
| 4 | Wonder Dean (JPN) | 6 | Daisuke Takayanagi | $145,172 |
| – | +Tadej (GB) | 6 | Archie Watson | $60,151 |
| – | +Union Security | 6 | Ahmad Harmash | $19,061 |
| – | +Redemption Road (GB) | 6 | David Marnane | $0 |
| – | +Nighttime (FR) | 5 | Christine Head | $182,481 |
| – | +Humidity (GB) | 5 | Andrew Balding | $141,313 |
| – | +Geryon (IRE) | 5 | Ger Lyons | $53,404 |
| – | +Raajehh | 4 | Michael Costa | $12,253 |
| – | +Sary Shayan | 4 | Doug Watson | $10,892 |
| – | +Flanker Jet (GB) | 4 | Robson De Aguiar | $3,355 |
| – | +Utmost Good Faith (GB) | 4 | George Boughey | $0 |
| – | +Benvenuto Cellini (IRE) | 3 | Aidan O’Brien | $132,508 |
| – | +Rayif (IRE) | 3 | Francis Henri Graffard | $96,517 |
| 5 | Keiai Agito (JPN) | 3 | Yukihiro Kato | $45,000 |
| – | +Al Haarith (IRE) | 3 | Joseph O’Brien | $12,637 |
| – | +Rochfortbridge (IRE) | 2 | Adrian Keatley | $42,052 |
| – | +Pacific Avenue (IRE) | 2 | Charlie Appleby | $14,313 |
| – | +Shaihaan (IRE) | 2 | Donnacha O’Brien | $5,616 |
| – | +Outlaw Man | 2 | M.D. O’Callaghan | $0 |
| – | +Campacite (FR) | 1.5 | Jean-Claude Rouget | $96,314 |
| – | +Imperial Me Cen (IRE) | 1.5 | P. Olave Valdivielso | $77,222 |
| – | +Oxagon (FR) | 1 | John & Thady Gosden | $68,852 |
| – | +Daytona (IRE) | 1 | Aidan O’Brien | $62,230 |
| – | +Port of Spain (IRE) | 1 | Aidan O’Brien | $9,100 |
* Non-restricted stakes earnings
+ Not nominated to the Triple Crown
Japan road to the Kentucky Derby
No races, no changes on this leaderboard as well. Saturday’s Fukuryu is the final stop on the Japan road, and entries include points leader Lucky Kid. One Kentucky Derby invitation will be extended on this route.
| Rank | Horse | Pts | Trainer | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lucky Kid (JPN) | 30 | Yukihiro Kato | $228,417 |
| 2 | Pyromancer (JPN) | 20 | Keiji Yoshimura | $396,606 |
| – | +Don Erectus (JPN) | 20 | Noboru Takagi | $159,161 |
| – | +Satono Voyage (JPN) | 10 | Hiroyasu Tanaka | $387,431 |
| – | +Tamamo Freesia (JPN) | 10 | Yuki Ohashi | $371,765 |
| 3 | Itterasshai (JPN) | 9 | Makoto Saito | $81,054 |
| 4 | Best Green (JPN) | 6 | Junji Tanaka | $242,388 |
| – | +Boku Mada Nemuiyo (JPN) | 6 | Akishi Higashida | $101,851 |
| – | +Ayasan Jotaro (JPN) | 4 | Junji Tanaka | $118,817 |
| 5 | Arcadia Cafe (JPN) | 3 | Noriyuki Hori | $82,738 |
| – | +Your Felicity (JPN) | 3 | Naoto Chiba | $74,316 |
| – | +Idaten Shacho | 2 | Hiroaki Kawazu | $58,250 |
| – | +Every Possible (JPN) | 2 | Koichi Shintani | $65,157 |
| – | +Ho O Luxor (JPN) | 1 | Toru Kurita | $59,303 |
+ Not nominated to the Triple Crown
Earnings shown are career earnings
Fulleffort Emerging Market Kentucky Derby
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