What does the Kentucky Derby field look like after some contenders withdraw?
Less than three weeks remain until the 151st edition of the Kentucky Derby takes place beneath the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs in Louisville.
But, the 20-horse field that will compete in the Grade 1, $5 million Run for the Roses is far from certain.
Several changes to the projected Derby field have occurred, with horses who banked enough qualifying points to run in the race opting out of competing in it. This has brought a few new contenders into the Derby picture.
What does the project field for the Kentucky Derby — to be run May 3 — look like now?
Several qualified horses won’t run in Kentucky Derby
The big changes to the Kentucky Derby picture that occurred last week were the announcements that Flood Zone, Heart of Honor and Owen Almighty — three horses that earned enough qualifying points to run in the Derby — wouldn’t be competing in the Run for the Roses.
Flood Zone — a winner in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct in March but the seventh-place finisher in the Grade 2, $1 million UAE Derby — won’t run in the Kentucky Derby. He was 17th on the qualifying points leaderboard.
Neither will Heart of Honor, who finished second in the UAE Derby. He was set to be the second horse from the Euro/Mideast qualifying pathway in this year’s Derby field, along with UAE Derby winner Admire Daytona.
Owen Almighty — 12th on the Derby qualifying points leaderboard but a disappointing sixth in last week’s Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland — will instead be pointed toward the Grade 2, $600,000 Pat Day Mile. That’s an undercard race on Derby Day at Churchill Downs.
On Tuesday afternoon, another change in the projected Derby field took place. River Thames won’t run in the race. He was last seen finishing third in the Blue Grass Stakes.
These decisions freed up four spots for horses previously on the outside looking in for the Derby.
Flying Mohawk, Grande, Madaket Road and Built are now in the projected 20-horse field.
Flying Mohawk, trained by D. Whitworth Beckman, ran second in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks last month at Turfway Park in Florence.
Grande, trained by Todd Pletcher, ran second in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial earlier this month at Aqueduct.
Madaket Road, trained by Bob Baffert, put together a Derby prep campaign that included earning qualifying points from three different races. He was third in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes, second in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes and fourth in the Grade 1 Florida Derby.
Built, trained by Wayne Catalano, won the Gun Runner Stakes in December, finished second in the Lecomte Stakes in January, ran third in the Risen Star Stakes in February and most recently was fifth in the Louisiana Derby last month.
Now, the next three horses on the qualifying points list who could move into the Derby field with further defections are Neoequos, Render Judgment and Baeza.
What does 2025 Kentucky Derby field look like?
The following 20 horses are currently projected to be in the 2025 Kentucky Derby field.
Of the 20, 18 will make the starting gate via the American Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying pathway. Those horses are:
▪ 1: Burnham Square: 130 points, ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr. and trained by Ian Wilkes.
▪ 2: Sandman: 129 points, ridden by Jose Ortiz and trained by Mark Casse.
▪ 3: Journalism: 122.5 points, ridden by Umberto Rispoli and trained by Michael McCarthy.
▪ 4: Rodriguez: 121.25 points, ridden by Mike Smith and trained by Bob Baffert.
▪ 5: Tiztastic: 119 points, ridden by Joel Rosario and trained by Steve Asmussen.
▪ 6: Tappan Street: 110 points, ridden by Luis Saez and trained by Brad Cox.
▪ 7: Sovereignty: 110 points, ridden by Manny Franco and trained by Bill Mott.
▪ 8: Final Gambit: 100 points, ridden by Luan Machado and trained by Brad Cox.
▪ 9: Coal Battle: 95 points, ridden by Juan Vargas and trained by Lonnie Briley.
▪ 10: Chunk of Gold: 75 points, ridden by Jareth Loveberry and trained by Ethan West.
▪ 11: Citizen Bull: 71.25 points, ridden by Martin Garcia and trained by Bob Baffert.
▪ 12: East Avenue: 60 points, ridden by Luan Machado and trained by Brendan Walsh.
▪ 13: Publisher: 60 points, ridden by Flavien Prat and trained by Steve Asmussen.
▪ 14: American Promise: 55 points, ridden by Nik Juarez and trained by D. Wayne Lukas.
▪ 15: Flying Mohawk: 50 points, ridden by Joseph Ramos and trained by D. Whitworth Beckman.
▪ 16: Grande: 50 points, ridden by Dylan Davis and trained by Todd Pletcher.
▪ 17: Madaket Road: 46 points, ridden by Mike Smith and trained by Bob Baffert.
▪ 18: Built: 45 points, ridden by Jose Ortiz and trained by Wayne Catalano.
One horse each from the Euro/Mideast Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying series and the Japanese Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying pathway will be competing in the Kentucky Derby.
Admire Daytona, a Japan-bred horse, won the UAE Derby and will be the representative from the Euro/Mideast Road. Last year, Forever Young became the first horse from the UAE Derby, a race that has existed since 2000, to finish in the money in the Kentucky Derby. That result also made Forever Young the first Japanese horse to record a top-three Kentucky Derby finish.
Luxor Cafe, a Kentucky-bred son of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, won the Fukuryu Stakes in March to secure his spot in the Derby via the Japanese route.
Gosger closes Kentucky Derby prep season with win in Lexington Stakes
Normally, there’s plenty of Kentucky Derby consequences associated with the Grade 3, $400,000 Stonestreet Lexington, which is held at Keeneland and serves as the final qualifying points race for the Derby.
But this year’s edition of the Lexington — which was run Saturday — had no impact on the Derby field. None of the seven horses in this year’s edition of the Lexington were able to earn enough qualifying points to nab a spot in the Derby starting gate.
Regardless, the Lexington saw a big performance from Gosger, a Brendan Walsh trainee who used an inside-to-outside move to win by 2 lengths in his first two-turn race.
This story was originally published April 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
