Gormley adds to Kentucky Derby Points Total

Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview —-

Gormley; Zoe Metz Photography

We’ve had the first two points’ races of 2017 for the road to the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May. Both of those races, the Jerome at Aqueduct in New York on Jan. 2 and the Sham on Jan. 7 at Santa Anita in Southern California, were run on sloppy track so you’ll have to take that into consideration when evaluating the winners.

In the Jerome, El Areeb won and picked up 10 points while Bonus Points was second (4 points), True Timber was third (2) and Win With Pride was fourth (1).

Gormley won the Sham and received 10 points, which moved him up to second on the overall Derby points’ list. American Anthem was second (4), Big Hit was third (2) and Bird Is the Word was fourth (1).

From now on I’m only going to list the top 20 colts in points’ order. The full list can be found at the Churchill Downs web site.

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Classic Empire (Pioneer of the Nile) still tops the list with 30 points. Gormley (Malibu Moon) is second with 20 points. Third is Practical Joke (Into Mischief) with 14 points. Gunnevera, Lookin At Lee (Lookin At Lucky), Mastery, Mo Town, McCraken and El Areeb have 10 points.

The rest are as follows: Wild Shot has six points and No Dozing five points; Klimt, Hot Sean, Dangerfield, Syndergaard and Irap, Bonus Points and American Anthem with four; Straight Fire, and Favorable Outcome have two and that makes 20 colts, all that will fit into the starting gate.

The next two points’ races are the Smarty Jones on Jan. 16 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. and the Lecomte on Jan. 21 at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

Cover Photo: Gormley; Benoit