Upsets and More !

Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview —-

The Louisiana Derby turned out to be a huge disappointment for the connections of War of Will when the colt broke slowly from the gate, never appeared to get a hold of the track and came home ninth in the mile-and-an-eighth prep for the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May.

Trainer Mark Casse said the 3-year-old son of War Front has a right hind muscle strain and if it heals in the coming days they will soldier on to Churchill Downs. It is highly unlikely the colt will run again (he has 60 points, enough to get into the Derby) before the big dance so he will be off six weeks. If War of Will would have had a big effort in the Louisiana Derby you wouldn’t mind that, but off his performance you have to wonder.

The main track at Fair Grounds may have been playing goofy because several favorites in the dirt races came up empty: Serengeti Empress in the Oaks and Copper Bullet in the New Orleans Handicap.

By My Standards, a son of Goldencents, picked up 100 points for winning the Louisiana Derby and is headed to Louisville. Whether he’s good enough to take down the big prize remains to be seen.

Spinoff (Hard Spun) got 40 points for second and could be in the Derby field. Sueno (Atreides) has 28 points after finishing third and probably is a bubble horse along with Country House (Goldencents), fourth, who has 30 points.

Cutting Humor, trained by Todd Pletcher, picked up 50 points for winning the Sunland Park Derby on March 24 in New Mexico. The son of First Samurai beat Anothertwistafate and Mucho Gusto, the two favorites in the race. Both of those colts didn’t receive enough points to assure either a spot in the Kentucky Derby.

The Florida Derby in South Florida and the UAE Derby in Dubai will be run on March 30. The winner of each of those races will receive 100 points.

Starting with this list I’m only ranking colts that have the points needed to get in the Kentucky Derby.

Code of Honor goes to the top of the list until the Florida Derby. The son of Noble Mission has 54 points.

Omaha Beach is a tough colt that will put up a fight. The son of War Front has 37.5 points.

Game Winner, a son of Candy Ride, looks to improve on the Rebel. He has 45 points.

Improbable this son of City Zip has 25 points and he’s the one exception to my points rule.

War of Will stays here until we find out if he’s healthy. The War Front colt has 60 points.

Long Range Toddy has the pedigree (Take Charge Indy) for the Classic distances. He has 53.5 points.

Haikal was the surprise winner in the Gotham on March 9 at Aqueduct. The son of Daaher has 50 points.

Tacitus, an offspring of Tapit, surprised everybody in the Tampa Bay Derby on March 9 at Tampa Bay Downs. He picked up 50 points.

By My Standard has 100 points for the Louisiana Derby win so he has to be on the list. He’s by Goldencents.

Spinoff was just nosed out in the Louisiana Derby. The son of Handspun has 40 points.

I’m adding Cutting Humor because he has 50 points and I want to see if he’s for real.