Kentucky Derby 145: Tacitas, Vekoma, Roadster secure starting berths

Ron Correll
Senior columnist Tracksideview

The big winners on April 6 were Tacitus (150 points) in the Wood Memorial, Vekoma (110 points) in the Blue Grass and Roadster (100 points) in the Santa Anita Derby. All three are safely in the Kentucky Derby starting gate on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

With the announcement that Master Fencer is coming from Japan for the Derby, that leaves 19 slots to be filled in that starting gate. Master Fencer takes up one of two positions allowed to horses accumulating points either in Europe or Japan. No word has been heard if a European runner is coming.I’m changing things up a little this week and will list the colts in order of the points they have.

I’ll wait until after the Arkansas Derby and Lexington Stakes, both on April 13, to try and put a ranking and some order to them.

The horses that have enough points besides the ones listed above are: Plus Que Parfait, 104; By My Standard, 100; Maximum Security, 100; Game Winner, 85; Code of Honor, 74; Haikal, 70; War of Will, 60; Long Range Toddy, 53.5; Tax, 52; Cutting Humor, 50; Win Win Win, 50; Gray Magician, 41; Spinoff, 40; Bodexpress, 40; Signalman, 38; and Omaha Beach 37.