How do horses qualify for the Kentucky Derby?

As the most prestigious and visible race of the year, thoroughbred trainers all want their horses to run in the Kentucky Derby, but there are only a limited number of entrants.

A long, long time ago this was much simpler. Though the Triple Crown, and the Kentucky Derby in particular, have been the pinnacle of racing for three-year-old colts, for a while now there hasn’t always been such a rush to enter. Some of this is just the industry expanding, but some of it is also owners (or trainers) wanting to be able to stay they had a horse in the Derby, regardless of how well or poorly that horse ran.

However, there are only a certain number of slots in the starting gate, so the field had to be limited somehow. And the racing commission wanted to make sure that those who entered were actually qualified to run. To that end, they created a point system. This assigned a certain number of points to qualifying races, more or less based on things such as the races distance and competition level. A certain number of points would be awarded to the horse that won, less to the horse that finished second, and on down the line.

In the end, the Kentucky Derby field is limited to 20 entries, and those who have the higher point totals are given preference. The possibility exists, of course, that some horse in the top 20 would choose not to enter, instead pointing towards the Preakness, the Belmont, or some other race. But the lure of the Kentucky Derby is strong, so that rarely happens.

The points allocation has also made it more difficult for horses to qualify outside the traditional Kentucky Derby path. This relates to foreign horses and fillies, both of which generally don’t follow the traditional Kentucky Derby prep trail.

Next: 20 short stories about the 2018 Kentucky Derby horses

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