2018 Road to the Kentucky Derby

The 2018 Road to the Kentucky Derby was a series of races through which horses qualified for the 2018 Kentucky Derby, which was held on May 5. The field for the Derby was limited to 20 horses, with up to four 'also eligibles' in case of a late withdrawal from the field. There were three separate paths for horses to take to qualify for the Derby: the main Road consisting of 34 races in North America plus one in Dubai, the Japan Road consisting of three races in Japan, and a new European Road consisting of seven races in England, Ireland and France.

The races in the Road to the Kentucky Derby were held from September 2017 (when the horses were two) through April 2018 (when they had turned three). The top four finishers in the specified races earned points, with the highest point values awarded in the major preparatory races held in late March or early April. Earnings in non-restricted stakes acted as a tie breaker.^[1]

Changes from 2017 series

For 2018, several changes were made from the 2017 series:^[2]

• Race changes: Added the Springboard Mile to the main series. Added a third race to the Japan series.
• Points system changes: Jeff Ruby Steaks, formally the Spiral Stakes moved to a "Wild Card" race, along with the Lexington Stakes. Points for these races will now be awarded on 20-8-4-2 basis, which is a decrease for the Jeff Ruby and an increase for the Lexington
• Rules changes: European Road to the Kentucky Derby introduced on a similar basis to the Japan Road. Consists of seven races, four of them on the turf and three on a synthetic surface.

The Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes, which would have been the 36th race in the main series, was cancelled in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.^[3]

Main Road to the Kentucky Derby

Standings

The following table shows the points earned in the eligible races for the main series. Entries for the Derby were taken on May 1.^[4][5]

Rank[6]	Horse	Points	Eligible Earnings[a]	Trainer	Owner	Ref
1	Magnum Moon	150	$1,140,000	Todd Pletcher	Lawana & Robert Low	[7]
2	Good Magic	134	$1,838,400	Chad Brown	e Five Racing & Stonestreet Stables	[8]
3	Audible	110	$803,520	Todd Pletcher	WinStar Farm, China Horse Club & SF Racing	[9]
4	Noble Indy	110	$640,000	Todd Pletcher	WinStar Farm & Repole Stable	[10]
5	Vino Rosso	107	$572,500	Todd Pletcher	Repole & St Elias Stables	[11]
6	Bolt d'Oro	104	$980,000	Mick Ruis	Ruis Racing	[12]
7	Enticed	103	$545,880	Kiaran McLaughlin	Godolphin Racing	[8]
8	Mendelssohn	100	$1,947,299	Aidan O'Brien	Smith, Magnier & Tabor	[13]
9	Justify	100	$600,000	Bob Baffert	China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners, WinStar Farm, Starlight Racing	[14]
bypassing[b]	Quip	90	$412,000	Rodolphe Brisset	WinStar Farm, China Horse Club & SF Racing	[16]
10[c]	Flameaway	70	$672,260	Mark Casse	John Oxley	[11]
11	Solomini	54	$716,000	Bob Baffert	Zayat Stables	[12]
12	Bravazo	54	$359,913	D. Wayne Lukas	Calumet Farm	[18]
13	My Boy Jack	52	$622,000	J. Keith Desormeaux	Don't Tell My Wife and Monomoy Stables	[19]
14	Promises Fulfilled	52	$266,480	Dale Romans	Robert Baron	[20]
injured[21]	Runaway Ghost	50	$456,350	Todd Fincher	Joe Peacock	[22]
15	Free Drop Billy	44	$597,200	Dale Romans	Albaugh Family Stables	[18]
16	Lone Sailor	42	$273,347	Thomas Amoss	Tom Benson	[18]
bypassing[d]	Rayya	40	$600,000	Doug Watson	Rashid bin Humaid al Nuaimi	[23]
injured[24]	McKinzie	40	$320,000	Bob Baffert	Watson, Pegram & Wellman	[25]
17	Hofburg	40	$192,000	William I. Mott	Juddmonte Farms	[26]
18	Firenze Fire	39	$647,500	Jason Servis	Mr. Amore Stable	[8]
19	Combatant	32	$350,000	Steve Asmussen	Winchell Thoroughbreds & Willis Horton Racing	[27]
20[e]	Instilled Regard	29	$246,000	Jerry Hollendorfer	OXO Equine LLC	[29]
injured[f]	Catholic Boy	24	$378,000	Jonathan Thomas	Robert LaPenta	[31]
bypassing[32]	Snapper Sinclair	22	$301,810	Steve Asmussen	Bloom Racing	[33]
21	Blended Citizen[c]	22	$159,644	Doug O'Neill	Greg Hall & Sayjay Racing	[29]
bypassing[32]	Reride	20	$298,000	Steve Asmussen	Winchell Thoroughbreds	[23]
	Strike Power	20	$209,560	Mark Hennig	Courtland Farms	[34]
	Dream Baby Dream	20	$176,000	Steve Asmussen	Dream Baby Dream Racing Stable	[22]
not nominated[35]	Core Beliefs	20	$120,000	Peter Eurton	Gary Broad	[14]
	Restoring Hope	20	$100,000	Bob Baffert	Gary and Mary West	[36]
	Old Time Revival	20	$100,000	Kenneth Decker	Fred Brei	[37]
	Mississippi	20	$96,000	Mark Casse	Magnier, Tabor, Oxley, Smith and Jooste	[26]
	Peace	15	$123,000	Richard Mandella	Spendthrift Farm & Town and Country Racing	[38]
injured[39]	Avery Island	14	$320,000	Kiaran McLaughlin	Godolphin Racing	[31]
	Sporting Chance	12	$337,000	D. Wayne Lukas	Robert Baker & William Mack	[40]
	Greyvitos[g]	12	$310,000	Adam Kitchingman	Triple B Farms	[27]
	Givemeaminit	12	$196,000	Thomas Amoss	Valleen Farms	[43]
	Pony Up	12	$101,580	Todd Pletcher	Calumet Farm	[29]
euthanized[44]	Mourinho	11	$143,360	Bob Baffert	Phoenix Thoroughbred III	[45]
	Gold Town	10	$251,342	Charlie Appleby	Godolphin	[23]
not nominated[35]	The Tabulator	10	$186,750	Larry Rivelli	Carolyn Wilson	[46]
not nominated[35]	Paved[h]	10	$60,000	Michael McCarthy	Ciaglia Racing & Eclipse Thoroughbred	[48]
	Kanthaka	10	$168,000	Jerry Hollendorfer	West Point Thoroughbreds	[38]
	World of Trouble	10	$145,000	Jason Servis	Michael Dubb & Bethlehem Stables	[16]
	Lombo	10	$90,345	Michael Pender	Michael Lombardi	[49]
	Seven Trumpets	9	$80,000	Dale Romans	West Point Thoroughbreds	[50]
	Telekinesis	8	$40,000	Mark Casse	Stonestreet Stables LLC	[46]
	Tiz Mischief	6	$80,900	Dale Romans	Frank Jones Jr.	[20]
	Ayacara	5	$71,345	J. Keith Desormeaux	Charles & Cynthia Marquis	[12]
	Title Ready	5	$45,000	Steve Asmussen	Charles Fipke	[7]
	Machismo	5	$19,200	Anthony Quartarolo	Looch Racing & Quartarolo	[34]
not nominated[35]	City Plan	4	$67,346	Eoin Harty	Godolphin Racing	[48]
	Arawak	4	$63,156	Doug O'Neill[i]	3R Racing, S. Kah & C T R Stables	[29]
	All Out Blitz	4	$56,000	Simon Callaghan	Kareem Shah, Inc.	[19]
	Principe Guilherme	4	$44,000	Steve Asmussen	Three Chimneys Farm	[33]
	Coltandmississippi	3	$31,137	Todd Pletcher	Teresa Viola Racing and St Elias Stable	[50]
euthanized[51]	Ten City	2	$83,300	Kenneth McPeek	Tommie Lewis & Magdalena Racing	[46]
not nominated[35]	Tap Daddy	2	$65,000	Steve Asmussen	Winchell Thoroughbreds	[45]
not nominated[35]	Kingsville	2	$44,000	Danny Pish	Armstrong, Saenz & Pish	[27]
	Vouch	2	$25,000	Arnaud Delacour	Lael Stables & Three Chimneys Farm	[31]
	Dark Vader	2	$50,000	Peter Eurton	Alesia, Burns Racing, Ciaglia Racing & Christensen	[49]
	Marconi	2	$36,520	Todd Pletcher	Bridlewood Farm, Magnier, Smith & Tabor	[52]
	Take the One O One	2	$36,345	J. Keith Desormeaux	Jay Em Ess Stable	[12]
not nominated[35]	Zanesville	2	$9,600	Thomas Amoss	Rosemont Farms	[29]
not nominated[35]	Kowboy Karma	1	$90,000	J. Larry Jones	Jones, Jones & Pressley	[8]
not nominated[35]	Bode's Maker	1	$27,500	Allen Milligan	Keane Thoroughbreds	[45]
	Zing Zang	1	$26,600	Steve Asmussen	Jackpot Ranch	[33]
not nominated[35]	Night Strike	1	$26,000	W. Bret Calhoun	Erich Brehm	[27]
	Lionite	1	$25,000	Steve Asmussen	Winchell Thor. and Willis Horton Racing	[18]
	For Him	1	$24,000	Michael Pender	Michael Lombardy	[25]
	High North	1	$17,200	Brad H. Cox	Shortleaf Stable	[20]
not nominated[35]	Alkhaatam	1	$12,500	Chad Brown	Shadwell Stable	[31]
not nominated[35]	Mugaritz	1	$11,840	Jonathan Wong	Alejandro Mercado	[48]
not nominated[35]	Ebben	1	$10,671	Steve Margolis	Craig Agular	[46]
	Regulate	1	$9,000	Bob Baffert	Juddmonte Farms	[49]
not nominated[35]	Regalian	1	$7,500	Chris Engelhart	Island Wind Racing	[50]
	Shivermetimbers	1	$6,000	Jerry Hollendorfer	M. DeDomenico and West Point Thor.	[19]

Winner of Kentucky Derby in bold

• Entrants for Kentucky Derby in blue
• "Also eligible" for Kentucky Derby in green
• Sidelined/Not under Derby Consideration/Not nominated in gray

Prep season events

Note: 1st=10 points; 2nd=4 points; 3rd=2 points; 4th=1 point (except the Breeders' Cup Juvenile: 1st=20 points; 2nd=8 points; 3rd=4 points; 4th=2 point)

Race	Distance	Purse	Track	Date	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Ref
Iroquois	1+1⁄16 miles	$150,000	Churchill Downs	Sep 16 2017	The Tabulator	Hollywood Star	Ten City	Ebben	[46]
FrontRunner	1+1⁄16 miles	$301,380	Santa Anita	Sep 30 2017	Bolt d'Oro	Solomini	Take the One O One	Ayacara	[12]
Champagne	1 mile	$500,000	Belmont	Oct 7 2017	Firenze Fire	Good Magic	Enticed	Kowboy Karma	[8]
Breeders' Futurity	1+1⁄16 miles	$500,000	Keeneland	Oct 7 2017	Free Drop Billy	Bravazo	Lone Sailor	Lionite	[18]
Breeders' Cup Juvenile	1+1⁄16 miles	$2,000,000	Del Mar	Nov 4 2017	Good Magic	Solomini	Bolt d'Oro	Givemeaminit	[43]
Delta Downs Jackpot	1+1⁄16 miles	$1,000,000	Delta Downs	Nov 18 2017	cancelled				[3]
Kentucky Jockey Club	1+1⁄16 miles	$200,000	Churchill Downs	Nov 25 2017	Enticed	Tiz Mischief	Promises Fulfilled	High North	[20]
Remsen	1+1⁄8 miles	$250,000	Aqueduct	Dec 2 2017	Catholic Boy	Avery Island	Vouch	Alkhaatam	[31]
Los Alamitos Futurity	1+1⁄16 miles	$300,000	Los Alamitos	Dec 9 2017	McKinzie[j]	Instilled Regard	Solomini	For Him	[25]
Springboard Mile	1 mile	$400,000	Remington	Dec 17 2017	Greyvitos	Combatant	Kingsville	Night Strike	[27]
Sham	1 mile	$100,345	Santa Anita	Jan 6 2018	McKinzie	All Out Blitz	My Boy Jack	Shivermetimbers	[19]
Jerome	1 mile	$150,000	Aqueduct	Jan 13 2018[k]	Firenze Fire	Seven Trumpets	Coltandmississippi	Regalian	[50]
Lecomte	1 mile & 70 yards	$200,000	Fair Grounds	Jan 13 2018	Instilled Regard	Principe Guilherme	Snapper Sinclair	Zing Zang	[33]
Smarty Jones	1 mile	$150,000	Oaklawn	Jan 15 2018	Mourinho	Combatant	Tap Daddy	Bode's Maker	[45]
Withers	1+1⁄8 miles	$245,000	Aqueduct	Feb 3 2018	Avery Island	Firenze Fire	Marconi	Coltandmississippi	[52]
Robert B. Lewis	1+1⁄16 miles	$151,380	Santa Anita	Feb 3 2018	Lombo	Ayacara	Dark Vader	Regulate	[49]
Holy Bull	1+1⁄16 miles	$350,000	Gulfstream	Feb 3 2018	Audible	Free Drop Billy	Tiz Mischief	Enticed	[9]
Sam F. Davis Stakes	1+1⁄16 miles	$250,000	Tampa Bay	Feb 10 2018	Flameaway	Catholic Boy	Vino Rosso	Hollywood Star	[11]
El Camino Real Derby	1+1⁄8 miles	$100,900	Golden Gate	Feb 17 2018	Paved	City Plan	Blended Citizen	Mugaritz	[48]
Southwest	1+1⁄16 miles	$500,000	Oaklawn	Feb 19 2018	My Boy Jack	Combatant	Sporting Chance	Mourinho	[40]

Championship series events

First leg of series

Note: 1st=50 points; 2nd=20 points; 3rd=10 points; 4th=5 points

Race	Distance	Purse	Grade	Track	Date	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Ref
Risen Star	1+1⁄16 miles	$400,000	2	Fair Grounds	Feb 17 2018	Bravazo	Snapper Sinclair	Noble Indy	Instilled Regard	[10]
Fountain of Youth	1+1⁄16 miles	$400,000	2	Gulfstream	Mar 3 2018	Promises Fulfilled	Strike Power	Good Magic	Machismo	[34]
Tampa Bay Derby	1+1⁄16 miles	$355,000	2	Tampa Bay	Mar 10 2018	Quip	Flameaway	World of Trouble	Vino Rosso	[16]
Gotham	1 mile	$300,000	3	Aqueduct	Mar 10 2018	Enticed	Old Time Revival	Free Drop Billy	Firenze Fire	[37]
San Felipe	1+1⁄16 miles	$400,690	2	Santa Anita	Mar 10 2018	Bolt d'Oro[l]	McKinzie	Kanthaka	Peace	[38]
Rebel	1+1⁄16 miles	$900,000	2	Oaklawn	Mar 17 2018	Magnum Moon	Solomini	Combatant	Title Ready	[7]
Sunland Derby	1+1⁄8 miles	$800,000	3	Sunland Park	Mar 25 2018	Runaway Ghost	Dream Baby Dream	Peace	Seven Trumpets	[22]

Second leg of series

These races are the major preps for the Kentucky Derby, and are thus weighted more heavily. Note: 1st=100 points; 2nd=40 points; 3rd=20 points; 4th=10 points

Race	Distance	Purse	Grade	Track	Date	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Ref
Louisiana Derby	1+1⁄8 miles	$1,000,000	2	Fair Grounds	Mar 24 2018	Noble Indy	Lone Sailor	My Boy Jack	Givemeamint	[55]
UAE Derby	1,900 metres (~1+3⁄16 miles)	$2,000,000	2	Meydan	Mar 31 2018	Mendelssohn	Rayya	Reride	Gold Town	[23]
Florida Derby	1+1⁄8 miles	$1,100,000	1	Gulfstream	Mar 31 2018	Audible	Hofburg	Mississippi	Catholic Boy	[26]
Wood Memorial	1+1⁄8 miles	$1,000,000[m]	2	Aqueduct	Apr 7 2018	Vino Rosso	Enticed	Restoring Hope	Firenze Fire	[36]
Blue Grass Stakes	1+1⁄8 miles	$1,000,000	2	Keeneland	Apr 7 2018	Good Magic	Flameaway	Free Drop Billy[n]	Sporting Chance	[57]
Santa Anita Derby	1+1⁄8 miles	$1,000,345	1	Santa Anita	Apr 7 2018	Justify	Bolt d'Oro	Core Beliefs	Instilled Regard	[14]
Arkansas Derby	1+1⁄8 miles	$1,000,000	1	Oaklawn Park	Apr 14 2018	Magnum Moon	Quip	Solomini	Combatant	[58]

"Wild Card" events

Note: 1st=20 points; 2nd=8 points; 3rd=4 points; 4th=2 point

Race	Distance	Purse	Track	Date	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Ref
Spiral[o]	1+1⁄8 miles	$202,400	Turfway	Mar 17 2018	Blended Citizen	Pony Up	Arawak	Zanesville	[29]
Lexington	1+1⁄8 miles	$200,000	Keeneland	Apr 14 2018	My Boy Jack	Telekinesis	Pony Up	Greyvitos	[60]

Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby

The Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby is intended to provide a place in the Derby starting gate to the top finisher in the series. If the connections of that horse decline the invitation, their place is offered to the second-place finisher and so on through the top four finishers. If neither of the top four accept, this place in the starting gate reverts to the horses on the main road to the Derby. Eligible Earnings, defined as career earnings through April 14, 2018, serves as the tie-break if two or more horses have the same number of points.^[1][61][62] For 2018, none of the invitations was accepted.^[6]

Qualification table

The top four horses (colored brown within the standings) are eligible to participate in the Kentucky Derby provided the horse is nominated.

Rank[6]	Horse	Points	Eligible Earnings	Trainer	Owner	Ref
1^	Sumahama	30	$291,287	R. Takahashi	Sanshisuimei Co. Ltd.	[62][63]
2~	Ruggero	16	$220,861	Y. Shikato	Takashi Muraki	[62][64]
3~	Taiki Ferveur	12	$240,689	M. Makiura	U. Taiki Farm	[62][63]
4^	Le Vent Se Leve	10	$463,935	K. Hagiwara	G1 Racing Co.	[62][65]
5	Don Fortis	4	$436,916	M. Makiura	K. Yamada	[62]
6	Mic Ben Hur	4	$122,696	Y. Hatakeyama	Kiratto One Co., Ltd.	[62]
7	Great Time	3	$186,586	Hideaki Fujiwara	Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co. Ltd.	[62]
8	Haseno Pyro	2	$263,981	K. Sato	F. Hasegawa	[62]
9	Meiner Yukitsubaki	2	$179,190	N. Takagi	K. Thoroughbred Club Ruffian	[62]
10	Dark Repulser	1	$200,920	T. Kanari	Akira Katayama	[62]
11	Bronze Key	1	$75,979	K. Tsunoda	Hiroshi Hatasa	[62]

^ - not nominated

~ - declined offer to participate

Events

Race	Distance	Track	Date	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Ref
Cattleya Sho	1,600 metres (~1 mile)	Tokyo Racecourse	Nov 25 2017	Ruggero	Mic Ben Hur	Meiner Yukitsubaki	Bronze Key	[64]
Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun	1,600 metres (~1 mile)	Kawasaki Racecourse	Dec 13 2017	Le Vent Se Leve	Don Fortis	Haseno Pyro	Dark Repulser	[66][65]
Hyacinth	1,600 metres (~1 mile)	Tokyo Racecourse	Feb 18 2018	Sumahama	Taiki Ferveur	Ruggero	Great Time	[63]

Note: Cattleya Sho and Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun: 1st=10 points; 2nd=4 points; 3rd=2 points; 4th=1 points Note: Hyacinth: 1st=30 points; 2nd=12 points; 3rd=6 points; 4th=3 points

European Road to the Kentucky Derby

The European Road to the Kentucky Derby is designed on a similar basis to the Japan Road and is intended to provide a place in the Derby starting gate to the top finisher in the series. If the connections of that horse decline the invitation, their place is offered to the second-place finisher and so on. If neither of the top four accept, this place in the starting gate reverts to the horses on the main road to the Derby. Eligible Earnings, defined as non-restricted stakes earnings through April 14, 2018, serves as the tie-break if two or more horses have the same number of points. If non-restricted stakes earnings happen to be identical, career earnings through April 14, 2018 would be used to break the tie.^[61][62]

The series consists of seven races – four run on the turf in late 2017 when the horses are age two, plus three races run on a synthetic surface in early 2018.

Qualification table

The following table shows the points earned in the eligible races for the European series. The top four horses (colored brown within the standings) were eligible for the invitation to participate in the Kentucky Derby, provided the horse was nominated. The connections of Gronkowski, who finished first with 50 points, accepted the invitation but Gronkowski subsequently became ill and had to miss the race.^[28] The second-place finisher, Mendelssohn, separately qualified on the main Road by winning the UAE Derby.^[23]

Rank[67]	Horse	Points	Eligible Earnings	Trainer	Owner	Ref
1 - ill	Gronkowski	50	$99,945	Jeremy Noseda	Phoenix Thoroughbreds[p]	[69]
2 - qualified on main Road	Mendelssohn	20	$1,947,299	Aidan O'Brien	Smith, Magnier & Tabor	[13]
3 - not nominated	Saxon Warrior	20	$245,017	Aidan O'Brien	Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier & Michael Tabor
4 - not nominated	Roaring Lion	14	$136,807	John Gosden	Qatar Racing Limited	[70]
	Iconic Sunset	12	$30,139	James Tate	Saeed Manana
	Happily	10	$543,648	Aidan O'Brien	Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier & Michael Tabor
	Threeandfourpence	8	$53,150	Aidan O'Brien	Smith, Magnier & Tabor	[71]
	Court House	8		John Gosden	Princess Haya of Jordan
	Dark Acclaim	6	$30,139	Marco Botti	Middleham Park Racing & Partners
	Seahenge	4	$144,705	Aidan O'Brien	Smith, Magnier & Tabor
	Olmedo	4	$113,505	Jean-Claude Rouget	Ecurie Antonio Caro & Gerard Augustin-Normand
	Nelson	4	$99,826	Aidan O'Brien	Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier & Michael Tabor
	Delano Roosevelt	4	$38,074	Aidan O'Brien	Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier & Michael Tabor
	Fortune's Pearl	4	$1,800	Andrew Balding	Qatar Racing Limited
	Purser	3	$19,215	John Gosden	Prince Khalid Abdullah
	Masar	2	$101,264	Charles Appleby	Godolphin Racing LLC
	The Pentagon	2	$71,981	Aidan O'Brien	Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier & Michael Tabor
	Mildenberger	2	$64,634	Mark Johnston	Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum
	Warm The Voice	2	$12,904	Brendan Duke	Mrs. J.S. Bolger
	Ventura Knight	2	$33,654	Mark Johnston	Middleham Park Racing XXXVII	[72]
	Blackgold Fairy	2	$15,164	Michael Halford	Zhang Yuesheng	[73]
	Verbal Dexterity	1	$280,269	Jim Bolger	Mrs. J.S. Bolger
	Kew Gardens	1	$58,741	Aidan O'Brien	Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier & Michael Tabor
	Woodmax	1	$23,610	Nicolas Clement	M J Jooste	[74]
	Petrus	1	$11,454	Brian Meehan	GPM Moreland	[75]

Events

Race	Location	Distance	Track	Date	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Ref
Beresford Stakes	IRE	1 mile	Curragh Racecourse	Sep 24 2017	Saxon Warrior	Delano Roosevelt	Warm The Voice	Kew Gardens	[76]
Royal Lodge Stakes	GB	1 mile	Newmarket Racecourse	Sep 30 2017	Roaring Lion	Nelson	Mildenberger	Petrus	[77]
Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère	FR	1,600 metres (~1 mile)	Chantilly Racecourse	Oct 1 2017	Happily	Olmedo	Masar	Woodmax	[78]
Racing Post Trophy	GB	1 mile	Doncaster Racecourse	Oct 28 2017	Saxon Warrior	Roaring Lion	The Pentagon	Verbal Dexterity	[79]
Road to the Kentucky Derby Stakes	GB	1 mile	Kempton Park Racecourse	Mar 7 2018[q]	Gronkowski	Court House	Fortune's Pearl	Ventura Knight	[81]
Patton Stakes	IRE	1 mile	Dundalk Racecourse	Mar 9 2018[r]	Mendelssohn	Threeandfourpence	Seahenge	Blackgold Fairy	[83]
Burradon Stakes	GB	1 mile & 5 yards	Newcastle Racecourse	Mar 30 2018	Gronkowski	Iconic Sunset	Dark Acclaim	Purser	[84]

Points offered:

• the four races in 2017 for two-year-olds: 1st=10 points; 2nd=4 points; 3rd=2 points; 4th=1 points
• the first two races in 2018: 1st=20 points; 2nd=8 points; 3rd=4 points; 4th=2 points
• the Burradon Stakes: 1st=30 points; 2nd=12 points; 3rd=6 points; 4th=3 points

See also

• 2018 Kentucky Derby
• 2018 Road to the Kentucky Oaks

Notes

1. Earnings from non-restricted stakes prior to the running of the Kentucky Derby serve as a tie-breaker.
2. Connections of Quip decided to bypass the race for the Preakness Stakes^[15]
3. Late nomination fee paid was paid before March 19 for the following horses: Runaway Ghost, Flameaway, Blended Citizen, Arawak and All Out Blitz.^[17]
4. Rayya is a filly who has also qualified for the Kentucky Oaks
5. Combatant moved into the 20th position with the withdrawal due to illness of Gronkowski on April 23^[28]
6. Catholic Boy bled during the Florida Derby and was sent to recover thereby missing the Triple Crown races^[30]
7. On 5 January 2018, Greyvitos underwent surgery after X-rays revealed small bone chips in both of his front knees.^[41] He returned to training on 26 February^[42]
8. Paved is a filly that is not nominated for the Kentucky Derby^[47]
9. Arawak was originally trained by Wesley Ward but was transferred to Doug O'Neill after finishing third in the Jeff Ruby Steaks^[17]
10. Solomini finished first but was disqualified to third
11. Originally the Jerome Stakes was scheduled for January 1 but due to the prolonged extreme cold weather, it was postponed^[53] until January 13^[54]
12. McKinzie finished first but was disqualified to second
13. Originally The Wood Memorial was to have a purse of $750,000 but was raised to $1 million when a Grade 1 winner started in the event.^[56] Firenze Fire was a winner of the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes.^[8]
14. Sporting Chance finished third but was disqualified to fourth
15. The Spiral Stakes is known as the Jeff Ruby Steaks for commercial reasons.^[59]
16. Rob Gronkowski, the football player, bought a share of Gronkowski, the horse, in April.^[68]
17. Originally the Road to the Kentucky Derby Condition Stakes was scheduled for March 1 but due to the snow associated with the European cold wave the event was postponed until March 7^[80]
18. Originally the Patton Stakes was scheduled for March 2 but due to the bitter cold and snowy weather, it was postponed until March 9^[82]