Archarcharch, Brilliant Speed & Nehro move into top 20

Archarcharch and Nehro, who were separated by a neck in the Arkansas Derby,

and narrow Blue Grass winner Brilliant Speed earned their way in the prospective

Kentucky Derby 137 field Saturday.

Archarcharch, who began the week at No. 25, jumped to No. 3 on the Kentucky

Derby 137 Graded Stakes Earnings List after the $600,000 Arkansas Derby first

prize jumped his graded stakes earnings to $780,000. The list will likely

determine the field for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 7 at Churchill

Downs. Runner-up Nehro doubled his earnings to $400,000 and went from No. 22 to

No. 13.

In the Blue Grass, Brilliant Speed got up by a nose on Twinspired and earned

$450,000, which ranked No. 10. The second-place check of $150,000 pushed

Twinspired's bankroll to $197,500 and put him on the outside looking in at No.

24. Both horses needed to win to crack the Top 20, and Twinspired will need

defections, which could happen.

Here's the official Kentucky Derby 137 Graded Stakes Earnings Top 30 through

Saturday, April 16 (with last week's ranking on the Graded Stakes Earnings List

plus graded stakes earnings, the trainer of the horse and the next race and/or

travel updates):

Rank		(Last Week)		Horse, Graded Stakes Earnings		(Possible Next Race)
1		(1)		Uncle Mo, $1,360,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby; arrived Monday)
2		(2)		Dialed In, $840,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby; arrives April 30)
3		(25)		Archarcharch, $780,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby; arrived Tuesday)
4		(3)		Comma to the Top, $671,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby under consideration; arrival TBA)
5		(4)		Toby's Corner, $625,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby; arrival TBA)
6		(5)		Pants On Fire, $623,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby; arrives Sunday)
7		(6)		Midnight Interlude, $600,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby; arrives Thursday)
8		(7)		J P's Gusto, $544,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby under consideration; arrives in Ky. Tuesday)
9		(8)		Soldat, $540,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby; arrives April 30)
10		(new)		Brilliant Speed, $450,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby; stabled at Keeneland and arrival TBA)
11		(9)		Master of Hounds, $441,884		(May 7 Kentucky Derby; arrives May 3)
12		(10)		Twice the Appeal, $400,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby; arrives Tuesday)
13		(22)		Nehro, $400,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby; arrives Tuesday)
14		(11)		Mucho Macho Man, $370,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby; arrived Monday)
15		(12)		Decisive Moment, $301,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby; arrived March 30)
16		(13)		Animal Kingdom, $285,000		(arrives Thursday, decision on Derby after Saturday work on dirt)
17		(15)		The Factor, $272,500		(plans not firm after displacing palate in Arkansas Derby; arrives Tuesday)
18		(16)		Stay Thirsty, $260,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby; arrived April 7)
19		(17)		Jaycito, $250,000		(April 23 Lexington; arrives Thursday)
20		(18)		Santiva, $242,397		(May 7 Kentucky Derby is possible; stabled at Keeneland)
21		(19)		Watch Me Go, $235,500		(status unknown after sixth in Illinois Derby)
22		(20)		Shackleford, $212,000		(May 7 Kentucky Derby or May 21 Preakness)
23		(37)		Twinspired, $197,500		(May 7 Kentucky Derby if he can get in)
24		(23)		Silver Medallion, $184,334		(Lexington on Saturday; needs win to crack Top 20)
25		(24)		Anthony's Cross, $182,000		(status unknown after fifth in Santa Anita Derby)
26		(26)		Brethren, $155,000		(plans not firm after 11th in Arkansas Derby)
27		(28)		Mr. Commons, $120,000		(status unknown after third in Santa Anita Derby)
28		(35)		Sway Away, $111,500		(plans not firm after fourth in Arkansas Derby; arrives Tuesday)
29		(new)		Dance City, $100,000		(status unknown after third in Arkansas Derby; arrives Tuesday)
29		(29)		Norman Asbjornson, $100,000		(status unknown after fourth in Wood Memorial)
31		(30)		Ruler On Ice, $96,000		(April 30 The Cliff's Edge Derby Trial)

After a string of stunning upsets in major preps (note: the average winning

payoff for the four Grade 1 Kentucky Derby preps was $35.45), it appears that

Florida Derby champ Dialed In will inherit the role as the Derby favorite.

Others that figure to receive support from the betting public include winter

book favorite Uncle Mo, Risen Star winner and Louisiana Derby third Mucho Macho

Man, Archarcharch, Nehro, Fountain of Youth champ and Florida Derby fifth Soldat,

Santa Anita Derby winner Midnight Interlude and Wood Memorial victor Toby's

Corner.

The status of several horses remains in a state of flux:

* Top-ranked Uncle Mo (gastrointestinal infection), No. 18 The Factor

(flipped palate) and No. 20 Jaycito (bruised foot) are recovering from recent

setbacks, with the latter possibly contesting Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000

Lexington at Keeneland.

* The connections for No. 4 Comma to the Top suggested that the gelding would

bypass the Kentucky Derby in advance of the Santa Anita Derby, but are now

considering the race after he finished a close second.

* The status of No. 8 J P's Gusto remains unclear after back-to-back

disappointing efforts at Oaklawn Park. He is booked on an Arkansas-to-Kentucky

charter flight Tuesday, but the plane reservation notes that he will then be

vanned to New York. On Tuesday morning, trainer Joe Petalino said the colt could

go to an area farm until owner Dr. John Waken makes his final decision about the

Derby, which he expected to come sometime between Thursday and Sunday. “He's

still in the mix," said Petalino, who reported that the ridgling would likely go

to East Coast-based trainer Mike Hushion following the Derby.

* Ireland-based No. 11 Master of Hounds, who was under consideration for the

Qipco English 2000 Guineas on Kentucky Derby Day, now appears on course for the

Derby as travel plans appear firm with his arrival scheduled for approximately

11 a.m. on Tuesday of Kentucky Derby Week (May 3).

* Plans for No. 16 Animal Kingdom, who has raced exclusively on turf and

synthetic surfaces, won't be finalized until the colt has a workout over

Churchill Downs' dirt oval Saturday.

* It was announced Monday that Astrology, who would be ranked No. 17 with

$281,893, would contest Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Jerome at Aqueduct and, in

all likeliness, bypass the Kentucky Derby. "We feel that running him in the

Kentucky Derby off one prep race is too much to ask of him at this point,"

trainer Steve Asmussen said in a news release. The colt departed for New York on

Monday night, and he was removed from the list of possible contenders.

* No. 20 Santiva finished ninth in the Blue Grass as the 2-1 favorite but is

considered "possible" for the Derby if he makes the field.

* There's been no word from the camp of No. 21 Watch Me Go about next-race

plans following his distant sixth in the Illinois Derby. After the race, trainer

Kathleen O'Connell suggested the colt may not have liked the Hawthorne surface.

He was made a late Triple Crown nominee after winning the Tampa Bay Derby.

* Silver Medallion, who begins the week at No. 24 with $184,334, will attempt

to crack the Top 20 in Saturday's Lexington. The 1 1/16-mile race over Polytrack

features a $120,000 first prize, which would jump him to No. 16. A runner-up

effort, worth $40,000, would only move him up two spots ahead of No. 22

Shackleford and No. 23 Twinspired, whose connections desire to make the field.

* No. 25 Anthony's Cross, No. 26 Brethren, No. 27 Mr. Commons, No. 28 Sway

Away and others appear to need several defections within the next two weeks to

make the field.

Outside of Astrology, Jaycito and Silver Medallion, it does not appear that

this weekend's races -- the Lexington and Jerome -- can produce any other

Kentucky Derby 137 starters.

The final chance for those on the outside looking in to accrue coveted graded

stakes money will come Opening Night at Churchill Downs under the lights in the

Grade III, $200,000-added The Cliff's Edge Derby Trial. The one-turn mile race,

which will feature a first prize in excess of $124,000, will be run as Race 8 in

prime time at 9:39 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 30 – one week in advance of the

Kentucky Derby.

The $2 million guaranteed Kentucky Derby has been restricted to 20 starters

since 1975. Graded stakes earnings accumulated in races on the “Road to the

Kentucky Derby" have determined the field for the 1 1/4-mile classic since 1986.

The Kentucky Derby 137 Graded Stakes Earnings List only includes active

three-year-olds that were made eligible to the Triple Crown. Also, their

connections have suggested that they're considering a run in the 1 1/4-mile

classic.

Twenty horses have entered the Derby every year since 2004, and 10 of the

last 12 years. The 20th and final spot in the starting gate -- a.k.a. "the

bubble" horse -- has varied year to year. Last year, it took a record $218,750

for eventual fourth-place finisher Make Music for Me to make the field. In 2009,

it took only $55,500 for Nowhere to Hide to complete the 20-horse lineup. Over

the last five years, the final horse to make the field has earned an average of

$130,450 in graded stakes races.