2022 Kentucky Derby Contenders and Leaderboard

With the 2022 Kentucky Derby approaching, see the latest top 2022 Kentucky Derby contenders here. Find the points leaders in this year’s Road to the Kentucky Derby and latest info on the top 20 horses below.

You can also visit our Kentucky Derby page for loads of information, including the latest news, rankings, prep race schedules, the Kentucky Derby point standings, and much more!

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2022 TOP 20 KENTUCKY DERBY CONTENDERS

Check out the latest contenders who are hopeful to start the 2022 Kentucky Derby.

Rank	Horse	Trainers	Last Start	Possible Next Start
1	Epicenter	Steve Asmussen	1st, Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds	Kentucky Derby (G1)
2	Zandon	Chad Brown	1st, Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at Keeneland	Kentucky Derby (G1)
3	Messier	Tim Yakteen	2nd, Santa Anita Derby (G1) at Santa Anita	Kentucky Derby (G1)
4	Taiba	Tim Yakteen	1st, Santa Anita Derby (G1) at Santa Anita	Kentucky Derby (G1)
5	White Abarrio	Saffie Joseph Jr.	1st, Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park	Kentucky Derby (G1)
6	Simplification	Antonio Sano	3rd, Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park	Kentucky Derby (G1)
7	Mo Donegal	Todd Pletcher	1st, Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct	Kentucky Derby (G1)
8	Smile Happy	Kenny McPeek	2nd, Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at Keeneland	Kentucky Derby (G1)
9	Cyberknife	Brad Cox	1st, Arkansas Derby (G1)	Kentucky Derby (G1)
10	Charge It	Todd Pletcher	2nd, Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park	Kentucky Derby (G1)
11	Zozos	Brad Cox	2nd, Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds	Kentucky Derby (G1)
12	Tiz the Bomb	Kenny McPeek	1st, Jeff Ruby Stakes at Turfway Park	Kentucky Derby (G1)
13	Crown Pride	Koichi Shintani	1st, UAE Derby at Meydan Race Course	Kentucky Derby (G1)
14	Pioneer of Medina	Todd Pletcher	3rd, Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds	Kentucky Derby (G1)
15	Tawny Port	Brad Cox	2nd, Jeff Ruby Stakes at Turfway Park	Kentucky Derby (G1)
16	Classic Causeway	Brian Lynch	11th, Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park	Kentucky Derby (G1)
17	Barber Road	John Ortiz	2nd, Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn Park	Kentucky Derby (G1)
18	Happy Jack	Doug O'Neill	3rd, Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita Park	Kentucky Derby (G1)
19	Ethereal Road	D Wayne Lukas	4th, Lexington Stakes (G3) at Keeneland	Kentucky Derby (G1)
20	Summer Is Tomorrow	Bhupat Seemar	2nd, UAE Derby at Meydan Race Course	Kentucky Derby (G1)

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2022 KENTUCKY DERBY POINT LEADERS

Leaderboard for qualifying points to the 2022 Kentucky Derby. Points are earned by the top four finishers in designated qualifying Kentucky Derby prep races listed here. The Kentucky Derby field is reserved for the top 20 point earners. Two positions in the Kentucky Derby starting gate – one from Japan and one from Europe – will be extended to the horse that accrues the most points in their respective series.

America Road to the Kentucky Derby

RANK	HORSE	POINTS	TRAINER	OWNER
1	Forte	190	Todd Pletcher	Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable
2	Practical Move	160	Tim Yakteen	Amestoy, Jr., Pierre Jean, Amestoy, Leslie A. and Beasley, Roger K.
3	Angel of Empire	154	Brad Cox	Albaugh Family Stables LLC (Dennis Albaugh)
4	Tapit Trice	150	Todd Pletcher	Whisper Hill Farm (Amanda Pope) & Gainesway Stable (Antony Beck)
5	Two Phil's	123	Larry Rivelli	Patricia’s Hope LLC & Phillip Sagan
6	Lord Miles	105	Saffie Joseph, Jr.	Vegso Racing Stable
7	Derma Sotogake	100	Hidetaka Otonashi	Hiroyuki Asanuma
8	Kingsbarns	100	Todd Pletcher	Spendthrift Farm LLC
9	Raise Cain	64	Ben Colebrook	Andrew N. Warren & Rania Warren
10	Rocket Can	60	Bill Mott	Frank Fletcher Racing Operations Inc.
11	Hit Show	60	Brad Cox	Gary & Mary West
12	Confidence Game	57	Keith Desormeaux	Don't Tell My Wife Stables
13	Verifying	54	Brad Cox	Poulin, Jonathan, Westerberg, Magnier, Mrs. John, Smith, Derrick and Tabor, Michael B.
14	Sun Thunder	54	Kenny McPeek	R.T Racing Stable & Cypress Creek Equine
15	Mage	50	Gustavo Delgado	OGMA Investments LLC, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing LLC & CMNWLTH
16	Disarm	46	Steve Asmussen	Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC
17	Reincarnate	45	Tim Yakteen	SF Racing LLC (Gavin Murphy), Starlight Racing (Jack Wolf), Madaket Stables LLC (Sol Kumin & Jason Monteleone), Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC (Barbara Banke), Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC (W. Gregg Slager) & Catherine Donovan
18	Jace's Road	45	Brad Cox	West Point Thoroughbreds and Albaugh Family Stables LLC
19	Skinner	45	John Shirreffs	C R K Stable LLC
20	Continuar	Japan RTKD Invite	Yoshito Yahagi	Lion Race Horse Co. Ltd.
21	Cyclone Mischief	45	Dale Romans	Albaugh Family Stables LLC
22	Major Dude	40	Todd Pletcher	Spendthrift Farm LLC
23	Mandarin Hero	40	Terunobu Fujita	Hiroaki Arai
24	King Russell	40	Ron Moquett	Brereton C. Jones & Naber Racing LLC (Roger Naber)