HOT SPRINGS — Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas isn’t a fan of the new “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points system.
Just ask him.
“There were two things I thought you couldn’t screw up - Coca-Cola and the Kentucky Derby,” Lukas said following training hours Saturday morning at Oaklawn Park. “And now we just have Coca-Cola. The worst decision, I think, they’ve made on the Kentucky Derby in my 50-year career.”
The pointed comments from Lukas, a four-time Derby winner, came almost seven months after Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., announced it was ditching graded-stakes earnings, part of the track’s traditional method to determine Kentucky Derby eligibility, in favor of a points system.
Implemented by Churchill Downs in 1986, graded-stakes earnings became part of the eligibility process if more than the maximum 20 horses entered the Kentucky Derby.
If more than 20 horses entered, which has become the norm because of the race’s enormous popularity, starting preference was previously given to horses with the highest earnings in graded stakes races.
According to a news release from Churchill Downs, the new points system is based on 36 stakes races, including 17 “marquee” events weighted more heavily in 10 weeks leading up the Kentucky Derby on May 4.
Horses earn points by finishing in the top four in the designated races, with more points available in a race like the $1 million Grade I Arkansas Derby on April 13 at Oaklawn, one of the country’s final major Kentucky Derby prep races.
In its release, Churchill said the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points system was created to establish a clear, practical and understandable path to the first leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, as opposed to the approximately 185 graded stakes races worldwide, including 60 open races and another 43 races restricted to fillies in North America, that counted toward the Kentucky Derby selection under the previous eligibility process.
Under the new format, Oaklawn and Santa Anita near Los Angeles have more points available (289) than any other track in the country this year.
“We love our series,” said David Longinotti, Oaklawn’s assistant general manager/racing.
Two of Oaklawn’s races, the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes on Jan. 21 and the $300,000 Grade III Southwest Stakes on Feb. 18, fall in the “Prep Season” category, mostly events of at least a mile run on dirt or synthetic surfaces between late September and late February.
Each of those races is worth 10 points for first, 4 for second, 2 for third and 1 for fourth.
The $600,000 Grade II Rebel Stakes on March 16 is a “Championship Series” event - 17 races of at least a mile on dirt or a synthetic surface.
Each race in the first leg of the series will award 50 points for first, 20 for second, 10 for third and 5 for fourth.
The Arkansas Derby is among seven races in the second leg of the “Championship Series.
Those races are worth 100 points for first, 40 for second, 20 for third and 10 for fourth.
If the points system would have been used last year, Arkansas Derby winner Bodemeister would have ranked first with 120.
He was No. 9 in graded stakes earnings ($660,000), securing his Kentucky Derby spot by a runaway victory in the Arkansas Derby, which was worth $600,000.
But Lukas said the new system eliminates the importance of a 2-year-old program, noting the winner of the $2 million Grade I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile - one of 19 races in the “Prep Season” - receives only 10 points.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous to think that the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner wouldn’t automatically be eligible for the Kentucky Derby,” Lukas said.
Churchill Downs officials said they believe the points system, because of its uniform structure, will be easier for fans to understand than graded-stakes earnings and spark interest in the certification process, particularly in the final major prep races like the Arkansas Derby.
Lukas still isn’t a fan.
“Any third-grade girl in an Arkansas elementary school can tell you the difference between $250,000 and $200,000,” Lukas said. “You try to explain that points system to her, and it might take her all the way until she graduates from college. It is the most ridiculous, dumbest thing, I think, we’ve ever had done.”
Three-tiered points system
Breaking down points distribution among 36 races included in new “Road to the Kentucky Derby” system. Previously, Kentucky Derby eligibility has been established by money earned in graded stakes races:
PREP SERIES
12 DESIGNATED RACES from late September to late February, including Jan. 21 Smarty Jones and Feb. 19 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park. 10-4-2-1 point scale for horses finishing 1-4.
CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
FIRST LEG 17 races, including March 16 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. 50-20-10-5 point scale for horses finishing 1-4.
SECOND LEG 7 races, including April 13 Arkansas Derby. 100-40-20-10 point scale for finishes 1 through 4
Sports, Pages 13 on 01/07/2013