HOT SPRINGS — Will Take Charge earned 10 points for his victory in last Monday’s $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park to move into a fourth-place tie in the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” standings.
Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., will use a points system, rather than traditional graded stakes earnings, to determine Kentucky Derby eligibility, if the race oversubscribes.
The field is limited to 20 horses.
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 with top-four finishes in the designated races, with more available in a race like the $1 Grade I Arkansas Derby on April 13.
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.
Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Will Take Charge, owned by Willis Horton of Marshall, will make his next start in the $300,000 Grade III Southwest Stakes on Feb. 18.
Like the Smarty Jones, the Southwest will offer 10 points for first, 4 for second, 2 for third and 1 for fourth.
Lukas said Oxbow, his other top 3-year-old, will return to Fair Grounds in New Orleans for the $400,000 Grade II Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 23. The Risen Star is the first race scheduled in the first leg of the Championship Series, and is worth 50-20-10-5 for finishing in the top four.
Oxbow worked a half-mile in :49.60 on Sunday morning, eight days after his 11 1’2-length victory in the $200,000 Grade III Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds.
Lukas, who is not a fan of the points system, said he wants to continue to keep the colts separated.
“If it isn’t broke, I won’t fix it,” Lukas said. “I’ll just leave it like it is.”
Oxbow has 11 points to rank third in the standings, topped by reigning juvenile champion Shanghai Bobby and Goldencents (24).
Smarty Jones runner-up Texas Bling is tied for 14th with 4 points. He is scheduled to start in the Southwest.
Sports, Pages 16 on 01/28/2013