Chapter 18: The 2015 Triple Crown and other important races

The rules for obtaining a spot in the race with at most twenty starters are in my May 2015 column in Wilmott. Basically, most of the points needed to qualify are in the last two races prior to the Derby. Hence, horses with top two year old form but weak three year old performance will not qualify. Horses such as Lemon Drop Kid, Birdstone and Union Rags, all of whom won the Belmont stakes after poor Kentucky Derby performances would be excluded from the Derby field. Of course they could run in the Preakness and/or Belmont stakes…