Get to know every trainer saddling a contender in The Derby
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The
2022 Kentucky Derby is fast approaching.
The final prep races took place in April at Keeneland with the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes and the Stonestreet Lexington Stakes, both of which produced some unexpected late contenders. The Road to the Kentucky Derby points qualifying leaderboard has been locked in place ever since.
This means we have a good idea of what the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field will look like, as well as some horses currently on the outside looking in who might still get a shot to win the prestigious race. More will become clear Monday afternoon when post positions are drawn for the 148th Run for the Roses.
Here’s a look at which trainers are expected to saddle horses for the 2022 Kentucky Derby, and how those trainers have historically fared in the race.
Trainers are listed alphabetically, along with their past Kentucky Derby performances and the horses they could bring to Louisville for this year’s race.
Steve Asmussen
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: None.
— Best Kentucky Derby finish: Second with Nehro (2011) and Lookin At Lee (2017).
— Only four of Asmussen’s 23 all-time Kentucky Derby starters have finished in the money.
— Asmussen is the winningest Thoroughbred trainer in North American history.
— 2022 Kentucky Derby horses: Epicenter (1st on the Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying points leaderboard).
— Morello, another Asmussentrained horse, was 15th on the leaderboard, but will not participate in the Kentucky Derby because of a foot injury. Kelly Breen
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: None.
— Best Kentucky Derby finish: Ninth (twice).
— Breen hasn’t had a horse in the Kentucky Derby since 2011.
— Potential 2022 Kentucky Derby horses: In Due Time (22nd).
— In Due Time finished third in the Stonestreet Lexington Stakes on April 16, missing out on a chance to secure a spot in the Kentucky Derby without the help of other horses dropping out.
Chad Brown
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: None.
— Best Kentucky Derby finish: Second with Good Magic (2018).
— Only one of Brown’s previous six Kentucky Derby starters has finished in the money.
— 2022 Kentucky Derby horses: Zandon (second), Early Voting (15th).
— Zandon won the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 9.
— Brown said Friday morning that Early Voting is targeting a run in the Preakness Stakes. Ricky Courville
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: None.
— Best Kentucky Derby finish: None. This year marks Courville’s Kentucky Derby debut.
— Courville’s horse, Un Ojo, won in a 75-1 upset in the Rebel Stakes in February at Oaklawn Park.
— 2022 Kentucky Derby horses: Un Ojo (14th).
Brad Cox
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: Mandaloun (2021).
— Cox is the first and only
Louisville-born trainer to have a horse win the Kentucky Derby.
— Both of Cox’s previous two Derby starters (Mandaloun and Essential Quality) finished in the money during the 2021 Kentucky Derby.
— 2022 Kentucky Derby horses: Cyberknife (sixth), Tawny Port (12th), Zozos (17th).
— Tawny Port won the Stonestreet Lexington Stakes in April at Keeneland, the final Kentucky Derby prep race.
Saffie Joseph Jr.
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: None.
— Best Kentucky Derby finish: Eighth.
— This year marks Joseph’s second trip to the Kentucky Derby. He also brought Ny Traffic to the September 2020 race that was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
— 2022 Kentucky Derby horses: White Abarrio (third). D. Wayne Lukas
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: Winning Colors
(1988), Thunder Gulch (1995), Grindstone (1996), Charismatic (1999).
— The 86-year-old Lukas hasn’t had a horse in the
Kentucky Derby since 2018.
— Lukas’ last 10 horses in the Kentucky Derby have all finished out of the money.
— Potential 2022 Kentucky Derby horses: Ethereal Road (23rd).
— Ethereal Road finished seventh in the Blue Grass Stakes on April 9 and fourth in the Stonestreet Lexington Stakes on April 16, both at Keeneland. Brian Lynch
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: None.
— Best Kentucky Derby finish: None. This will be the first Kentucky Derby for Lynch, a native of Australia.
— The 57-year-old
Lynch will be making his Derby debut with Classic Causeway, who won the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby before plummeting in his most recent race, the Florida Derby, in which he finished last.
— Lynch is a former bull rider in his native Australia.
— 2022 Kentucky Derby horses: Classic Causeway (11th).
Kenny Mcpeek
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: None.
— Best Kentucky Derby finish: Second with Tejano Run in 1995.
— Only one of Mcpeek’s previous six Derby horses finished in the money.
— A Lexington native, this is Mcpeek’s first year with a horse in the Kentucky Derby since 2013, when he had two.
— 2022 Kentucky Derby horses: Tiz the Bomb (fifth), Smile Happy (10th). Doug O’neill
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: I’ll Have Another (2012), Nyquist (2016).
— O’neill has had a horse finish in the money three times from his seven career Kentucky Derby starters.
— One of O’neill’s slated Derby horses for 2022, Slow Down Andy, was pulled from the Derby after developing a fever in mid-april at Keeneland.
— 2022 Kentucky Derby horses: Happy Jack (20th). John Alexander Ortiz — Past Kentucky Derby winners: None.
— Best Kentucky Derby finish: None. This year will be Ortiz’s Kentucky Derby debut.
— 2022 Kentucky Derby horses: Barber Road (13th).
— Barber Road has finished in the money in seven of his eight career races, including a runner-up finish to Brad Cox’s Cyberknife in the Arkansas Derby in April. Todd Pletcher
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: Super Saver (2010), Always Dreaming (2017).
— Eight of Pletcher’s 59 all-time Kentucky Derby starters have finished in the money.
— Pletcher had gone
0-24 at the Derby dating back to his race debut in 2000 (when he had four horses) before winning the race in 2010 for the first time.
— 2022 Kentucky Derby horses: Mo Donegal (fourth), Charge It (19th), Pioneer of Medina (21st).
— Pletcher has said he intends for Pioneer of Medina to run the Derby if possible.
Eric Reed
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: None.
— Best Kentucky Derby finish: None. It will take several horses dropping out of the projected Kentucky Derby field, but Reed could make his Kentucky Derby debut this year.
— Potential 2022 Kentucky Derby horses: Rich Strike (24th).
Antonio Sano
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: None.
— Best Kentucky Derby finish: Seventh.
— Sano’s only previous Derby horse was Gunnevera in 2017.
— 2022 Kentucky Derby horses: Simplification (ninth).
Bhupat Seemar
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: None.
— Best Kentucky Derby finish: None, Seemar will be making his Kentucky Derby debut in 2022.
— Seemar’s uncle, Satish Seemar, had his training license suspended, and Satish gave control of his former horses to Bhupat, who was his assistant in the Zabeel Stables, which is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
— 2022 Kentucky
Derby horses: Summer Is Tomorrow (18th).
Koichi Shintani
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: None.
— Best Kentucky Derby finish: None, this year will be Shintani’s Kentucky
Derby debut.
— From Japan, Crown Pride won the UAE Derby in March in Dubai by 2 3/4 lengths.
— 2022 Kentucky Derby horses: Crown Pride (seventh).
Tim Yakteen
— Past Kentucky Derby winners: None.
— Best Kentucky Derby finish: None, Yakteen will be making his Kentucky Derby debut as the trainer of record in 2022.
— Yakteen rose up the ranks as an assistant trainer for Bob Baffert, as Yakteen won three Kentucky Derby titles as an assistant to Baffert.
— Several horses that were formerly trained by Baffert were transferred to Yakteen and Rodolphe Brisset as Baffert began his suspension for Medina Spirit’s drug violation in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, which took the Derby title away from the horse and Baffert.