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KENTUCKY DERBY: Top 10 Contenders (Week of 2/17/25) 

Count ‘em: Barnes, Citizen Bull, Getaway Car. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is up to three 3-year-olds in the latest usracing.com Kentucky Derby Top 10, with a bunch more in position to join them over the next few weeks.

Unbeaten Barnes and once-beaten Citizen Bull remain 1-2, with Getaway Car nosing his way in at No. 4 following a thrilling photo finish win over Caldera in the 1 1/16-mile Sunland Park Derby on Sunday.

Baffert Dominates Derby Leaders

“I’m just happy that he got it done,” said Baffert, who entered Madaket Road in Sunday’s $1.25 million Rebel Stakes (G2). “It was a huge win. The horse is such a sweet little horse. He’s just got the greatest mind. He’s been a lot of fun.”

Getaway Car ran second and then fourth behind Citizen Bull in the American Pharoah (G1) and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), respectively, before a runner-up finish to Journalism (still No. 3) in the Los Alamitos Futurity.

Baffert’s other Derby prospects are Gaming, Rodriguez, Romanesque, and San Saba.

Magnitude off Derby trail with ankle chip

A few days after winning the Risen Star Stakes (G2) at 43-1 odds, Magnitude is off the Derby trail with an ankle chip.

The colt, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, was set to debut in the Top 10 in the 2025 Kentucky Derby prep races leaderboard before the injury was discovered. He won the Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 15 by 9 ¾ lengths, defeating Derby prospects East Avenue, Built, and Vassimo.

East Avenue Drops Out

East Avenue is dropping out of the Top 10, who finished in a dead heat for 10th in the Risen Star.

Rebel Stakes Rescheduled to Sunday (Feb. 23) due to weather concerns

The Rebel Stakes offers Derby qualifying points of 50-25-15-10-5 points to the top five finishers on a sliding scale. The race is packed with 2025 Kentucky Derby contenders, led by No. 8 Coal Battle, No. 9 Speed King, and No. 10 Sandman.

Coal Battle and Speed King ran 1-2 in the Springboard Mile. Coal Battle then won the Smarty Jones, and Speed King won the Southwest (G3), both at Oaklawn.

Bullard, Madaket Road, and Tiztastic are also entered in the Rebel.

On Saturday, the other 2025 Kentucky Derby prep race is the John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park. The top five finishers will each receive 20-10-6-4-2 points.

Jockeys are listed from the horse’s most recent race.

Derby Top 10  

  1. BARNES (Bob Baffert, Juan Hernandez)

Barnes went out for a 6-furlong work on Feb. 17 at Santa Anita, timed in 1:12.00 ... Passing on Rebel to stay home for San Felipe ... Won San Vicente by 5½ lengths on Jan. 4 following maiden win at Churchill Downs in November ... Purchased for $3.2 million by Amr Zedan. … Pedigree: Into Mischief-All American Dream, by American Pharoah … Next start: San Felipe, Santa Anita, March 1 … Derby points: 0 … Derby future wager odds: 8-1 (pool 4).

  1. CITIZEN BULL (Bob Baffert, Martin Garcia)

Worked 5 furlongs in 1:00.60 at Santa Anita on Feb. 17 ... Baffert constantly shuffles plans for his 3-year-olds, and now says his 2-year-old champ could wait until April for a final Derby prep ... Won Robert B. Lewis on Feb. 1 and is 4-fo-5 ... Pedigree: Into Mischief-No Joke, by Distorted Humor … Next start: Santa Anita Derby, Santa Anita, April 5 ... Derby points: 60 (1st) … Derby future wager odds: 9-1.

  1. JOURNALISM (Michael McCarthy, Umberto Rispoli)

Worked 5 furlongs in 1:00.80 at Santa Anita on Feb. 16, as colt remains on target for 3-year-old debut ... Los Alamitos Futurity win over Gaming and Getaway Car keeps him high on the list ... Pedigree: Curlin-Mopotism, by Uncle Mo … Next start: San Felipe, Santa Anita, March 1 … Derby points: 10 (23rd) … Derby future wager odds: 19-1.

  1. GETAWAY CAR (Juan Hernandez, Bob Baffert)

Out of the shadow of stablemates (Citizen Bull, Gaming), Getaway Car nosed out Caldera to win Sunland Park Derby ... 7-3-2-0 record ... Pedigree: Curlin-Surrender Now, by Morning Line ... Purchased for $700,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale ... Owners: SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert Masterson, Tom Ryan, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan ... Next start: TBD ... Derby points: 36 (3rd) ... Derby future wager odds: 50-1.

  1. DISCO TIME (Brad Cox, Florent Geroux)

Skipped Risen Star with a “minor setback,’’ according to the trainer, but on target for another Derby prep ... Confidence is fading, but we’ll go another week and hope for a solid workout ... Won Lecomte to improve to 3-0, with first two wins at Churchill Down ... Pedigree: Not This Time-Disco Chick, by Jump Start … Next start: Louisiana Derby, Fair Grounds, March 22. ... Derby points: 20 (9th) … Derby future wager odds: 30-1.

  1. CAPTAIN COOK (Manny Franco, Rick Dutrow, Jr.)

Worked 4 furlongs in a slow 52.00 at Belmont Park on Feb. 15, 167th of 195 at the distance ... Won Withers and is 2-for-3 ... Pedigree: Practical Joker-Pow Wow Wow, by Indian Charlie ... Next start: Wood Memorial, Aqueduct, April 5 ... Derby points: 20 (10th) ... Derby future wager odds: 35-1.

  1. SOVEREIGNTY (Bill Mott, Junior Alvarado)

Looking forward to 3-year-old debut in a few weeks ... Worked 4 furlongs in 49.40 at Payson Park on Feb. 15, 17th fastest of 61 at the distance ...  ... Won Street Sense with last-to-first run at 1 1/16 miles, at Churchill Downs on Oct. 27 ... Pedigree: Into Mischief-Crowned, by Bernardini … Next start: Fountain of Youth, Gulfstream, March 1 ... Derby points: 10 (24th) …  Derby future wager odds: 17-1.

  1. COAL BATTLE (Lonnie Briley, Juan Vargas)

Worked 3 furlongs in 36.80 at Oaklawn on Feb. 17 – fifth fastest of 14 at the distance ... Won Smarty Jones by four lengths going gate-to-wire ... Colt is 4-for-6 ... Pedigree: Coal Front-Wolfblade, by Midshipman … Next start: Rebel, Oaklawn, Feb. 23 … Derby points: 20 (7th) … Derby future wager odds: 58-1.

  1. SPEED KING (Rafael Bejarano, Ron Moquett)

Seems ready to go following 4-furlong work in 48.00, fourth fastest of 117 at the distance ... Won Southwest going gate-to-wire. Still, Rebel will determine where he fits in ... Pedigree: Volatile-Athenian Beauty, by Corinthian ... Next start: Rebel, Oaklawn, Feb. 23 ... Derby points: 25 (5th) ... Derby future wager odds: 64-1.

  1. SANDMAN (Cristian Torres, Mark Casse)

He’s the 4-1 morning-line favorite in a rugged Rebel field ... Rally to run second in Southwest has impressed many ... All has three starts over Churchill Downs, including third in the Street Sense ... Purchased for $1.2 million Ocala Breeders’ sale for 2-year-olds in training ... Pedigree: Tapit-Distorted Music, by Distorted Humor ... Next start: Rebel, Oaklawn, Feb. 23 ... Derby points: 14 (17th) ... Derby future wager odds: 16-1.

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