After coming in second to Tiz the Bomb in the Jack Ruby, Tawny Port mustered a late but strong bid, coming off the far turn into the final stretch four wide to a win in the $400K Stonestreet Lexington Stakes on Saturday — the final race in the Road to the Derby prep races. It was the colt’s first win on dirt.

“He needed the race. (The Risen Star) was his only (previous) start on the dirt (and the race) was definitely the key (prep for) the Kentucky Derby (G1),” Geroux said. “It looked like every horse who ran in there all came back and ran some very strong races, so we were hoping to do the same thing. (Tawny Port did) that today, in a very powerful way at the high end on the dirt. Looks like the distance should be no problem, and I hope the connections will take a swing at (the Derby).”

Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Florent Geroux, Tawny Port earned 20 Derby Points for the win, and now has 60, earning him a spot in the Kentucky Derby.

Shuffling up the Leaderboard

While Tawny Port’s victory moved him up on the KD Leaderboard, several horses are no longer in contention. Slow Down Andy is out of the running after spiking a fever yesterday. Forbidden Kingdom is out after fading badly in the Santa Anita Derby (he’s being evaluated for an epiglottis issue), and Classic Causeway will skip the Derby after setting the pace in the Florida Derby and then fading to last place.

View the updated leaderboard.