European Road to the Kentucky Derby continues at Kempton

The Road to the Kentucky Derby Conditions race on Wednesday has attracted a field of seven promising three-year-olds at London’s Kempton Park. Although no early Triple Crown nominees are involved, several have competed in stakes or sport noble pedigrees.

You can watch and wager at TwinSpires.com Wednesday afternoon, with the race scheduled for 3 p.m. (ET).

Like the most recent scoring race on the European Road, the March 3 Patton S. at Dundalk, the Kempton feature is a one-mile event on Polytrack. It also offers points according to the same 20-8-6-4-2 format to the top five. The differences are that Kempton is a right-handed track, and this is an allowance race rather than a listed stakes. 

The Road to the Kentucky Derby Conditions race is the penultimate leg of the European Road. The final points opportunity comes in the April 1 Cardinal Conditions race at Chelmsford, also over a mile on Polytrack, worth a decisive 30 points to the winner.

Here are three talking points for Kempton’s Road to the Kentucky Derby race:

1. Lieber Power is closely related to the accomplished U.S. turf filly McKulick.

The least experienced entrant, Lieber Power, could also have the most upside for trainer Andrew Balding. The King Power runner is regarded well enough to hold an entry in the Derby (G1) at Epsom.

Last seen scoring his first win as the even-money favorite here in October, Lieber Power should appreciate the stretch-out to a mile. He is by Cracksman, a champion son of unbeaten phenom Frankel, and out of the mare Astrelle who has produced three major winners already. One of them is the Chad Brown-trained McKulick, winner of last season’s Belmont Oaks (G1) and Jockey Club Oaks (G3). McKulick is herself by Frankel, which makes Lieber Power her three-quarters brother.

2. Killybegs Warrior raced against the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf near-misser at Newmarket.

Killybegs Warrior competed exclusively on turf as a two-year-old, winning twice at Newmarket, and he drops in class after trying tough company in the Autumn (G3) at the same course. Although he was fifth in a six-horse field, it was a deep group. The victorious Silver Knott would go on to miss narrowly as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1), and the second through fourth – Epictetus, Holloway Boy, and Dancing Magic – filled the exact same spots in the Vertem Futurity Trophy (G1).

From the prolific yard of Charlie Johnston, now going solo after the retirement of father Mark, Killybegs Warrior has picked up Britain’s reigning champion jockey, William Buick. Progeny of sire Saxon Warrior, a classic-winning son of Japanese legend Deep Impact, tend to get better with time, and it would be no surprise if Killybegs Warrior follows suit.

Similarly, Metal Merchant concluded his two-year-old campaign in a stiff test at Newmarket, retreating to fifth behind the talented Flying Honours in the Zetland (G3). That was a 1 1/4-mile affair, and Metal Merchant will be happier cutting back to a mile. He’d previously won two in a row on Polytrack and turf.

3. Brave Emperor and Alzahir are race-fit after winning already this year.

The other contenders will try to leverage their possible advantage of recency, chief among them Brave Emperor and Alzahir.

Brave Emperor would have a five-race winning streak, if he hadn’t been disqualified for interference in a Jan. 26 handicap at Southwell. But the Archie Watson gelding gained swift compensation next time in France, invading Cagnes-sur-Mer to take a listed stakes on Polytrack, the Feb. 12 Prix de la Californie, in first-time blinkers.

Alzahir went even further afield, to Qatar, to pick up the lucrative Al Rayyan Mile on Feb. 18 for John and Thady Gosden. Thus he’s already emulating his globetrotting half-brother, Suedois, who landed the 2017 Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) at Keeneland. By the great Sea the Stars, Alzahir had shown ability at two when going close to highly-regarded Naval Power on debut, and finishing 2022 with a win on Lingfield’s Polytrack.

Tenjin, whose win came in a nursery (a handicap race for two-year-olds) at Kempton, was a staying-on third in the March 4 Spring Cup at Lingfield. The Spring Cup winner, Iconic Moment, could attempt the classic 2000 Guineas (G1). Coco Jack, an honest and consistent type through nurseries last term, resumed Feb. 24 with a close third under top weight of 136 pounds at Wolverhampton.