Kentucky Derby 2013 Results: Also-Rans Who Will Fall Short at Preakness Stakes

With the Triple Crown offering little break between races, it is already time to start honing in on the May 18 Preakness Stakes. 

We might as well start this evaluation with the horses who were in the Kentucky Derby, as they are fresh in our minds, and that race offers us a great platform for comparison. 

Only a portion of the horses who ran at Churchill Downs will make the trek to the Preakness, and it's still unclear which ones will. We are able to get a pretty good idea though. 

For instance, all five of Todd Pletcher's Derby horses, including the show horse from the Derby, Revolutionary, are not likely to make the trip. 

In that same link, it does mention that D. Wayne Lukas' is taking Oxbow and Will Take Charge to the Preakness. As well as Derby also-rans Itsmyluckyday, Goldencents and Mylute.

The Courier-Journal also added that Normandy Invasion and Vyjack were possibilities. 

There are three horses from this list I'm already comfortable throwing out of consideration to place in the money at the Preakness. I'll discuss them below. 

First, let's review the results from the 139th Kentucky Derby:

Place	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Post
1	Orb	Joel Rosario	Claude R. McGaughey III	16
2	Golden Soul	Robby Albarado	Dallas Stewart	4
3	Revolutionary	Calvin Borel	Todd Pletcher	3
4	Normandy Invasion	Javier Castellano	Chad Brown	5
5	Mylute	Rosie Napravnik	Tom Amoss	6
6	Oxbow	Gary Stevens	D. Wayne Lukas	2
7	Lines of Battle	Ryan Moore	Aidan O'Brien	11
8	Will Take Charge	Jon Court	D. Wayne Lukas	17
9	Charming Kitten	Edgar Prado	Todd Pletcher	15
10	Giant Finish	Jose L. Espinoza	Anthony W. Dutrow	7
11	Overanalyze	Rafael Bejarano	Todd Pletcher	9
12	Palace Malice	Mike Smith	Todd Pletcher	10
13	Java's War	Julien Leparoux	Kenny McPeek	19
14	Verrazano	John R. Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	14
15	Itsmyluckyday	Elvis Trujillo	Eddie Plesa Jr.	12
16	Frac Daddy	Victor Lebron	Kenny McPeek	18
17	Goldencents	Kevin Krigger	Doug O'Neill	8
18	Vyjack	Garrett Gomez	Rudy Rodriguez	20
19	Falling Sky	Luis Saez	John Terranova II	13

*Results via KentuckyDerby.com.

Horses Who Won't Contend at Preakness

Oxbow

Oxbow got off to a nice start in the Derby, and looked like he might be able to hold that form, but as other horses began to mount a finishing kick, Oxbow didn't have another gear.

The sixth-place finish is respectable, but it's hardly something that would make anyone pinpoint this horse for success at the Preakness. 

More than where he finished, however, is how he finished. 

The lack of a finishing kick is alarming. With fewer horses in the Preakness than the Derby, there will be less traffic. This makes it even easier for horses to win the race with a massive charge at the end, and Oxbow has already shown he can't pull that off. 

Itsmyluckyday

Itsmyluckyday started picking up some buzz leading up to the race, and then he laid an egg.

The son of Lawyer Ron did nothing in the Derby that would suggest he will be able to finish in the money at the Preakness.

He got out of the gate in decent shape, and hung in sixth-place for the majority of the race. He started to show as he was entering the final turn and briefly moved up to fifth, but then he was completely overwhelmed by the horses who had a real finishing kick.

He wound up in 15th, and I'd stay far away from this horse on the 18th.

Vyjack

While I am busy staying away from Itsmyluckday, I have to be careful to get even more distance between myself and Vyjack.

Vyjack got of the gate well in the Derby, and he sat around third while Palace Malice set a blistering pace.

However, Vyjack never showed any finishing kick, and he began to fade even before Palace Malice did. By the time these horses hit the home stretch, it looked like Vyjack was moving in slow motion.

While this horse will benefit from running a smarter race, it isn't enough to get him anywhere near the money.