Euro-Mideast Road Winners Shine on Turf but Unlikely for Derby

The European portion of the Euro/Mideast Road to the Kentucky Derby went into the books with impressive wins by well-bred colts but neither seems a likely candidate to line up in Louisville, Ky., on the first Saturday in May," wrote Bob Kieckhefer at BloodHorse after the Feb. 27 European weekend. That assessment frames two decisive all-weather victories that matter more on pedigrees and regional classics than on Derby points.

Blanc de Blanc provided the clearest story line at Dundalk Stadium, where Truenicks reported that "Blanc de Blanc, a Kentucky-bred filly by Not This Time out of the Galileo mare Wonderful, had no trouble winning her second race without a loss Feb. 27 in the Dundalk Stadium Patton Race, a 1,600-meter (about 1-mile) heat on the all-weather surface." Her victory was career start number two, kept her unbeaten, and earned her 20 points on the Euro/Mideast Road leaderboard, but she is not an original nominee to the Triple Crown series.

At Kempton Park, a highly regarded colt whose name was not provided in the supplied excerpts won the all-weather conditions race that weekend, and Truenicks noted that "William Buick took a break from his duties in Dubai to fly in for the mount at Kempton, indicating the esteem in which the colt is held." Like Blanc de Blanc, the Kempton winner was credited with 20 Euro/Mideast Road points and is likewise not an original Triple Crown nominee. Truenicks and BloodHorse both conclude that European classics - the English, Irish, or French Two Thousand Guineas - are more logical targets for that colt than the Kentucky Derby.

Structure and math underline why connections are hesitant to plan for Louisville. Cms Equibase summarized the Road points: "In the unlikely event one horse won the first six races in the series, he would accumulate 80 points, 10 for each of the four turf races and 20 for each of the all-weather events. The winner of the UAE Derby gets 100 points with the runner-up and show horse awarded 50 and 25 points, respectively." Given that imbalance, Truenicks observed bluntly that 20 points are "not nearly enough to boost either horse into a shot at a Kentucky Derby slot."

The series calendar and finale remain muddled in available reports. Truenicks and one BloodHorse line place the deciding UAE Derby (G2) in Dubai on March 28, while Cms Equibase lists the UAE Derby on Meydan Racecourse dirt on April 5. Forum reaction captured on the Secretariat board underlined the criticism of the format: Tony D wrote Apr 12, 2025, "Does CDI understand that its new 'Euro/Mideast Road to the Derby' makes no sense? ... That makes the runners in the Euro races ... almost no chance to match the 100-pt total of the UAE Derby winner, or even to match the 50-pt second-place horse."

A related item from OwnerView noted the National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced Feb. 27 that Kevin Engelhard, Mike Ferrozzo, Chris Littlemore, and Ken Seeman were voted by their peers into the NTRA National Horseplayers Championship Hall of Fame. For now the concrete takeaways from the Feb. 27 European weekend are simple: Blanc de Blanc remains unbeaten over 1,600 meters on the all-weather and picked up 20 Road points, the Kempton colt drew William Buick and earned 20 points, and unless nominations change or connections pay supplemental fees, both look set for European or international targets rather than the first Saturday in May in Louisville.