Keeping Track of Kentucky Derby 141

By Dana Byerly, Hello Race Fans Co-founder

Now that it’s mid-March it won’t be long before the Kentucky Derby trail is in full swing, including multiple daily updates involving the every move of contenders, trainers and owners. Even for longtime fans it can be hard to separate the signal from the noise during this time of year. For those of you who want to follow along as things unfold, we’ve compiled a good list of sources you can check out and consider adding to your regular rotation.

Ranked Lists
Fans and players love to obsessively rank their Kentucky Derby favorites. If keeping up with weekly ranked lists is your thing you’ll find no shortage of outlets. Most include analysis and thought behind choices, listed in alphabetical order.

Haskin’s Derby Dozen
Beloved Blood-Horse writer Steve Haskin keeps close tabs on his top 12 Kentucky Derby prospects starting in February. In addition to weekly updates on the contenders you’ll find an incredibly active comment section averaging over 300 comments per post. Updated every Tuesday.

Louisville Courier-Journal’s National Kentucky Derby Poll
A top 20 list of Kentucky Derby contenders ranked by a weighted points system of votes from participating turf writers. Updated every Sunday.

Wire Players Derby Dozen
Every three weeks our friends Wire Players rank the top 12 Derby contenders as voted on by 12 Derby enthusiasts from across the Twitter and Blogosphere.

Also of note
Due to site designs we can’t link you directly to these two features, but they’re worth noting nonetheless.

Scully’s Derby Top 10
James Scully of Brisnet.com keeps his running list at the TwinSpires blog. The best way to keep tabs on when it’s available is to follow him on Twitter at @James_Scully111. Here’s the most recent installment.

Who’s Hot, Who’s Not
While not a ranked list per se, Jay Privman at the Daily Racing Form does a Who’s Hot, Who’s Not that can be useful. There’s no direct link so your best is to visit his archive on Wednesdays, which is when it’s usually published. Here’s the most recent installment.

Twitter Accounts
Following any one of these accounts can make it much easier for you to stay current on Derby doings, in alphabetical order.

@Derbymedia
The official feed of the Churchill Downs communications department is “tailored for the media”, as its Twitter bio suggests, but it can be a good source of information.

@Derbyologist
Craig Johnson, the self-professed Derbyologist, shares his copious thoughts and observations on the contenders, which frequently includes strong opinions on who is a viable contender, and who is not.

@DRFDerby
One easy way to follow the Daily Racing Form’s Kentucky Derby coverage is by following their Kentucky Derby Twitter account. In addition to linking to DRF content they RT Derby related tweets by individual DRF contributors, trainers and connections.

@KentuckyDerbyCJ
The Louisville Courier-Journal does an incredibly thorough job tracking Derby contenders, and if you had to pick just one feed to follow you could consider yourself VERY in loop with this one.They frequently have quotes from trainers and useful tidbits but you’ll also know when every contender worked, details of their travel plans and more, which could border on too much information for some of you.

Not dedicated to the Derby but…

@ClockersCorner
Not exclusively a Derby account, but if you like images of horses working out, this is the feed for you. Oh yes, and it includes Derby and Oaks workers, like this one!

Visit our new 2015 #KYDerby Contender Twitter Collection to keep up with quotes, news tidbits and images of all the contenders!

Naturally if you’re not already reading our weekly Derby Prep Alert you’ll want to add that to your regular rotation! We’ll may add more sources as we find them, until then, happy obsessing!