LEXINGTON, Ky. – Next stop, Louisville. Another long series of Kentucky Derby preps will make its traditional final stop Saturday when the Grade 3, $400,000 Lexington Stakes is run for the 41st time at Keeneland. Disarm is the only horse in the field of 11 Lexington starters with a shot to use the 1 1/16-mile race to make the 20-horse cutoff for the May 6 Derby, at least under reasonable scenarios. The Lexington offers a total of 40 qualifying points to its first five finishers (20-8-6-4-2), and Disarm is the only one who already has collected a sufficient number of points to be in a position to leapfrog out of bubble consideration and safely into the Derby field. The Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred suddenly became a Derby hopeful when he earned 40 points with a last-out runner-up finish in the March 25 Louisiana Derby. He needs a top-three finish to get into the Derby field. Its impact on the Derby lineup, minimal as it might be, takes nothing away from the Lexington being a terrific race from a handicapper’s point of view. There’s no clear-cut favorite in a well-matched lineup that includes a pair of promising Brad Cox trainees in Demolition Duke and First Mission, both making their stakes debut, and Arabian Lion, in from California for trainer Bob Baffert. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2023: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Arabian Lion, who will break from the outside post with Irad Ortiz Jr. riding, is one of a handful of Lexington runners who logically could advance to the May 20 Preakness with a big effort Saturday. The son of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify will be looking to recapture his best form after disappointing in his last two starts, the Los Alamitos Futurity in December and the Robert B. Lewis Memorial in February. “He’s been working so well out here that I thought I just had to give him one more shot in a race like this,” said Baffert, who will watch from California while Jimmy Barnes deputizes in his stead. “He’s a nice colt and he deserves a chance to move on if he’s got it in him.” While Demolition Duke (post 3, Flavien Prat) and First Mission (post 5, Luis Saez) remain eligible for a first-level allowance, both are prototypical Cox youngsters in that they began their careers with eye-catching Beyers and find themselves in deeper waters in quick order. Demolition Duke posted 80 and 88 Beyers in his two starts, both over the winter at Fair Grounds, while First Mission got 96 and 89 Beyers in his two starts, also in New Orleans. “We got started a little late with both of them, but obviously they both have ability,” said Cox. “We can’t make the Derby with either of them, but hopefully they can make an impact down the road.” Cox already has three Derby prospects with plenty of points – Angel of Empire, Hit Show, and Verifying – with Jace’s Road sitting on the Derby bubble. The early pace of the Lexington figures to be contested by Arabian Lion, depending on how he jumps for Ortiz, and by any of a few others, including Curly Larry and Mo (post 10, Reylu Gutierrez), a longshot moving back to the dirt following four turf races, or Transect (post 4, Gerardo Corrales), who also will be a long price after finishing far back last month in the Gotham at Aqueduct. Disarm (post 6, Jose Ortiz) will be among the chasers who’ll be looking for it all to come apart up top. Trained by Steve Asmussen, the Gun Runner colt has developed a useful mid-packer’s style. A couple of Florida shippers add further depth to the Lexington, those being Prairie Hawk (post 9, John Velazquez), the lone supplementary entry, and Empirestrikesfast (post 8, Frankie Dettori), entered off a debut victory at 23-1 in a Gulfstream Park maiden route. In that race, Empirestrikesfast finished three-quarters of a length in front of Dreamlike, who was beaten two noses into third in the Wood Memorial. :: Bet Keeneland with Confidence: Get DRF PPs, Picks, and Betting Strategies. Shop Now.  The Lexington purse includes $100,000 in bonuses restricted to Kentucky-breds. All are eligible except Curly Larry and Mo. Main-track races going 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland begin and end at what otherwise is the sixteenth pole. Notable absences from the Lexington are Confidence Game, the Rebel Stakes winner who will train straight into the Derby for trainer Keith Desormeaux, and yet another Cox runner in Victory Formation, who is being diverted to the $200,000 Bath House Row next Saturday at Oaklawn Park. First post Saturday is 1 p.m. Eastern, with the Lexington going at 5:16 as the ninth of 11 races. It’s slotted between the Giant’s Causeway (race 8) and the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley (race 10). Mostly sunny skies and a high of 78 are in the forecast. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.