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Earlier this week, Churchill Downs announced two tweaks in its Road to the Kentucky Derby. Thats the series of prep races offering a graduated scale of points to the first four finishers, points that will determine which horses start in the Kentucky Derby should the first leg of the Triple Crown attract more entrants than its 20-starter limit.One of these changes is perfectly sensible, if somewhat innocuous. The other, in the opinion of this corner, is not.The alteration I think almost all of us will agree with and quickly forget about is Churchills replacing the Grey Stakes with the Sam F. Davis Stakes.The Davis is run at Tampa Bay Downs in mid-February at 11/?? miles on dirt. Even though the Davis was won this year by Destin, who later missed by a nose in the Belmont Stakes, the list of winners of the Davis Stakes does not exactly read like a whos who of Triple Crown lore.However, the Davis is the local springboard to the Tampa Bay Derby, which with time is incrementally becoming a higher-profile Kentucky Derby prep. And the Davis fits the profile of a Road to the Derby race far better than the Grey Stakes. The Grey, run in early October, four months before the Davis and seven months before the Derby, has, as Churchill took the effort to point out in its announcement, attracted fields of just six or fewer in three of its past four runnings.Moreover, unlike the Davis, the Grey is run on Woodbines synthetic main track, which resembles the kind of dirt surface on which the Kentucky Derby is run only in the sense that both are shades of brown.So replacing the Grey with the Davis makes sense because it puts the emphasis on 3-year-old dirt form. But in this case, its a slight emphasis. The Davis is a 17-point prep with 10 points to the winner. For purposes of comparison, the final major Kentucky Derby preps offer 10 times the points.The other, far less agreeable change Churchill made in its Derby prep schedule was the introduction of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. Apparently taken by the ninth-place finish in this years Derby by the Japanese colt Lani, Churchill has designated two 1-mile dirt races at Tokyo Racecourse (yours truly visited that track many moons ago; if you ever get the chance, go!) as Derby points preps.The first of these will be the Cattleya Sho on Nov. 26, and the second will be the Hyacinth Stakes, to be run on an as yet undetermined date early next year. The typical sliding points scale applies to both races, but the Cattleya Sho is worth a total of 68 points with 40 going to the winner, and the Hyacinth is an 85-point race with 50 going to the winner.Churchill has made the Japan road to the Derby different from the traditional road in the sense that only one spot in the gate will be open to a Japanese contestant, and that would be the one who accumulates the most points over these two designated races.Among the issues I have with this concept is, the Cattleya Sho is by far the most valuable 2-year-old race in terms of Derby points this year. It offers twice as many points to the winner as the Breeders Cup Juvenile and four times as many points to the winner as every other 2-year-old race in the schedule, races that include the Champagne, Breeders Futurity, Remsen and Los Alamitos Futurity.The point value of the Cattleya Sho completely contradicts the proper emphasis placed on 3-year-old form in the traditional Derby points preps. It also guarantees that the winner of the Cattleya Sho will have a spot in the Derby gate if his connections want, and if the first two finishers of the Hyacinth decline. Not even the Breeders Cup Juvenile winner will be able to claim that.As for the Hyacinth, sure, its points must be blended with the Cattleya Sho. But while its not as egregious as assigning 170 Derby points to the UAE Derby, which has yet to produce an even marginally competitive Kentucky Derby starter, Churchill still valued the Hyacinth on the same level as the Risen Star, Fountain of Youth, Gotham, Tampa Bay Derby, San Felipe and Rebel. And I find that astonishing.The only reasonable conclusion to reach here is Churchill really, really wants Japanese participation in the Kentucky Derby.What I fear here is the Japan road to the Derby will actually produce a horse game enough to come, which might very well deny a much better horse a spot in the Derby gate. This scenario already existed with the UAE Derby, but it now increases exponentially with this new concept.Call me na?ve or provincial if you want, but I want the very best horses possible in the gate for the Derby, and there is little reason to think shippers from Japan or the UAE will help achieve that end.Ironically, the introduction of the Japanese road to the Derby would make sense if Churchill were attempting to maximize Japanese simulcast wagering on the Derby. But as colleague Matt Hegarty reported a couple of days ago, Japan, which boasts one of the largest betting markets in the world, does not allow simulcast wagering on the Derby.Perhaps the introduction of the Japan road to the Derby is Phase 1 in an attempt on the part of Churchill to move a step closer toward Japanese wagering on the Kentucky Derby. But it could be years before Japan softens its stance on international wagering. It might never soften its stance at all. And in the meantime, horses that are simply better than others might be denied a shot at competing in the Kentucky Derby. Cheap Air Max 90 Ultra .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. Off White X Air Max 90 Ice White .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. http://www.outletairmax90cheap.com/outlet-air-max-90-mens-cheap.html . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington. Fake Air Max 90 Essential . - Oakland Raiders running back Rashad Jennings was speaking to a group of local high school students earlier this week when the conversation turned to the importance of being prepared when opportunities in life arise. Cheap Air Max 90 China . Vettel was 0.168 seconds faster than Red Bull teammate Mark Webber around the Suzuka circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was two tenths of a second off Vettel. "The car balance is decent, but I think we can still improve," Vettel said.Kevin De Bruyne has revealed he chose to join Manchester City instead of their Champions League quarter-final opponents Paris Saint-Germain. The Belgian international joined City from Wolfsburg in August on a £54.5m deal, breaking the clubs transfer record. Ahead of Wednesdays clash with the French champions, De Bruyne has revealed that his representatives had also held discussions with Laurent Blancs side about a potential move to Ligue 1.The 24-year old has found the net six times in the Premier League this season, including on his return from injury against Bournemouth on Saturday, and he is delighted with the decision he made in the summer. How could City line up? What changes could Pep Guardiola make to side? There were contacts with PSG. We have talked a bit, but afterwards I decided to join Manchester City, as they were a better option, said De Bruyne.Im really happy that Ive taken the right decision. My family are happy here, Im happy. All ggoes well.dddddddddddd It was a personal choice.De Bruyne and City take on PSG in in the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night, and PSG coach Blanc has singled-out the Belgian as a potential danger man. PSG boss Laurent Blanc believes Kevin De Bruyne will be a major danger man for Man City on Wednesday De Bruyne is a quality player. Were well aware of that, he can play in different positions, hes an attacking player who provides assists, said Blanc.Hes back from injury now, he was injured for quite a while, well need to pay attention to him and Aguero.They have players who can make the difference in any moment and De Bruyne is one of them.Follow PSG v Manchester City with our live blog on skysports.com and the Sky Sports apps. 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