2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red was assigned the co-high weight 126 pounds on the 2014 Experimental Free Handicap released this week by The Jockey Club along with Del Mar Futurity winner American Pharoah, the Champion 2-Year-Old Male . The 126 pounds assigned is the same as last year's high weight New Year's Day and is the standard high weight for the list.

On the distaff side, co-high weights Lady Eli, winner of the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and Take Charge Brandi, winner of the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies were rated at 123 pounds, the standard high weight for fillies.


Take Charge Brandi was also named Champion 2-Year-Old Filly.

The Experimental Free Handicap, published annually by The Jockey Club since 1935, is a weight-based assessment of the previous year’s leading 2-year-olds, with the weights compiled for a hypothetical race at 1 1/16 miles on dirt. This year’s weighting committee of racing secretaries was composed of Ben Huffman of Churchill Downs, P.J. Campo of the New York Racing Association and Thomas S. Robbins of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

The committee weighted a total of 100 males and 88 fillies. Eligible for weighting were all 2-year-olds of 2014 that finished among the top four in graded or listed stakes races run in the continental United States. Listed stakes in 2014 were those with a value of $75,000 or more available to all starters, and no restrictions other than age or sex. The full lists for both colts and fillies are accessible here on the Jockey Club website along with past performances for all of them.

The other use of the Experimental rankings is in determining which horses are "dual qualifiers" for the Kentucky Derby.

Horses ranked within 10 pounds of the male topweight or who are a champion in another country and have a Dosage Index of 4.0 or less and a Center of Distribution of 1.25 or less are considered the dual qualifiers. These horses have statistically shown that they have a better chance at winning the Derby. It is also worth noting that 6 of the 11 Triple Crown winners were also Experimental highweights.

Listed below are all the colts and fillies with an Experimental weight of 116 lbs or higher. Dual qualifiers are highlighted below with an asterisk and each colt's dosage index is shown in parentheses by his name. This year only three of the top colts have a dosage too high to be a dual qualifier. I also included European champion Belardo at the bottom of the Colts and Geldings list even though he is not weighted since he is also a dual qualifier.

Colts and Geldings		Fillies
126 Texas Red *    (1.55) 126 American Pharoah *    (4.33) 122 Hootenanny *    (2.33) 122 Carpe Diem *    (1.83) 121 Competitive Edge *    (3.00) 121 Dortmund *    (2.38) 120 Luck of the Kitten *    (2.16) 119 Daredevil *    (2.33) 119 Blofeld *    (3.00) 118 Ocho Ocho Ocho *    (2.11) 118 Mr. Z *    (3.00) 118 El Kabeir *    (3.57) 118 Firing Line *    (3.00) 118 Leave the Light On *    (2.60) 117 Calculator     (5.67) 117 Conquest Typhoon *    (3.00) 117 Imperia *    (3.00) 116 Daddy D T *    (2.64) 116 Lawn Ranger *    (1.80) 116 Commemorative (GB) *    (3.44) 116 Faithful Creek (IRE)     (7.00) 116 I Spent It *    (2.64) 116 Upstart *    (3.00) *** Belardo (IRE) *    (1.46) -- European Champion full list of colts and geldings		123 Lady Eli *    (1.77) 123 Take Charge Brandi     (1.56) 121 Condo Commando *    (2.33) 119 Feathered *    (1.40) 119 Top Decile     (3.33) 119 Wonder Gal *    (3.00) 119 By the Moon *    (2.43) 119 Peace and War     (3.00) 119 Sunset Glow *    (2.00) 118 Maybellene *    (2.29) 118 Angela Renee *    (2.38) 117 West Coast Belle *    (3.50) 117 Cavorting     (4.71) 116 Danette     (4.33) 116 Conquest Eclipse *    (2.50) 116 Conquest Harlanate *    (2.20) 116 Her Emmynency *    (1.55) full list of fillies