The Kentucky Derby prep season, as it is known, begins in January and ends in April. During this time, horses prepare for the Kentucky Derby in races at various locations throughout the country. While potential Derby runners might compete in a variety of races during this period, it is in the graded stakes races at the major circuit tracks where the best colts build the earnings needed to qualify for the Derby. The top twenty horses on the graded stakes earnings list — which includes graded money earned during the previous year as a 2-year-old — are guaranteed one of the twenty spots in the Kentucky Derby field and the ones that to watch out in your Kentucky Derby betting.

By this time of the year, a handful of favorites to win the roses in May have solidified a qualifying position on the graded earnings list. Many still have something to prove and a few need to win additional graded stakes dollars to earn a trip to Churchill Downs. As the racing world prepares for the last stretch of racing before its biggest day on the first Saturday in May, here is a rundown of the colts to watch.

The Big Three

There are three colts among this year’s 3-year-olds that most agree are front-runners to win the 2012 Kentucky Derby. Union Rags, Hansen, and Creative Cause all have the career resume, breeding, and human connections to bring home the roses come Derby Day.

Union Rags has been among the top colts of his generation since winning two graded stakes last year and his narrow loss in the Breeders Cup Juvenile. His won his 3-year-old debut but finished a disappointing third in the Florida Derby last weekend, the final prep before racing in the Kentucky Derby. Even with the loss, he remains among the top three for the way he conducted himself in the Florida Derby. In spite of a tough trip, where he was stuck behind horses, he finished strongly and showed the type of determination in the stretch that is necessary to win the Kentucky Derby.

Union Rags first career loss came to Hansen, who beat Union Rags by a head in last year’s Breeders Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs. Hansen lost his 3-year-old debut on a muddy track but won his last start impressively in the Gotham Stakes in New York. His final race before the Derby will come in the Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland on April 14th. The last Kentucky Derby winner to start in the Bluegrass was Street Sense, who finished second in the race in 2007.

The last of the big three is the California-based Creative Cause, who finished third in the Breeders Cup Juvenile behind Union Rags and Hansen. He is the most experienced of the top three with four wins from seven career starts including three graded stakes wins. He won his last race, the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park, and will be the favorite in the Santa Anita Derby on April 7th.

Now that it is only three weeks before Kentucky Derby, and the Prep race is almost over, you should pay attention on the horses that you will place your Kentucky derby betting on. And let this year be the best Kentucky derby betting experience of you!