The "Road to the Kentucky Derby" winds through Virginia for the first time this weekend, as the Virginia Derby joins the series with some serious contenders for the Run for the Roses.

A cut below California's best—having already lost to Journalism and Citizen Bull , two of the early Kentucky Derby favorites—Getaway Car is most effective when he can establish the pace. In the Sunland Derby, he set the initial fractions, was passed in early stretch by a wide-charging Caldera , and then proved a head-bobbing nose winner.

The Virginia Derby, Colonial Downs' first horse race as a qualifier for the Kentucky Derby, is on Saturday. Why it matters: The event promises to offer locals an annual slice of the legendary Kentucky Derby,