Tapit Trice the Favorite in Keeneland's Blue Grass Stakes

Ready or not, Friday is the opening day of the spring meet at Keeneland Racecourse. That’s right, we are only one day away from the return of horse racing in central Kentucky and it all starts with a star-studded Blue Grass Stakes Saturday.

The Grade 1, $1 million Toyota Blue Grass Stakes is one of the final tune-ups for 3-year-olds on the road to the Kentucky Derby. It serves as the anchor for a loaded Saturday card filled with five stakes races. First post at Keeneland is 12:30 pm.

Keeneland’s top spring stakes race has seen a resurgence in recent years. After the polytrack disaster, fields shrank and the race was downgraded to a Grade II. Fortunately, track officials changed the surface back to dirt and moved the race to the first Saturday in April, giving Derby contenders another week of rest before the race at Churchill Downs. Last year’s Blue Grass Stakes winner, Zandon, was the second-choice in the Kentucky Derby before finishing third to Epicenter and Rich Strike. Later in the season he finished second and third in Saratoga’s Jim Dandy and Travers Stakes, respectively.

This year’s field includes a pair of horses that have already claimed wins on the road to the Kentucky Derby. Raise Cain (9-2) won in the mud at Aqueduct’s G3 Gotham Stakes. The 5-2 morning line favorite, Tampa Bay Derby winner Tapit Trice, drew the rail for Todd Pletcher.

“Not exactly the draw we wanted, but he did win the allowance race at Gulfstream Park from post 1,” Pletcher told the Daily Racing Forum. Luis Saez, who rode Tapit Trice to victory in Tampa, will be aboard for Saturday’s Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.

Before placing an exotic wager on Saturday’s race, make sure you include Classic Car Wash. All that horse does is hit the board, coming up just short in a second-place effort to Tapit Trice in the Tampa Bay Derby.

Blue Grass Stakes Post Positions, Morning Lines

1. Tapit Trice (5-2)

2. Clear the Air (30-1)

3. Verifying (3-1)

4. Classic Car Wash (12-1)

5. Hayes Strike (15-1)

6. Scoobie Quando (15-1)

7. Sun Thunder (10-1)

8. Blazing Sevems (6-1)

9. Major Blue (30-1)

10. Raise Cain (9-2)

11. Mendelssohns March (20-1)