The two-day opening weekend at Keeneland concludes in Saturday’s Race 11 finale with the $1.25 million Blue Grass. Only the Florida Derby has produced more Kentucky Derby winners than its 23, but it’s been since Street Sense in 2007 that the connection has been made – and unfathomably since Strike the Gold in 1991 that a horse has won the state’s two biggest races for the 3-year-old boys. The defection of Kentucky Derby Future Wager individual favorite Paladin due to injury has opened the door.
Horseplayers with 1/ST BET and Xpressbet take advantage of up to a $10 money-back special promo on Triple Crown prep race win bets, featuring Saturday’s Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, Blue Grass at Keeneland and the Santa Anita Derby. Get up to $10 back if your win bet finishes second or third when you bet with 1/ST BET and Xpressbet. Also play the $5,000 Exacta-Thon involving the Keeneland and Santa Anita full cards on Saturday.
Let’s meet the contenders for the Blue Grass (Race 11):
#1-TALKIN: Trainer Danny Gargan won the Belmont 2 years ago with Dornoch, who finished fourth in the Blue Grass en route to his Triple Crown tests. He’s back with this son of 2018 Blue Grass winner Good Magic but will need a big move forward after failing to hit the board in the Remsen and Tampa Bay Derby. Talkin fired a bullet workout March 28 in Florida before heading north and will have Joel Rosario back in the saddle.
#2-CLASS PRESIDENT: Rebel Stakes winner has one of the signature scores in this field and looks to give Todd Pletcher a record-padding fifth Blue Grass Stakes victory. The son of Uncle Mo has won 2 of 3, finishing second to elite sprinter Solitude Dude in the Swale. His nose victory in the Rebel over Silent Tactic stood up on quality when that rival came back to be clearly second-best in the Arkansas Derby last week. John Velazquez rides.
#3-GREAT WHITE: Turfway winter warrior exits an upset victory in the John Battaglia Memorial on Feb. 21. Trainer John Ennis has pointed him for the Blue Grass since, while taking the same path as 2024 Blue Grass third-place finisher Epic Ride. Great White’s 2-for-3 mark includes surprises at 11-1 and 15-1 odds. Alex Achard remains aboard the gray Volatile gelding.
#4-REAGAN’S HONOR: Wire-to-wire Fair Grounds maiden and allowance winner in 2 starts this year has progressed rapidly and will be tested in a stakes for the first time. Trainer Cherie DeVaux already has Golden Tempo qualified to the Kentucky Derby on points and could add a second starter to her first foray for the roses. Jose Ortiz, who guided Good Magic to the 2018 Blue Grass crown, will pilot this Honor A.P. colt.
#5-CREOLE CHROME: Louisiana-bred could provide early pace after wiring a state-bred route stakes at Fair Grounds. Trainer Joe Sharp turns to Tyler Gaffalione for the first time on this Volatile colt. That rider scored the 2024 Blue Grass on late-running Sierra Leone, but this 3-for-4 former sprinter is expected to show opposite tactics.
#6-FURTHER ADO (pictured): Burst onto the scene during the Keeneland Fall Meet with a whopping 20-length maiden victory after a couple of modest showings at Saratoga last summer. He fulfilled that ascending promise by winning Churchill’s Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes in November and went into the winter as one of the Derby favorites for trainer Brad Cox. His Tampa Bay Derby second to The Puma looked better after that rival came back to run a strong runner-up in the Florida Derby. Irad Ortiz Jr. returns on this son of Gun Runner, sire of ’24 Blue Grass winner Sierra Leone.
#7-OCELLI: Reportedly will scratch in favor of the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.
#8-MOONSTROCITY: Maiden will be outsider on the tote after a pair of unsuccessful attempts at Gulfstream on dirt and turf. Belmont Stakes-winning trainer Jena Antonucci takes a long shot to get back to the Triple Crown with this son of Tiz the Law, himself a Belmont Stakes winner. Jose Morelos has the call.
#9-OTTINO: Withers Stakes third-place finisher was cross-entered in the Wood Memorial in his New York winter base, but reportedly will scratch to contest the Blue Grass instead. Chad Brown, whose since-injured Paladin had been aimed here, looks to keep an even-year Blue Grass streak going after 2022’s victory by Zandon and the 2024 success of Sierra Leone. His other win in this race came in 2018 with Good Magic. Ottinho is 1-for-3 with his only victory coming at the 1-1/8 miles distance in play Saturday. Two-time reigning Eclipse Award-winning jockey Flavien Prat – who previously partnered here on Zandon – has the call.
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