Blended Citizen drills for Blue Grass Stakes

Blended Citizen, the winner of the Jeff Ruby at Turfway Park in his most recent outing, worked Saturday morning at Keeneland as he prepares for next weekend's Blue Grass, in which he will attempt to definitively punch his ticket to the Kentucky Derby.

The Proud Citizen colt went five furlongs in 1:01 1/5 in company with new stablemate Arawak, a move that left jockey Kyle Frey "ecstatic."

"It was great, beautiful," Frey said. "He handles the dirt good, especially this surface."

Keeneland clockers caught the two colts galloping out six furlongs in 1:14 3/5 on a track officially rated “fast” despite rain in the Lexington, Ky., area throughout the week. Trainer Doug O'Neill, in town for the work, said he had his pair going the mile in 1:45.

O'Neill said Arawak is possible for either the Blue Grass or the Lexington the following week. The Uncle Mo colt was privately purchased by C T R Stables, R3 Racing LLC, and Steven Keh from the Coolmore group shortly prior to the Ruby, in which he finished third for trainer Wesley Ward before being transferred to O'Neill.

"I thought both horses worked really well," said O'Neill, who is looking to win the Blue Grass in back-to-back years. "Just a nice, strong, maintenance move, and both of them were very competitive."

Blended Citizen won the Jeff Ruby on Turfway's Polytrack after finishing third in the El Camino Real Derby on the synthetic surface at Golden Gate Fields. His only other victory came going a mile on the Del Mar turf last November. The colt, a half-brother to last year's Kentucky Derby runner-up, Lookin At Lee, made three starts on dirt last year, two at sprint distances, and was unplaced each time.

"The first race, he broke from the rail sprinting at Del Mar, and he's just not a sprinter," O'Neill said. "His second race, also sprinting at Del Mar, he made up some ground down the lane, so that was encouraging. Then I probably ran him back a little too quick stretching him out at Santa Anita, and he was on the outside going two turns and just never could get involved. Then we put him on the turf course and got him kind of re-engaged."

The field for the Blue Grass, which is expected to be headed by champion juvenile male Good Magic, will be drawn Tuesday.

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