Good Magic to put in at least one more breeze at Keeneland

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Good Magic emerged from his Saturday victory in the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in excellent shape and will remain stabled here for the foreseeable future before moving down the road to Churchill Downs as one of the top contenders for the May 5 Kentucky Derby.

Brown reiterated Sunday morning what he told the media the previous evening at a post-race briefing – that Good Magic will remain here long enough to have at least one breeze before moving over to Louisville for at least one serious work over the Churchill main track.

Good Magic, by Curlin, earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure with his 1 1/2-length win over Flameaway in the 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass. Jose Ortiz was aboard for co-owners eFive Thoroughbreds and Stonestreet Stables.

Meanwhile, trainer Mark Casse said Flameaway (93 Beyer) also exited the Blue Grass in good shape and will be vanned over Monday to do the remainder of his training toward the Derby at Churchill.

“He never gave up,” Casse said. “He’s just so classy. It was what we asked for … the first Saturday in May.”

Free Drop Billy (89 Beyer), elevated to third on the disqualification of Sporting Chance, definitely will proceed to the Derby, said trainer Dale Romans, and has a sufficient number of qualifying points (44) to do so. Free Drop Billy earned 20 points Saturday (instead of 10 for finishing fourth).

For Sporting Chance, who ducked out sharply under Luis Saez to impede Free Drop Billy in deep stretch, it was the second time in a major race the colt has made such an erratic move; he did something very similar last September in the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga, although he was clear that day and therefore was not penalized. Sporting Chance, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, earned 10 qualifying points instead of 20 and appears unlikely to make the Derby; through Saturday, he was No. 30 on the list of active hopefuls with a total of 12 points.

The Blue Grass was the anchor of an 11-race card that featured four other graded stakes and drew a record handle of $22,634,861 from all sources, breaking the old mark of $21,736,983 set on Blue Grass Day 2016. Keeneland also drew its highest-ever pick-five pool ($899,196 on races 6-10) and pick-four pool ($1,065,002 on races 7-10).

The attendance of 14,629 was one of the lowest in the modern history of the Blue Grass, although detailed historical records are not readily available. Thousands of fans were dissuaded by snow and bitter cold early in the day, although a warming trend by late afternoon eventually led to tolerable conditions.

As for winning Beyers from the other Saturday stakes: Monomoy Girl got a 95 from the Grade 1 Ashland, Finley’sluckycharm got a 95 from the Grade 1 Madison, Bound for Nowhere got a 107 from his first stakes victory in the Grade 2 Shakertown on turf, and Warrior’s Club got a 98 out of the Grade 3 Commonwealth.

:: ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays, and analysis