LEXINGTON, Ky. – Lexington racing fans will need to adjust their calendar settings in preparation for next spring: The ever-popular Keeneland meet will start on a Thursday for the first time in more than 50 years. Keeneland has moved the opening day to Thursday, April 4, from the traditional Friday opener in order to make up for the day it will lose during the spring meet to Easter, when Keeneland is closed. Easter next year is April 21. The spring meet, which closes on April 26, will be 16 days next year as a result, rather than the usual 15. Keeneland announced the new opening date on Wednesday as part of the release of its spring-meet stakes schedule, worth $4.6 million in purse money for 18 stakes. The schedule is topped, as usual, by the $1 million Blue Grass Stakes, a Kentucky Derby prep that will be held on April 6 as part of a blockbuster card. :: Want to get the latest news with your past performances? Try DRF’s new digital PPs Two new stakes were added to the spring schedule this year, the $100,000 Palisades Turf Sprint for 3-year-olds at 5 1/2 furlongs, and the $100,000 Limestone Turf Sprint for 3-year-old fillies at 5 ½ furlongs. “The addition of two turf stakes for 3-year-olds will increase opportunities for horsemen competing during the spring meet and fill a nice niche in the national landscape of turf racing,” said Bob Elliston, Keeneland’s vice president of racing and sales. “We’ve also seen the growing interest of several major connections to use grass stakes at Keeneland to prepare for summer campaigns, including competing at Royal Ascot” in England. Of the 18 stakes scheduled for the meet, 10 are slated for the grass. The Blue Grass card will feature four other graded stakes races, including the $500,000 Ashland Stakes, which is used as a stepping-stone for 3-year-old fillies toward the Kentucky Oaks four weeks later. Both the Blue Grass and the Ashland are worth 100 points to the winner for qualifying toward a berth in the Kentucky Derby or the Oaks, the maximum under the point system. The Blue Grass card will also include the $300,000 Madison, a Grade 1 race for fillies and mares at seven furlongs; the $200,000 Shakertown for 3-year-olds and up at 5 ½ furlongs on the turf; and the $150,000 Beaumont for 3-year-old fillies at about seven furlongs on the dirt. The Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile, worth $300,000, is scheduled for April 12, a Friday. In a release, Keeneland said that it frequently opened on a Thursday prior to 1960. But since then, opening day for both the spring and fall meets have landed consistently on a Friday.