Keeneland: Pletcher out to boost Derby numbers with Blue Grass
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Todd Pletcher confirmed Monday that he will have three starters in the Blue Grass Stakes as he tries to increase his numbers for the Kentucky Derby.
The Grade 1, $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes, the annual spring meet highlight at Keeneland, is expected to have a full field of 14 for its 90th running Saturday. Entries will be drawn Wednesday morning at a media breakfast that will be televised live on TVG from 11:30 a.m. to noon Eastern.
Pletcher said Divine Oath, Gala Award, and Vinceremos were scheduled to arrive Tuesday at Keeneland after having their final breezes toward the Blue Grass Stakes Sunday at their winter base, the Palm Meadows training center in south Florida.
Pletcher already has three confirmed starters for the May 3 Derby in Constitution, Intense Holiday, and We Miss Artie. He also will be running Commissioner and Danza in Saturday’s Arkansas Derby and could have a runner or two for the final Derby points race, the April 19 Coolmore Lexington Stakes, a race he has won five times in the last nine years.
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
The Blue Grass Stakes will be one of five graded stakes on a blockbuster 12-race Saturday card. The preceding afternoon will showcase the return of Wise Dan, the two-time reigning Horse of the Year, in the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile. A short field is expected for that Friday feature.
**Unlike at the 2011 spring and 2013 fall meets, when he kept his noted streak alive with a closing-day winner, trainer Rusty Arnold got it out of the way early this time.
Arnold sent out a promising 3-year-old filly named Southern Honey to win a maiden sprint Saturday with a 92 Beyer Speed Figure. The 59-year-old Lexington native now has saddled at least one winner at every meet here since 1987, with the exception of one meet in the late 1980s when he did not have a starter.