Keeneland spring meet signals return to normalcy

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Sports fans in the Bluegrass region got accustomed to being very spoiled at this time of year. Not only would the Keeneland spring meet bring an end to the misery of winter, but their beloved Kentucky Wildcats were mainstays in the NCAA Final Four, making four trips in five seasons from 2011 to 2015. The party was always on in early April.

These traditions, however, somehow vanished. The spring meet was canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, and the Cats just ended a 9-16 season. Locals are desperate not only for an end to the COVID era, but something to be happy about.

Their prayers will be answered Friday, at least in part. Keeneland is allowing ontrack fans at slightly less than half of its usual capacity, unlike throughout 2020, when the grandstand sat mostly empty during a five-day replacement meet in July and at the October fall meet. Online ticket sales elicited such an overwhelming response that pretty much everything has been sold out for the 15-day meet, including general admission. There is no “walk-up” admission, and mandatory masks and social distancing continue to apply.

The meet begins Friday with a 10-race card anchored by three stakes, all for 3-year-olds, before hitting its usual early peak Saturday with the Blue Grass Stakes and five other graded races. The meet is necessarily front-loaded because so many of the stakes serve as key preps for Kentucky Derby week at Churchill Downs.

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The opening-day feature is the Grade 3, $150,000 Transylvania in which Fire At Will, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf here last fall, will return to the grass following a failed attempt to join the Derby chase. Also on tap Friday are the Grade 3, $150,000 Beaumont for 3-year-old fillies and the $100,000 Palisades Turf Sprint.

Essential Quality, the reigning divisional champion and a winner of all four career starts, figures as a huge favorite in the Grade 2 Blue Grass, a 100-40-20-10 points qualifier toward the May 1 Derby. The gray Godolphin homebred is the 3-5 morning-line favorite in a field of nine.

The other Saturday stakes are the Grade 1 Ashland, Grade 1 Madison, Grade 2 Appalachian, Grade 2 Shakertown, and Grade 3 Commonwealth. The Ashland matches a pair of top Kentucky Oaks hopefuls, Malathaat and Simply Ravishing.

This meet marks the first for Shannon Arvin as president of Keeneland. Arvin became the first female president in track history on Jan. 1.

“We are so excited to be able to welcome back spring racing to Keeneland in the Bluegrass and to welcome back a limited number of fans through our gates,” Arvin said.

In all, 18 stakes worth $4.1 million will be contested at a meet that runs through April 23. Maiden-specials are worth as much as $79,000, which includes sizable bonuses for registered Kentucky-breds, while allowances start at $81,000.

First post throughout the meet is 1:05 p.m. Eastern, with TVG providing extensive coverage every day. The Friday forecast calls for sunshine but a high temperature of just 46.

The spring meet normally opens with a three-day weekend, but the track will be dark Sunday because of the Easter holiday.