McCraken, Tapwrit, Practical Joke tuning up for Blue Grass

Keeneland racing officials expect a field of at least seven 3-year-olds for the Blue Grass Stakes, the annual spring showcase that will anchor an action-packed opening weekend at the Lexington, Ky., track.

The biggest name is McCraken, who is scheduled to breeze again Sunday or Monday at Keeneland in his last serious preparation for the Grade 2, $1 million Blue Grass on Saturday. The Whitham Thoroughbreds homebred already has breezed twice over the track since trainer Ian Wilkes sent him north from his winter base in south Florida.

Practical Joke, a two-time Grade 1 winner for Chad Brown, will be among the chief opposition in the 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass, one of seven graded stakes to be run during the three-day opening weekend. The 15-day meet starts Friday with the Transylvania, then continues with five stakes Saturday, led by the Blue Grass, and through Sunday with the Beaumont.

As of Friday, the other known probables for the Blue Grass were Irap, It’s Your Nickel, J Boys Echo, Tapwrit, and Wild Shot. Entries will be drawn Tuesday.

Tapwrit, a 4 1/2-length winner of the March 11 Tampa Bay Derby, led off the final round of prerace workouts among Blue Grass candidates by breezing a half-mile in company Friday in 48.75 seconds at Palm Beach Downs in south Florida. Regular rider Jose Ortiz was aboard for trainer Todd Pletcher.

“I just think he’s getting better,” said Ortiz, who, like many top New York-based riders, intends to ride throughout the Keeneland meet and into Kentucky Derby week at Churchill Downs.

“I thought this morning was probably the most impressive breeze I’ve seen from him this winter,” Pletcher said. “It seemed like he was into the bridle, doing it easily, galloped out well, was moving well, too. You could see him idle a little bit, prick his ears when he started to ease away from his workmate. That’s one of the things we noticed in his races, too; when he makes the lead, he tends to idle a little bit.”

This will be the first running of the Blue Grass since it was downgraded to a Grade 2 event; it will be its third running since the purse was upgraded from $750,000. The last horse to sweep the Blue Grass and Kentucky Derby was Strike the Gold in 1991. The Blue Grass winner gets 100 qualifying points toward the May 6 Derby.

As for the other stakes:

◗ Grade 3, $150,000 Transylvania: Oscar Performance will make his first start since his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf when facing Ticonderoga and at least five other 3-year-olds in this 1 1/16-mile turf race.

Oscar Performance, trained by Brian Lynch, had his final prerace breeze Friday at Palm Meadows in south Florida. Ticonderoga, fourth in the BC Juvenile Turf, has the benefit of a race already this year, having won the March 4 Palm Beach at Gulfstream for Brown.

◗ Grade 1, $500,000 Ashland: Mark Casse has three fillies under serious consideration for this 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Oaks prep in Pretty City Dancer, Valadorna, and Summer Luck. Other probables include Elate and Daddys Lil Darling.

◗ Grade 1, $300,000 Madison: The speedy Paulassilverlining and the late-closing Paid Up Subscriber – both now trained by Brown – are among the fillies and mares likely for this seven-furlong race, along with Constellation, Clothes Fall Off, and maybe four or five more.

◗ Grade 3, $250,000 Commonwealth: A. P. Indian and Limousine Liberal, the one-two finishers in a tight photo last fall in the Phoenix, both will get their year started in this seven-furlong race. A sizable field of older horses is expected.

◗ Grade 2, $200,000 Shakertown: Horse for course Mongolian Saturday, the winner of the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint and the 2016 Woodford at Keeneland, will face such hard knockers as Hogy and Green Mask in this 5 1/2-furlong turf race.

◗ Grade 3, $150,000 Beaumont: Dancing Rags, the winner of the Grade 1 Alcibiades last fall, will return to action amid a sizable field of 3-year-old fillies in a race contested at the Beard Course distance of seven furlongs and 184 feet.

– additional reporting
by David Grening