LEXINGTON, Ky. – All the temporary stands that dominated the Keeneland landscape last fall for the Breeders’ Cup are long gone. Trees are blooming instead of leaves falling. Clockers are getting busier by the day as the stable area starts to refill. Much of Chad Brown’s 40-horse contingent had just arrived here hours earlier as workers busied themselves on a quiet Monday morning, and most of Todd Pletcher’s 40-strong string was scheduled to arrive sometime later in the day. They’ll be taking part in a familiar spring ritual being renewed over the next three weeks at a 15-day spring meet that starts Friday. “It’s going to be an awesome meet top to bottom,” said Gatewood Bell, the lifelong horseman who became the Keeneland vice president of racing in February 2021. “This was always my favorite time of the year before I worked here – and it’s even more so now.” The front-loaded stakes schedule has a couple of tweaks from the status quo, being that the first Sunday of the meet will be dark because of the Easter holiday. Three opening-day stakes will be followed by five more Saturday, highlighted by the annual spring showcase, the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes. Entries for Friday were to be drawn Tuesday, and Saturday entries on Wednesday. Keeneland racing officials are expecting at least nine 3-year-olds for the $1 million Blue Grass, led by Tapit Trice, one of a handful of Pletcher hopefuls for the May 6 Kentucky Derby, and Blazing Sevens, the Champagne winner trained by Brown. Other probables are Classic Car Wash, Hayes Strike, Major Blue, Mendelssohns March, Raise Cain, Sun Thunder, and Verifying. :: Take your handicapping to the next level and play with FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. The Blue Grass will be accompanied on the biggest day of the meet by the Grade 1 Madison, Grade 2 Appalachian, Grade 2 Shakertown, and Grade 3 Commonwealth. The Friday opener is anchored by the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes, a key prep for the Kentucky Oaks on May 5. Wonder Wheel, the reigning 2-year-old filly champion, heads a prospective field that also includes Julia Shining, Guns n’ Graces, and Pride of the Nile. The Grade 3 Transylvania and the Lafayette also will be run Friday. Cloudy skies and a high of 59 are in the Friday forecast, with Saturday bringing more sunshine and mid-60s highs. The meet runs through April 28. Ontrack ticketing is online only. Irad Ortiz Jr. going for a title Irad Ortiz Jr., fresh from a sensational winter at Gulfstream Park, is expected to ride every day of the Keeneland meet and through the Derby at Churchill Downs, according to agent Steve Rushing. His daily presence surely makes Ortiz the favorite to win his first-ever riding title on the Kentucky circuit. Ortiz, a four-time Eclipse Award winner, led the Championship-meet standings at Gulfstream with 128 wins and $7.5 million in mount earnings. The 30-year-old Puerto Rico native has ridden here on a periodic basis in recent years, but this spring, “we have no plans of missing any days,” Rushing said. A number of other top jockeys also intend to ride the full meet and on through Derby week, including Flavien Prat, Joel Rosario, Luis Saez, and Tyler Gaffalione. Between them, Saez and Gaffalione have accounted for every Keeneland riding title since 2020. Gaffalione edged Ortiz by a 19-18 count here last spring, and Saez won 21-20 over Gaffalione last fall. Rosario holds the record for most wins at a spring meet (38 in 2013). Prat will miss only the April 8 card, according to his agent, Brad Pegram. Jose Ortiz will be based at Aqueduct this month before also riding Derby week at Churchill Downs, Rushing said. Tomlinson calls it a career Ron Tomlinson, a racing official for 42 years, has retired. Tomlinson, quiet and efficient, worked in a variety of capacities, including as a steward, in a career based mostly in Kentucky. His first job was in 1981 at Beulah Park. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures “I really enjoyed it all,” said Tomlinson, 78, who survived a cancer scare in 2018. “I’m going to miss all my friends.” “Ron was the epitome of a great racing official,” said Ben Huffman, racing secretary at Keeneland and Churchill. “There isn’t a position in the racing office he couldn’t do. He is probably the best race hustler I have ever worked with.” ◗ Churchill Downs is offering a $1,000 starter bonus for trainers whose horses finish fourth through last in every race during Derby week (April 29 to May 6), except for the Derby and Oaks. Huffman wrote in a letter to horsemen that the initiative is being undertaken to bolster entries and to “showcase the strength of the Kentucky racing circuit to the rest of the world.” ◗ Former jockey agent Tony King died Saturday in Louisville following a brief illness. A memorial service for King, 50, was to be held this week. King at various times represented Jon Court and Fernando De La Cruz, among other Midwest riders. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.