Record purses draw stars to Keeneland

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Somebody forgot to tell Mother Nature that sundresses and parasols are de rigueur at the Keeneland spring meet. Wicked blasts of frigid air – and quite possibly rain and even snow – will greet racegoers during an opening three-day weekend that is supposed to mark the start of springtime in Kentucky.

Whatever the weather, racing fans here and elsewhere will do their best to celebrate the opening of a 16-day meet that gets away to the usual fast start. The meet begins Friday with the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes, hits an early high point Saturday with five graded races, then continues Sunday with two more.

A forecasted overnight low of 20 degrees into the Saturday card should not detract from the importance of the Grade 2, $1 million Blue Grass Stakes, which typically yields at least a couple of starters for the Kentucky Derby. Good Magic, the defending divisional champion seeking to re-establish himself as one of the Derby favorites, is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the 94th Blue Grass.

The Transylvania is one of two races scheduled for turf on a 10-race Friday opener that starts at 1:05 p.m. Eastern. Rain has been intermittent in recent days, but if it holds off Thursday and Friday as predicted, those races should remain on turf.

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Meanwhile, the meet begins with a set of fortunate circumstances for horseplayers. A takeout increase partly responsible for all-sources handle dropping 8.7 percent at the 2017 fall meet has been rescinded by management, while the accrual of funds from the Instant Racing machines at The Red Mile just a few miles away has helped lead to the largest purse structure in this track’s 82-year history.

Per-day purses are projected to exceed $700,000, according to longtime racing secretary Ben Huffman, with maiden races for 3-year-olds and upward now worth as much as $74,000, including bonuses for registered Kentucky-breds. It’s enough to entice the best of the best to this circuit for the next four weeks, with many of the top trainers and jockeys in North America intent on capitalizing.

Two jockeys who tend to rise to the Keeneland occasion are Julien Leparoux and Joel Rosario, both of whom had mediocre meets at Gulfstream this winter, at least by their high standards. Leparoux has won or tied for 11 meet riding titles here since 2006, putting him behind only Pat Day, 22, and Don Brumfield, 16. Rosario was the top jockey here last spring with 17 wins and holds the all-time spring-meet record for wins (38 in 2013).

“We’ve been focusing on this meet for weeks now,” said Ron Anderson, agent for Rosario. “We’ve got some pretty good business lined up, but you need to get lucky and win a race or two and get things rolling. Hopefully horsemen will remember Joel being leading rider last spring, and he has a track record that might not ever be topped.”

Steve Bass, agent for Leparoux, said his business is shaping up much better than it was at Gulfstream.

“We want to win titles here,” said Bass.

“It’s his favorite track to ride.”

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Rosario and Leparoux will face intense competition from all sides. The Ortiz brothers, Irad and Jose, both are here, while Hall of Fame jockeys Javier Castellano, John Velazquez, and Gary Stevens also will be active through Kentucky Derby weekend (May 4-5). There’s also Luis Saez off his record-setting meet (137 wins) at Gulfstream, along with Shaun Bridgmohan, Florent Geroux, and Keeneland newcomer Adam Beschizza in off outstanding meets at Fair Grounds.

Prominent trainers with a major presence here this spring will include Chad Brown, Todd Pletcher, Doug O’Neill, Wesley Ward, Mark Casse, Mike Maker, and Bill Mott.

After opening weekend, the most notable stakes remaining are the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 on April 13, followed by the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley and Grade 3 Lexington on April 14. The closing-day feature, the Grade 3 Bewitch on April 27, is expected to get Grade 1 winner Daddys Lil Darling.

The daily betting menu has undergone a slight change, with every card now starting with a pick five (races 1-5) and a pick four spanning races 2-5.

Mike Battaglia remains as the program oddsmaker while being replaced in his semi-retirement as a paddock co-host by Jesse Ullery, who will provide analysis alongside Katie Gensler not only between races, but also in a new pre-race in-house television program.

Friday is College Scholarship Day, with registered students being awarded 10 scholarships worth $1,000 via raffle. The program, co-funded by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, was initiated at the 2002 fall meet and has awarded nearly $600,000 in student aid. Also on Friday, two $10,000 scholarships from the Runhappy scholarship fund will be presented.

Kurt Becker, the only race-caller at Keeneland since installation of the public address system in 1997, will be back in the booth.

Keeneland reverted to a dirt surface at the 2014 fall meet after having first used Polytrack as its main surface at the 2006 fall meet.