Vekoma, Win Win Win square off in Blue Grass Stakes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – George Weaver and Mike Trombetta both are self-starter types who have risen from humble backgrounds to enjoy successful careers as horse trainers on the East Coast. Both have had one Kentucky Derby starter.

On Saturday, Weaver and Trombetta will be seeking to return to Churchill Downs for their second Derby when they saddle the favorites for the annual spring showcase at Keeneland, the Blue Grass Stakes. Weaver sends out Vekoma, the 9-5 program favorite in a full gate of 14 for the 1 1/8-mile race, while Trombetta has Win Win Win, the 7-2 second choice.

“We’re really looking forward to seeing what we can do,” said Weaver, whose previous Derby starter was Tencendur, 17th behind American Pharoah in 2015. “I’d love to get back to the Derby, for everybody involved.”

“I can’t imagine that the guys who get to have a Derby starter almost every year – I’m sure even they don’t take it for granted,” said Trombetta, who was the trainer of Sweetnorthernsaint, seventh as the lukewarm favorite behind Barbaro in 2006. “That’s how big a deal this is.”

The Grade 2, $1 million Blue Grass is worth 170 qualifying points (100-40-20-10) toward the May 4 Kentucky Derby, meaning the top two finishers are virtually assured a spot in the field of 20. Securing one of those spots will require a big effort, given the depth of the lineup.

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Vekoma, owned by Gatsas Stable and Randy Hill, will have Javier Castellano aboard when he breaks from post 2. A flashy winner of both starts at 2, the Candy Ride colt will be looking to improve on his third-place finish in his 3-year-old debut, the Feb. 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park.

Win Win Win, bred and owned by the Live Oak Stud of Charlotte Weber, will be ridden again by Irad Ortiz Jr. when he breaks from post 8. The Hat Trick colt has arrived here through less conventional means, excelling in ungraded events prior to finishing third as the favorite in the March 9 Tampa Bay Derby at 1 1/16 miles. His two-back victory in the seven-furlong Pasco at Tampa was fashioned in track-record time (1:20.89) and equated to a field-high Beyer Speed Figure of 99, among the highest recorded this year by any 3-year-old.

“The way he closed in the Tampa Derby, I’m more confident in his ability to get the distance than when we stretched him out for the first time, if that makes sense,” said Trombetta. “As they say, they keep moving the goal posts farther down the field. I’m hoping the colt can grab the position we need because it sure looks like it’s going to be congested early with so many horses going.”

The early pace in the Blue Grass could be contested by longshots such as Market King, Lucky Lee, and Aquadini, with Vekoma and Win Win Win among those stalking in behind. It also seems likely that the wild card of the field, Somelikeithotbrown, will be close after breaking from post 1. The New York-bred champion colt has raced primarily over turf and synthetics and enters with 20 Derby points after dominating the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park in his latest.

The other contenders look like stone-cold closers, most notably Signalman, who won the Kentucky Jockey Club last fall at Churchill but was a non-threatening seventh in the Fountain of Youth in his lone start this year.

“He needed the last one,” said trainer Kenny McPeek, who won the Blue Grass with Java’s War in 2013, when the race was contested over Polytrack. “But he came out of it good and I’ve liked the way he’s trained. We’re going to give it our best Saturday.”

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The rest of the field is Chess Chief, Dream Maker, Admire, Sir Winston, So Alive, Parsimony, and Moonster.

First post for a sensational 11-race Saturday card is 1:05 p.m. Eastern, with the Blue Grass carded as race 10 at 6:23. The Blue Grass will be televised live on TVG and on a two-hour show (5:30-7:30) on the NBC Sports Network that also includes the Wood Memorial and Santa Anita Derby.

The Blue Grass, sponsored since 1996 by Toyota, is the last of five straight races in an all-graded-stakes pick-five wager. The preceding races are the Grade 3 Commonwealth (race 6), the Grade 2 Shakertown (race 7), the Grade 1 Madison (race 8), and the Grade 1 Ashland (race 9). Even the early races will feature exciting prospects such as Preamble and Covfefe in allowances (races 1 and 3), and Honest Mischief and Shared Legacy in a maiden-special (race 2).

The last Kentucky Derby winner to start in the Blue Grass was Street Sense (second in 2007), and the last to sweep both races was Strike the Gold (1991). Partly because of its subpar production of Derby winners over the last quarter-century, the Blue Grass was downgraded from its longtime status as a Grade 1 prior to the 2017 running.

The forecast for Saturday calls for cloudy skies and a high of 69. An ontrack crowd of some 35,000 can be expected.