Guide to the 2024 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on Saturday

Keeneland’s big Kentucky Derby prep race, the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, plays out Saturday evening on the race course’s opening weekend. Here’s everything you need to know to get set for the 100th running of the Blue Grass:

Post time: 5:52 p.m. (10th race).

Purse: $1 million (Grade 1).

For: 3-year-olds.

Distance: 1 1/8 miles (dirt).

Derby points: 100-50-25-15-10.

TV: FanDuel TV (The race will also be featured as part of a Road to the Derby special on CNBC from 7-8 p.m.)

Here’s a look at the field with morning-line odds for the 2024 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes:

Note: Encino was scratched from the Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday morning. Trained by Brad Cox and set to be ridden by Flavien Prat, Encino will instead be pointed toward next weekend’s Grade 3 Stonestreet Lexington Stakes, the final Kentucky Derby prep race.

Encino was to start Saturday’s Blue Grass Stakes from post position 11, the furthest outside post.

1. Top Conor (15-1)

Jockey: Jose Ortiz.

Trainer: Chad Brown.

Owner: Flanagan Racing.

Career record: 1 start (1 first, 0 seconds, 0 thirds).

Career earnings: $42,000.

Kentucky Derby points: Zero.

Most recent race: Won a maiden special weight event at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 17.

Notable: The most lightly raced of the three Chad Brown trainees in the Blue Grass field, Top Conor won his career debut by 2 lengths, and that’s all we’ve seen. One of only two gray horses in the race (Seize the Grey is the other), he’ll be easy to spot.

2. Be You (8-1)

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

Trainer: Todd Pletcher.

Owner: Repole Stable.

Career record: 6 starts (1 first, 1 second, 1 third).

Career earnings: $121,300.

Kentucky Derby points: Three (66th on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Won a maiden special weight event at Gulfstream Park on March 2.

Notable: Be You has won only once in six career starts but the victory came in his most recent race. Maybe Pletcher knows something. The Hall of Fame trainer won the Blue Grass Stakes last year with the favorite, Tapit Trice, and has also posted victories here with Bandini (2005), Monba (2008) and Carpe Diem (2015).

3. Seize the Grey (20-1)

Jockey: Nik Juarez.

Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas.

Owner: MyRacehorse.

Career record: 7 starts (2 firsts, 0 seconds, 3 thirds).

Career earnings: $259,138.

Kentucky Derby points: 27 (21st on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Finished third in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park on March 23.

Notable: The 88-year-old Lukas has two top-30 contenders on the Road to the Derby leaderboard. Arkansas Derby runner-up Just Steel is well-positioned with 65 points (seventh place). Seize the Grey will need a boost in the Blue Grass but has finished third and fourth in his only two previous stakes appearances.

4. Dornoch (3-1)

Jockey: Luis Saez.

Trainer: Danny Gargan.

Owners: West Paces Racing, R.A. Hill Stable, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Two Eight Racing, Pine Racing Stables.

Career record: 5 starts (3 firsts, 2 seconds, 0 thirds).

Career earnings: $505,400.

Kentucky Derby points: 60 (10th on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Won the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on March 2.

Notable: Gargan, a Louisville native, will be looking for his first Grade 1 win in a training career that dates to 2013. After gritty front-running wins in the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream and the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct, expect Dornoch to get out fast Saturday and see if the field can catch him.

5. Good Money (20-1)

Jockey: Javier Castellano.

Trainer: Chad Brown.

Owner: Calumet Farm.

Career record: 2 starts (1 first, 0 seconds, 0 thirds).

Career earnings: $36,060.

Kentucky Derby points: 10 (48th on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Finished fourth in the Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs on March 9.

Notable: Like Dornoch, Good Money is a son of 2018 Blue Grass Stakes winner and Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic. Good Money’s only two starts came at Tampa Bay Downs. Castellano won the 2019 Blue Grass aboard Vekoma.

6. Just a Touch (7-2)

Jockey: Florent Geroux.

Trainer: Brad Cox.

Owners: Qatar Racing, Resolute Racing, Marc Detampel.

Career record: 2 starts (1 first, 1 second, 0 thirds).

Career earnings: $94,200.

Kentucky Derby points: 25 (27th on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Finished second in the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct on March 2.

Notable: A son of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, Just a Touch ran second in the Gotham to Deterministic, who is the favorite in Saturday’s Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. He has a ton of support for being so lightly raced. Why? Here’s some of what Cox said this week. “He’s a very talented horse. He’s shown talent from Day 1. ... A little late to get to the races, but kind of by design. ... I think we’re in a good spot. We’ve kind of targeted the Blue Grass for a while. His two works at Keeneland have been really, really good. This horse, I think he’s one of our better 3-year-olds.” Cox also has Encino in the Blue Grass and Louisiana Derby winner Catching Freedom on the road to Churchill.

7. Lat Long (30-1)

Jockey: Brian Hernandez Jr.

Trainer: Kenny McPeek.

Owner: Walking L Thoroughbreds.

Career record: 6 starts (1 first, 1 second, 4 thirds).

Career earnings: $143,750.

Kentucky Derby points: Six (53rd on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Finished third in the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds on Jan. 20.

Notable: If you like your horses well-rested, Lat Long is the one. He’s not raced since Jan. 20, the longest layoff of any of the 11 Blue Grass contenders. Lat Long will attempt to join Harlan’s Holiday (2002) and Java’s War (2013) as Blue Grass winners for McPeek. Hernandez also won a Blue Grass crown with Art Collector (2020).

8. Epic Ride (20-1)

Jockey: Adam Beschizza.

Trainer: John Ennis.

Owner: Welch Racing.

Career record: 4 starts (2 firsts, 2 seconds, 0 thirds).

Career earnings: $159,416.

Kentucky Derby points: 10 (43rd on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Finished second in the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park on March 2.

Notable: Saturday marks Epic Ride’s debut on dirt after four consecutive races on Turfway Park’s synthetic surface. Lexington-based trainer Ennis is thrilled to have a shot. “It is a privilege to have any horse run at Keeneland but to have one in such a historic race is really a privilege,” Ennis said. “Keeneland is like the royalty of horse racing in America.”

9. Mugatu (30-1)

Jockey: Joe Talamo.

Trainer: Jeff Engler.

Owners: Average Joe Racing Stables, Dan Wells.

Career record: 11 starts (1 first, 1 second, 3 thirds).

Career earnings: $56,663.

Kentucky Derby points: Zero.

Most recent race: Finished eighth in the Rushaway Stakes at Turfway Park on March 23.

Notable: Mugatu is the most seasoned contender in the Blue Grass but appears to be in way over his head here. He’s only crossed the finish line first one time in 11 career starts and ran 10th in his lone previous appearance at Keeneland.

10. Sierra Leone (2-1)

Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione.

Trainer: Chad Brown.

Owners: Peter M. Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, Brook T. Smith.

Career record: 3 starts (2 firsts, 1 second, 0 thirds).

Career earnings: $336,740.

Kentucky Derby points: 55 (12th on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Won the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds on Feb. 17.

Notable: The favorite has won the Blue Grass Stakes in 39 of the previous 99 runnings including four of the past six years. Also, if you like to bet on pedigree, Sierra Leone might be the colt for you. The son of Gun Runner out of Malibu Moon mare Heavenly Love, Sierra Leone was the highest-priced yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale, going for $2.3 million. He also passes the eye test. Watch his win in the Risen Star and his runner-up finish in the Remsen. He runs late but, boy, does he run.

11. Encino (12-1)

SCRATCHED.

Jockey: Flavien Prat.

Trainer: Brad Cox.

Owner: Godolphin.

Career record: 2 starts (2 firsts, 1 second, 0 thirds).

Career earnings: $142,715.

Kentucky Derby points: 20 (29th on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Won the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park on March 2.

Notable: Cox has raced Encino only at Turfway Park to date, so now comes the switch to dirt. The son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist has the pedigree but this is an awfully big ask. “He’s had two moves over there at Keeneland and handled it fine,” Cox said. “He’s bred to get the distance and handle the dirt so we’ll see if he can.” Prat knows the way, having won the Blue Grass on Zandon in 2022.

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