Keeneland | Horse Racing Free Tips

Essential Quality Draws Post Four Of Nine For Blue Grass Stakes

Post positions for Saturday's 97th running of the Toyota Blue Grass (G2) and 84th running of the Central Bank Ashland (G1) were drawn today at Keeneland. They will be run Saturday, the second day of Keeneland's 15-day Spring Meet. The season runs April 2-23.

$800,000 Toyota Blue Grass (G2), 3-year-olds, 1 1/8 miles
Weight: 123 lbs. * Race 11 * Post time: 6:35 p.m. ET

Post	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Morning-Line Odds
1	Hidden Stash	Vicki Oliver	Rafael Bejarano	20-1
2	Untreated	Joel Rosario	Todd Pletcher	8-1
3	Highly Motivated	Javier Castellano	Chad Brown	7-2
4	Essential Quality	Luis Saez	Brad Cox	3-5
5	Rombauer	Florent Geroux	Michael McCarthy	15-1
6	Leblon	Albin Jiminez	Paulo Lobo	30-1
7	Hush of a Storm	Santiago Gonzalez	William Morey	15-1
8	Sittin On Go	Corey Lanerie	Dale Romans	30-1
9	Keepmeinmind	David Cohen	Robertino Diodoro	8-1

The Toyota Blue Grass will be the final race of Keeneland's April 3 card with a 6:35 p.m. ET post. NBC Sports Network will televise the race along with the Wood Memorial (G2) Presented by Resorts World Casino from Aqueduct and Runhappy Santa Anita Derby (G1) from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

$400,000 Central Bank Ashland (G1), 3-year-old fillies, 1 1/16 miles
Weight: 121 lbs. * Race 9 * Post time: 5:30 p.m.

Post	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Morning-Line Odds
1	Curlin's Catch	Mark Casse	Chris Landeros	8-1
2	Pass the Champagne	George Weaver	Javier Castellano	4-1
3	Simply Ravishing	Kenny McPeek	Luis Saez	5-2
4	Moon Swag	Brendan Walsh	Adam Beschizza	10-1
5	Malathaat	Todd Pletcher	Joel Rosario	9-5
6	Will's Secret	Dallas Stewart	Jon Court	7-2

Toyota Blue Grass and Central Bank Ashland are classic preps: For 3-year-olds, the Toyota Blue Grass and the Central Bank Ashland are respective major preps for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) on May 1 and Kentucky Oaks (G1) on April 30. The Toyota Blue Grass and Central Bank Ashland both carry 170 qualifying points for the Derby and Oaks on a 100-40-20-10 scale to the first four finishers.

Saturday's card: Eleven races begin at 1:05 p.m.

Saturday graded stakes lineup: Six graded stakes are worth a total of $2.1 million.

Race 6 (3:51 p.m.) $200,000 Appalachian (G2) Presented by Japan Racing Association

Race 7 (4:24 p.m.) $200,000 Commonwealth (G3)

Race 8 (4:57 p.m.) $200,000 Shakertown (G2)

Race 9 (5:30 p.m.) $400,000 Central Bank Ashland (G1)

Race 10 (6:02 p.m.) $300,000 Madison (G1)

Race 11 (6:35 p.m.) $800,000 Toyota Blue Grass (G2)

Wagering: $500,000 Guaranteed All-Stakes Pick Five and $500,000 Guaranteed All-Stakes Pick Four.

How to watch the Spring Meet: TVG's live, on-site coverage begins at 1 p.m. Thanks to the Keeneland Livestream Powered by Kentucky Utilities, fans can watch all races at no charge on Keeneland.com, Keeneland Race Day App, Keeneland Select, Keeneland's Facebook page and Keeneland's YouTube page.

The post Essential Quality Draws Post Four Of Nine For Blue Grass Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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‘Seasoned Horse’ Essential Quality Arrives In Kentucky For Blue Grass Stakes

Champion 2-year-old Essential Quality has arrived home in the Bluegrass state, shipping in to Keeneland on Monday morning. Trainer Brad Cox spoke with the Kentucky HBPA's Jennie Rees later Monday, regarding the colt's upcoming engagement in the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes this Saturday.

Essential Quality, a homebred son of Tapit for Godolphin, is undefeated across four career starts including his sophomore debut, the two-week delayed edition of the G3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 27. Since then, the colt has been training at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La., breezing regularly ahead of his second start off the layoff.

“He's a very good work horse,” Cox said, explaining that he'd worked Essential Quality in company on Saturday, March 27. “They worked five-eighths from the half mile pole in, I think, a minute and two-fifths, (galloped) out in 1:14, well in hand. It was exactly what we wanted to see.”

That final preparation completed, Cox is looking forward to having Essential Quality back at a familiar track. The colt won both the G1 Breeders' Futurity and Breeders' Cup Juvenile over Keeneland's dirt last fall, and is the expected favorite for Saturday's Blue Grass.

“I'm confident that he doesn't need a certain trip to be able to win,” Cox said. “He's been able to take dirt, he's been able to go inside and outside of horses, you know. He's a seasoned horse as far as the trips he's gotten. It's not like he breaks and he's right there and he just runs away from them. He's won his races, pretty much the first three were all different, different styles of winning.”

Essential Quality will make the Kentucky Derby on May 1 his third start of the winter layoff, and will run out of his own stall at Churchill Downs, both strong points in his favor, according to Cox.

The 2020 champion trainer also has two other Derby contenders in the barn. Mandaloun, winner of the G2 Risen Star, baffled both the betting public and Cox with a dull performance in the Louisiana Derby last out, but returned from the race in pristine condition and will press on to the first Saturday in May.

Caddo River, meanwhile, won the listed Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn in January, but ran fifth last out as the favorite in the G2 Rebel. He'll return in the G1 Arkansas Derby in two weeks' time, with Cox's goal to have Florent Geroux be a bit more aggressive early in the race.

Check out the full interview here:

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Hush of a Storm Works A Bullet for Blue Grass

John Battaglia Memorial S. hero Hush of a Storm (Creative Cause), scratched out of Saturday's GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks with this weekend's $800,000 GII Toyota Blue Grass S. in mind, worked five furlongs in :59.80 following the second renovation break at Keeneland Monday morning.

With jockey Santiago Gonzalez in the irons, the New York-bred broke off about five lengths behind his unraced workmate Poseidon Wrath (Super Saver) and was eight lengths clear of his company at the wire. The work went in splits of :24.40 and :36.40, with a six-furlong gallop out in 1:12.60.

“I thought he worked well,” said trainer Bill Morey.

Well-beaten when a seven-furlong main-track maiden claimer on Churchill debut Nov. 19, Hush of a Storm has since put together three in a row over the Turfway Tapeta track, including a 1 1/2-length defeat of Like the King (Palace Malice), who franked the form when taking out the Jeff Ruby.

The post Hush of a Storm Works A Bullet for Blue Grass appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Isaac Murphy Bottles Of Maker’s Mark Will Benefit Memorial Honoring Black Jockeys

Hall of Fame jockey Isaac Burns Murphy accomplished a level of success in the late 1800s that, by many measures, has never been equaled. So, it is only fitting that an effort to celebrate his remarkable legacy is, itself, also unique.

This year, the annual release of a commemorative Maker's Mark® Bourbon bottle in partnership with Keeneland will, for the first time, be three distinct bottles, each with its own label featuring the work of artists Sandra Oppegard, Andre Pater, or Tyler Robertson. The labels depict the pageantry, beauty, and power of Thoroughbred racing, a sport on which Isaac Murphy certainly left an indelible mark.

Murphy is the only jockey to have won the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks, and Clark Handicap in the same year (1884). He won the Derby three times and was in the first group of jockeys inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame. He was originally buried in the African Cemetery #2 in Lexington but was later moved to the Kentucky Horse Park where he now lies near the legendary Thoroughbred, Man o' War.

Proceeds from the bottle sales will go to LexArts, greater Lexington's premier cultural development, advocacy, and fundraising organization, to support its initiatives at the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden in Lexington. The Art Garden is the first park in the U.S. to honor African American jockeys, who were the earliest Black professional athletes. Funds from the 2021 bottle series will provide the remaining funding required to realize a permanent art installation by Lexington folk artist LaVon Van Williams, Jr. as well as future programming within the park with an emphasis on the arts.

The bottles are all pre-signed by the artist who created each label along with Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin, Maker's Mark Managing Director Rob Samuels, and one of three active Hall of Fame jockeys who have won the Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland multiple times: Javier Castellano, Edgar Prado, and John Velazquez.

The three bottles will go on sale Friday, April 2. This begins a three-year series benefiting LexArts initiatives, with the same three artists creating new labels each year for the commemorative release.

“To have the immeasurable support of these two iconic brands, Keeneland and Maker's Mark, is meaningful in so many ways for LexArts and our entire arts community,” said Ame Sweetall, LexArts President and CEO. “The support of the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden this partnership will allow will further engage and enrich the East End community and build upon the early work of those who made the art garden a reality more than ten years ago.”

Maker's Mark and Keeneland have been collaborating on a commemorative bottle release every year since 1997, raising millions of dollars for a variety of worthy causes throughout Central Kentucky.

“Keeneland has long championed the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden and its celebration of the significant contributions African Americans have made to racing,” Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. “It is especially gratifying to know that our longstanding collaboration with Maker's Mark will benefit LexArts and ensure this important aspect of history will be preserved for our community and future generations.”

“I'm impressed by LexArts' work to enrich the greater Lexington area through their various initiatives,” said Maker's Mark Managing Director Rob Samuels. “This particular project to enhance the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden is an important and worthy cause, and I'm proud our long partnership with Keeneland is allowing us to support it in such a meaningful way.”

Keeneland, Maker's Mark and LexArts invite the community to bring to life the stories of Isaac Murphy and the many African American horsemen who shaped the future of Central Kentucky's equine industry. To make a financial contribution to the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden, visit https://bgcf.givingfuel.com/immag.

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