Keeneland’s gateGo baby go! The action is back on the track in the heart of the Horse Capital of the World. Keeneland’s Spring meet kicks off today, April 7, 2017, with race 1 posting at 1:05 P.M. EDT. Going for a strong start, Blue Grass Weekend includes 7 graded stakes races with a collective purse of $2.55 million in purse money.
Keeneland race track, located in Lexington, KY, was established in 1936. This Spring meet is taking place April 7th through 28th. Opening weekend is highlighted by the Blue Grass Stakes race. See my last story for more information on that upcoming race with pictures and video of the favorite, McCraken. Six other stakes round out the Blue Grass Weekend experience. These include the Transylvania, the Madison, the Commonwealth, the Shakertown, the Ashland and the Beaumont Stakes.
Today, the feature is the 29th running of the Grade 3, Transylvania Stakes, presented by Keeneland Select. In a fine card of 10 races, the Transylvania posts at 5:30 P.M. EDT. It is the ninth race. This race has a $150,000 purse. It is a turf race of 1 and 1/16 miles ( 8.5 furlongs ) for 3 year-old Thoroughbreds. In 2106, Shakhimat won the Transylvania. The race was inaugurated in 1989 and is named for the local Transylvania University. Subsequently, it is college scholarship day at Keeneland. Free admission and prizes are available for those with a current college identification card. Eleven lucky students will win scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 dollars.
Here is a look of the field by post position/horse/jockey/trainer/and morning-line odds:
- Profiteer/John Velazquez/Claude McGaughey III/5-1
- Makarios/Nik Juarez/Nicholas Zito/20-1
- Big Score/Javier Castellano/Tim Yakteen/5-1
- Oscar Performance/Jose Ortiz/Brian Lynch/9-5
- Ticonderoga/Joel Rosario/Chad Brown/3-1
- Sonic Boom/Julein Leparoux/Ian Wilkes/6-1
- Dahog/Arienne Cox/Watne Rice/50-1
- Cowboy Culture/Florent Geroux/Brad Cox/10-1
- Holiday Stone/Luis Saez/George Weaver/12-1
There is a lot of talent in this race. I’m choosing my horse by his name, Ticonderoga! I’m a big fan of the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s song of the same title, see the link below. Remember, my primary reason so you don’t take this as a tip though, Ticonderoga has what it takes too. He is sired by Tapit. Also, Ticonderoga placed 2nd at Keeneland as a 2 year-old in the G3 Dixiana Stakes and was fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 2016 at Santa Anita. In his only start this year he won the G3 Palm Beach Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
I hope you have the opportunity to visit my lovely hometown track this month. There isn’t anything much prettier than Keeneland in the Spring. If you go please, share your experience in the comments. I’ll attend on several dates so check back for more updates as the meet commences. And their off…
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