The Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keenland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Matthew ... More
The Road to the Kentucky Derby continues Saturday with the final three major championship series races on April 6. The biggest races and the biggest days at the tracks naturally draw the most betting interest, and Saturday’s most bet races are the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.
The top 5 finishers in each race receive qualifying points (100-50-25-15-10) toward the Run for the Roses and May 4 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. All three races are contested at 1 1/8 miles, and betting previews and picks are provided in the links below by FanDuel Racing.
- $1 million Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Race 10 at 5:52 p.m. ET)
- $750,000 Santa Anita Derby (Race 10 at 7:45 p.m. ET)
- $750,000 Wood Memorial (Race 10 at 4:07 p.m. ET)
You can watch and wager on these three big Road to the Kentucky Derby races on FanDuel TV as part of their daily package that also provides comprehensive coverage of Keeneland’s spring meet, which begins on Friday, April 5 and runs through the last weekend in April.
The 100th edition of Saturday’s $1 million Blue Grass Stakes headlines a big 11-race card with five graded stakes races at Keeneland in Lexington, KY. The All-Stakes Pick 5 begins in Race 6 and will drive a huge handle in the parimutuel pool. A new “Big 3 Pick 3” wager is available to bet on the Wood Memorial, Blue Grass and Santa Anita Derby.
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Blue Grass Stakes Preview And Picks
FanDuel Racing provides promotions, tips and added content for horse racing and the biggest races to help guide you to the winners circle. I also turned to the experts at Horse Racing Nation (HRN) and its Super Screener time-tested research methodology for more picks and insight on the Blue Grass Stakes. Morning Line pari-mutuel odds are indicated below, and change on race day as wagering takes place ahead of the races.
A full field of 11 runners are set to run, and the favorite #10 Sierra Leone (2/1). He’s a talented colt sired by the great Gun Runner. Sierra Leone won the Risen Star Stakes over a sloppy track ahead of Catching Freedom, who came back to win the Louisiana Derby last month. Sierra Leone is a deep closer that is just a nose away from being undefeated in his three career starts, and he’s built a foundation with two races at 1 1/8 miles (9 furlongs).
“He has tripled up BRIS Late Pace figures of 95+ with a steady pattern of improvement which is very bullish,” HRN notes about Sierra Leone, who is ridden by Tyler Gaffalione and trained by Chad Brown.
Trainer Brad Cox has both Just a Touch (7/2) and Encino (12/1) running in this race with jockeys Florent Geroux and Flavien Prat riding. Horse Racing Nation notes that Just a Touch is a son of Triple Crown winner Justify, but he has yet to go two turns nor has he run on a dry surface despite training very well over it at Keeneland the past 10 days.
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Race 10 — Blue Grass Stakes
- #6 Just a Touch (7/2)
- #10 - Sierra Leone (2/1)
Longshots: Lat Long (30/1) and #12 Encino (12/1)
#4 Dornoch (3/1) is not a HRN win contender, but he’ll be forwardly placed looking to hold on after winning both the 1 1/8 mile Remsen over a muddy track and 1 1/16 mile Louisiana Derby wire-to-wire. #11 Encino won a stakes race over the All-Weather track at Turfway last month, and runs on dirt for the first time. He’s a son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist. #2 Be You (8/1) is freshened and he put it together last race and is another Pletcher-trained horse that could show significant improvement. If so, he’s worth a Kentucky Derby bet now before he finishes top-2 and his odds drop sharply from near 100/1, same for Encino. Be You is better now and he finished 3rd in a Grade 1 race last fall behind Muth, who won the Arkansas Derby last weekend.
Added horse racing coverage and profiles for the leading Kentucky Derby contenders will be provided in the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby with more betting insight and picks from FanDuel Racing and leading horse racing analysts.
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