KEENELAND DAILY NOTEBOOK
OPENING DAY PREVIEW
by Brian P. Turner
On October 15, 1936, Keeneland Race Course first opened its gates
to the hungry fans of Thoroughbred racing in Central Kentucky for its inaugural
nine-day meet. Construction on the track had actually begun in 1916 when
renowned horseman J.O. “Jack” Keene began the process of creating a gathering
place for himself and his friends to meet and race their horses for the simple
enjoyment of the sport.
Keene spared no expense in his venture as he was determined to create a
European style “race course” on the outskirts of Lexington, nestled among the
horse farms for which the region was famous. Stonecutters were hired to
individually cut and fit each piece of stone into place that would adorn the
structure in an attempt to model its appearance on the race courses Keene had
seen on his travels through Europe. The magnitude of the enterprise eventually
depleted Keene’s resources, but it was at this time that a group of Lexington
horsemen and businessmen stepped in and raised the money needed to purchase the
property from Keene.
These prominent men and women had a vision of their own and that was to
return Thoroughbred racing to the area for which it was famous. Lexington had
been without a track of its own since the old Kentucky Racing Association
Racetrack had closed its doors forever in 1933 and, at the time of its closing,
it was the oldest continuously operating racetrack in North America. On that
fall day in October, 1936, their vision came to fruition and the racing fans
of Lexington showed their appreciation as a total of 25,337 attended that
inaugural meet. Now, more 69 years later, Keeneland often exceeds that
number in a single day.
On Friday, April 7, Keeneland will open its gates for its 15-day spring
meeting. Over the course of the meet, the Kentucky track will offer at least one
stakes race every day and a total of 19 stakes races in all with more than $4.2
million in purses. A total of 14 of these stakes races are graded, with three of
them carrying Grade 1 status. The highlight of the meet will come on April 15
as Keeneland will offer a total of three graded stakes races, featuring the
$750,000 Blue Grass S. (G1) for three-year-olds going nine furlongs on the main
track. The top finishers in this event will most likely next be seen entering
the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 6.
One of the other two Grade 1 stakes, the Ashland, will be contested on April
8, and this event always holds implications for the Kentucky Oaks (G1), to be
contested this year on May 5. It was only last year that Summerly (Summer
Squall) finished a well beaten fourth in the Ashland before returning to take
the victory in the Oaks by two lengths.
The final Grade 1 offering of the meet is the Royal Chase for the Sport of
Kings H., which will be contested on April 21. This event will be contested at
20 furlongs over national fences.
For true horseplayers, Keeneland is a dream come true as the track has one of
the lowest take-out rates in the country. The take-out for win, place and show
wagers is only 16 percent, and 17 percent for Pick 3, Pick 4 and Pick 6 wagers.
All other exotics Keeneland offers have a take-out of only 19 percent.
With all of the tremendous purse money offered in the spring, Keeneland will
have one of the finest colonies of jockeys in the country on hand. John
Velazquez was the leading rider last spring and Rafael Bejarano dominated last
fall. The pair could be in for quite a dogfight, but the advantage would appear
to go to Velazquez as his main man, trainer Todd Pletcher, will undoubtedly have
a whole barn full of talented two-year-olds to unleash at Keeneland. Robby
Albarado is another fixture at Keeneland who has won the riding title himself
here in the past, and Edgar Prado will likely make his share of visits to
the winner’s circle as well. Keep a close eye on apprentice Julien Leaproux as
he is coming off of an outstanding meet at Turfway Park, setting a new
win record at the winter meet. While the colony he faces here will be much
tougher, the young Frenchman has shown a great deal of talent and may produce a
nice overlay or two as the general racing public concentrates on the more famous names
in the saddle.
As for the trainers, Pletcher dominated the spring meet last year and didn’t
slow down the rest of the year,
going on to win the Eclipse Award of
2005. The renowned trainer has continued his torrid streak thus far this year,
winning with 30 percent of his starters, and is a major threat to
win the training title again. Nick Zito finished second in the standings
last spring before narrowly claiming the title over Steve Asmussen in the fall.
Zito’s runners have been performing respectably this spring, but they always seem
to come to life once their hooves hit the Keeneland soil. Asmussen had a bit of
an off meet last spring, winning with only 10 percent of his starters, but
rebounded nicely last fall to finish second in the standings. As is usually the
case with Asmussen, he will undoubtedly have some live two-year-olds in his
stable as well.
Keeneland has always been perceived as a notoriously speed favoring track and
this came to the forefront with a vengeance last fall as horses on or near the
pace held a strong advantage at all distances on the main track except at the
true seven-furlong distance. The previous spring, the bias had not been nearly
as prevalent. As an example, the route races played extremely fair in the spring, but speed absolutely dominated in the fall. Given the way the track has played
the past couple of meets, it may be a good idea to keep an eye on the way the
track is playing this spring before plunging too deeply. As for the turf, it is
the one constant of racing at Keeneland and horses coming from off the pace tend
to always hold the advantage.
Opening Day Outlook – Friday, April 7
The opening day feature is the Transylvania S. (G3) for three-year-olds going
eight furlongs on the lawn. A field of 11, including one who is an
also-eligible, is set to go to the post for the event with the Bobby
Frankel-trained TO SENDER (GB) (King’s Best) being named as the appropriate
morning line 6-5 favorite. The bay is a perfect two for two since arriving in
North America and could prove to be one tough customer in this event as well.
The pedigree of To Sender is littered with Group 1 winners and this one appears
more than capable of carrying on the family tradition. It has been reported that
the only reason the connections sent this one to North America was due to his
tendency to bleed, a situation that Lasix seems to have rectified.
TOMPEST (Storm Cat) appears to be the biggest threat to the top choice as in
his lone start on the grass, he was an impressive winner of the 5 1/2-furlong
Chenery S. at Colonial Downs. Though the gray will be stretching out to eight
furlongs, his pedigree says that he should absolutely love it. For those looking
for long shots, LA PLAIX (Fr) (Kingsalsa) holds interesting possibilities.
Though the bay faltered badly in his North American debut, he has been working
forwardly since and the presence of Prado in the irons definitely doesn’t
hurt. IN A FLASH (Ire) (Night Shift) is another horse at a bit of a price that
could surprise. The colt lost all chance last out in the Rushaway S. at Turfway
Park when he lost his footing at the start of the race, but the bay is best
suited for the grass and should appreciate the return to the surface.
Friday’s forecast calls for widely scattered thunderstorms with highs in the
low 70s.
Friday’s Best Plays
1ST – BELLA SHAMBROCK (Grand Slam) has been putting up in some impressive
works in the mornings and it looks as if he is ready to roll. Trainer Todd
Pletcher is known for having his two-year-olds sitting on go when they arrive at Keeneland in the spring and this one appears to be no exception. Overall,
Pletcher wins 26 percent of the maiden special races he has a runner in and 20
percent of his races in the “Debut Maiden Special Weight” trainer category.
Grand Slam is a respectable 13 percent first out sire and this one appears more
than capable of helping his sire pad his statistics.
8TH – To Sender has done nothing wrong since arriving in North America and
appears ready to use the Transylvania as a stepping stone to even bigger and
better things. Though the price will be short, the bay could prove to be a solid
key for those interested in taking a chance on the Pick 4.