Sierra Leone wins Blue Grass Stakes, is a Derby favorite.
Leone topped a field of 10 horses to triumph in a historic 100th edition of the Grade 1, $1 million Toyota Blue Grass Stakes — a 200-point Kentucky Derby qualifying race — on a sun-splashed Saturday evening at Keeneland.
Trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione,
Sierra Leone staked his claim to being a Derby favorite by delivering as the 8-5 favorite.
Sierra Leone, now 3-1-0 in four career starts with earnings of $918,000, was also the morning line favorite (2-1) for the Blue Grass.
The win by Sierra Leone came by 1 1/2 lengths in the Blue Grass and was highlighted by his signature late charge from the back of the field. He’s locked up his spot in the startSierra ing gate for the 150th running of the Grade 1, $5 million Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs in Louisville.
Sierra Leone, who traveled the 1 1/8 miles in the Blue Grass Stakes over a fast main track in 1:50.08, now has 155 Derby qualifying points, the most of any horse.
Brown, who is from upstate New York, now has three wins in the Blue Grass Stakes: He also won with Good Magic in 2018 and Zandon in 2022.
“I have a great team. We’re just trying to maintain pretty much the way he’s been his whole life, a special horse,” Brown said afterward. “I don’t know if they ever fully figure it out, but he’s only had a handful of starts. But there’s such good chemistry with Tyler and Sierra Leone his last two starts. You can see he wants to lean in a
little bit, but it’s never too bad. He’s still polishing off his experience and his skills, and I just think a mile-and-a-quarter won’t be a problem going forward. We’re looking forward to it.”
Sierra Leone is owned by Peter M. Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg and Brook T. Smith. The horse is a son of Gun Runner out of Malibu Moon mare Heavenly Love, and Sierra Leone was the highestpriced yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale, going for $2.3 million.
Also securing his spot in Derby 150 was Just a Touch: The Brad Cox trainee, ridden by Florent Geroux, finished second in the Blue Grass Stakes and increased his Derby points total to 75, putting him firmly in the field.
“He’s going to have to move forward in the next four weeks. Colts can do that. If he moves forward, he will be able to compete in the Derby,” Cox said afterward. “… Derby is still under consideration.
Epic Ride, trained by John Ennis and ridden by Adam Beschizza, finished third in the Blue Grass Stakes and now has 35 Derby qualifying points, which is right on the edge of making the Derby field. He’s likely looking at an also eligible spot.
Dornoch, one of the most talked about horses leading up to Saturday’s race, finished a disappointing fourth after he never found the race pace. But with 75 qualifying points, Dornoch will also be in the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby.
“Next time, we’ll break him out of (the starting gate on the lead) and keep his face clean, and he’ll run better next time,” trainer Danny Gargan said afterward of Dornoch.
Up to 20 horses will be in the starting gate for this year’s 150th Run for the Roses.
Top Conor, another horse trained by Brown and the horse that exited post position 1, set the pace in Saturday’s Blue Grass from the start until the turn for home.
A 10-cent superfecta in Saturday’s race yielded $57.15, while a 50-cent trifecta yielded $86.78.
Sierra Leone exited post position 10 in his victorious run in the Blue Grass Stakes, which makes him the fourth horse since 1937 to win the race from that starting spot.
There was a significant delay to the start of the race as Sierra Leone delayed his entry into the starting gate for nearly three minutes. All nine other horses were loaded into their posts while Sierra Leone was coaxed into his.
“I think it was just the crowd,” Gaffalione said afterward. “We break right in front of them here. Everybody’s lined up against the rail and he was the last horse going in, so I think it just kind of got to him, got him a little nervous.”
No horses were reloaded during this process.
Sierra Leone’s triumph in the Blue Grass also continued a chalky theme for Keeneland’s signature Spring Meet race: The favorite has won five of the last seven editions of the Blue Grass Stakes.
In history, the favorite has won 40 of the 100 editions of the Blue Grass Stakes, a 40% win rate.
The combination of Brown (trainer) and Gaffalione (jockey) also teamed up to win Saturday’s final race at Keeneland (an allowance race) with Running Bee. Gaffalione had the winning mount in three of Saturday’s final four races.
Earlier on Saturday, a pair of horses secured their spots in the Derby gate by finishing first and second in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. Resilience, trained by Bill Mott and ridden by John Velazquez, won the 1 1/8-mile race at 9-2 odds over a fast main track and earned 100 Derby qualifying points.
Resilience now has 110 points, which puts him among the top five Derby contenders.
Society Man, trained by Danny Gargan and ridden by Luis Rivera Jr., finished second in the Wood at staggering 99-1 odds to earn 50 Derby qualifying points. With 50 qualifying points, Society Man is also set to be in the Derby field.
In the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, another 200-point Kentucky Derby qualifier, on Saturday night, it was Stronghold (trained by Phil D’Amato and ridden by Antonio Fresu) who just edged out Imagination for the 100 Derby qualifying points.
Now with 125 points, Stronghold will be in the Kentucky Derby.
Imagination, a Bob
Baffert trainee, won’t be able to collect the 50 qualifying points for his second place finish because Baffert can’t saddle a horse in the Derby this year. E J Won The Cup finished third.
SUCCESS IN THE BLUE GRASS CAN TRANSLATE TO KENTUCKY DERBY
The Blue Grass Stakes — which goes 1 1/8 miles on Keeneland’s main track — has been held at Keeneland since the track’s first Spring Meet in April 1937. The race was inaugurated in 1911 at the Kentucky Association track in Lexington. The Blue Grass Stakes was run at the Kentucky Association track from 1911 through 1914, and again from 1919 to 1926.
Ten horses — Shut Out (1942), Tomy Lee (1959), Chateaugay (1963), Northern Dancer (1964), Lucky Debonair (1965), Forward Pass (1968), Dust Commander (1970), Riva Ridge (1972), Spectacular Bid (1979) and Strike the Gold (1991) — have won both the Blue Grass Stakes and the Kentucky Derby, although no horse has accomplished that double in more than 30 years.
Furthermore, 19 horses who ran in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland have gone on to win the Kentucky Derby.
KEENELAND WAGERING RECORDS SET ON BLUE GRASS STAKES SATURDAY
In addition to Saturday’s Blue Grass Stakes being a historic moment for longevity, it was also a banner wagering day at Keeneland.
The all-sources handle for Saturday’s 11-race card totaled $29,261,346, eclipsing the previous single-day wagering record of $28,137,728 set in 2022. Single-race win/ place/show wagering of $2,576,663 in the Toyota Blue Grass shattered the 2019 record of $2,068,046.
The All Stakes Pick 5 ending with the Toyota Blue Grass handled $1,696,981, which broke the 2022 record of $1,539,098.
ALVA STARR WINS THE 23RD MADISON STAKES
The second-richest race on Saturday at Keeneland was won by Alva Starr, who prevailed at 2-1 odds in the 23rd edition of the Grade 1, $600,000 Madison, which went 7 furlongs on the main track for fillies and mares.
Trained by Brett A. Brinkman and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, Alva Starr is 5-3-0 in eight career starts.
“Everybody calls her a ‘need the lead’ horse but she’s not. She’s really not,” Brinkman said afterward. “Definitely (coming from off the pace benefited her), the way they stacked up down the backside. Without a doubt. It was a great race. She’s pretty good. She’s a Grade 1 winner. What can I say? The special ones win Grade 1s.”
Previously, Alva Starr ran second in the Grade 2 Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland last fall.
BUCHU WINS THE 36TH EDITION OF GRADE 2 APPALACHIAN
In an exciting 36th edition of the Grade 2, $400,000 Appalachian presented by the Japan Racing Association, it was Buchu — trained by Phil Bauer and ridden by Martin Garcia — who prevailed from a field of 12 fillies who went a mile on a good Keeneland turf course.
Buchu is 3-0-2 in seven career starts, and she’s won in each of her Keeneland starts. Buchu was also victorious in the Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes last fall at the Lexington track.
“We came over here knowing she had run well. But this was a pretty good test and you don’t expect those efforts,” Bauer said afterward. “I was a little worried maybe she hit the front too early, but she’s game and hung on. So it’s a pretty special feeling to be out here for the second time (after winning the Jessamine). You come here as a kid and dream about it, and it’s pretty surreal.”
ARZAK WINS THE 28TH EDITION OF GRADE 2 SHAKERTOWN
Experience proved to be the deciding factor in the 28th edition of the Grade 2, $350,000 Shakertown, which went 5 1/2 furlongs on the Keeneland turf course.
Trained by Michael Trombetta and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., Arzak is 8-3-1 in an impressive 25 career starts. Arzak went off at 7-2 odds in Saturday’s Shakertown.
Arzak now has a pair of stakes victories to his name at Keeneland as well: He also won the Grade 2 Woodford Stakes last fall at Keeneland.
“It’s hard to do,” Trombetta said of winning multiple stakes races at Keeneland. “I hope to be back here in the fall with him.”
BO CRUZ WINS THE 37TH EDITION OF GRADE 3 COMMONWEALTH
The first of Saturday’s stakes races at Keeneland was the 37th edition of the Grade 3, $300,000 Commonwealth, which went 7 furlongs over the main track.
Bo Cruz, trained by Al Stall Jr. and ridden by Jose Ortiz, took home the win.
Bo Cruz, who won the Commonwealth at 6-1 odds, is 3-1-2 in seven career starts and has his first win since hitting the line first in an allowance optional claiming race on last year’s Kentucky Derby day at Churchill Downs.
“It was an experiment (cutting back to 7 furlongs), obviously, but it worked,” Stall said afterward. “We just had a gut feeling, watching him train and the way he’s built, that 9 furlongs might not be his game, so let’s go all the way back. There’s a lot of opportunities in this neck of the woods all summer long… So we took a chance. He always leaves there running. Sometimes he outdoes himself and stumbles a bit. But he didn’t outbreak himself today. He was on his toes and put himself in the right spot.”
Defending race champion Here Mi Song, trained by William Stinson Jr. and to be ridden by Alex Achard, was a late scratch from this year’s race after having issues while loading into the gate.