Keeneland Moves Spring Opener to Thursday, Adds Two Stakes

[Wandering Eyes]

Keeneland is expanding its Spring Meet in 2019 by opening a day earlier than in previous years and presenting two new stakes, both $100,000 turf sprints, the track announced Wednesday. The meet will open Thursday, Apr. 4 and host a total of 18 stakes worth a season-record $4.6 million in purse money through closing day Apr. 26. The centerpiece of the meet, as usual, will be the $1-million GII Toyota Blue Grass S. Apr. 6, with the $500,000 GI Central Bank Ashland S. set for the same Saturday.

Opening on a Thursday means the Spring Meet will not lose a day because of Easter Sunday, Apr. 21, when Keeneland is closed. Prior to 1960, the Spring Meet often opened on Thursday when the season was shorter.

The new stakes added to the calendar are both for sophomore turfers, with the 5 1/2-furlong, $100,000 Palisades S. for straight 3-year-olds to be held opening day, and the $100,000 Limestone Turf Sprint for 3-year-old fillies unfolding Friday, Apr. 12 at the same distance.

“Keeneland is excited to offer these new features for the 2019 Spring Meet,” Keeneland Vice President of Racing and Sales Bob Elliston said. “The addition of two turf stakes for 3-year-olds will increase opportunities for horsemen competing during the Spring Meet and fill a nice niche in the national landscape of turf racing. We’ve also seen the growing interest of several major connections to use the grass stakes at Keeneland to prepare for summer campaigns, including competing at Royal Ascot. The new races will enrich a season anchored by blockbuster stakes racing on the first two Saturdays and one that spotlights leading 3-year-olds with classic aspirations.”

The 2019 Spring Meet will also include the resumption of Keeneland’s April Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale, to be held Tuesday, April 9. Preview Day, during which cataloged horses will have breezes over both the dirt track and turf course, is scheduled for Monday, April 8.

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