Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association, Inc.

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FIVE TRAINERS ARE TIED WITH THE MOST WINS IN THE BLUE GRASS STAKES. ONLY ONE CAN BREAK THE TIE THIS YEAR. NAME HIM.
7/10/2020

  

This Saturday the Keeneland meet which moved from April to July because of the COVID-19 pandemic will feature its premier race for 3-year-olds, The Blue Grass Stakes (GI). The race is a major prep for the Kentucky Derby which will be run on September 5th. Ten horses won the Blue Grass and went on to win the Kentucky Derby. The first to do so was Shut Out in 1942. Among other dual winners were Chateaugay (1963), Forward Pass (1968), Riva Ridge (1972), Spectacular Bid (1979) and Strike the Gold (1991). Record for most wins in the Blue Grass Stakes is held by five trainers—Ben Jones, Woody Stephens, LeRoy Jolly, Nick Zito and Todd Pletcher--- with four each. Zito is the only one to have trained a dual winner—Strike the Gold. Only two of those tied is still training –Zito and Pletcher. In this year’s Blue Grass Stakes Pletcher does not have a horse. Zito trains the long shot, Hunt the Front, at Morning Line odds of 30-1. He is ridden by Corey Lanerie. If Hunt the Front wins the race Nick Zito will claim the record for the most wins in the history of the Blue Grass Stakes.