Keeneland’s Blue Grass Stakes draws full field. Here are the post positions and odds.

Vekoma, a lightly raced but highly respected colt trained by George Weaver, was installed as the 9-5 morning-line favorite Wednesday for Saturday’s $1 million Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland Race Course.

The Blue Grass, a Grade 2 race, is Keeneland’s richest contest of the Spring Meet and serves as an important prep race for 3-year-olds on the road to the Kentucky Derby.

Saturday’s race, scheduled to go to post at 6:23 p.m., provides 100 Kentucky Derby points to the winner. The second-place finisher receives 40, third place gets 20 and fourth place 10.

Vekoma, who has 10 Derby points and will need more to get into the Run for the Roses (it took a minimum of 29 points to qualify last year), drew the No. 2 post position among 14 contenders for the Blue Grass. The Blue Grass field is full for only the sixth time ever in a race that has been run since 1911.

Dale Romans, who trains a pair of Blue Grass contenders in Admire (post No. 7, 15-1 odds) and Moonster (No 13, 30-1), will need a big showing Saturday if he hopes to field a Derby horse this year. But Romans, who won the Blue Grass in 2012 and 2016, said the race is more than a mere springboard to the first Saturday in May.

“This is our last chance to make the Derby this year,” Romans said after Wednesday’s draw. “I’ve come in with that pressure before. I had to run first or second and ran second with Paddy O’Prada and he comes back and runs a big third in the Kentucky Derby.

“Everybody talks about the Derby points, but let me win the Blue Grass. That’s a stand-alone race on its own. Not to mention it’s a million dollars and the second most prestigious race in Kentucky.”

Vekoma has two first-place finishes and a third among his three career starts, which have netted $188,850 in earnings. The Weaver-trained favorite has not raced at Keeneland. He won a maiden special weight at Belmont Park last September, then captured the Grade 3 Nashua Stakes at Aqueduct in November. His lone start in 2019 came in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on March 2, where he came in third.

Having drawn post position No. 2, Weaver suggested his team’s strategy on Saturday could be to stake Vekoma to an early lead.

“He’s a very fast horse. . . . I don’t think we’ll have a problem being up there where we want to be,” Weaver said.

Signalman, trained by Lexington native Kenny McPeek, has accumulated 18 Kentucky Derby points and drew post position No. 3 for the Blue Grass. Signalman has won twice in six career starts, including the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, and finished third in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and second in the Breeders’ Futurity. He was installed as the 8-1 third choice on Wednesday, a development that had McPeek ready to run to his nearest ATM.

“At 8-1, I’m gambling,” McPeek said after the draw. “He needs points, he needs to be third or better. I’m pretty confident he can do that ... He beat a 14-horse field at Churchill in the Kentucky Jockey Club. This horse can overcome a lot.”

Somelikeithotbrown, who won the Jeff Ruby Steaks and the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence this spring for trainer Mike Maker, leads the Blue Grass field in Derby points with 20. Somelikeithotbrown drew post position No. 1 at morning-line odds of 10-1.

Harvey Diamond, a member of Somelikeithotbrown’s ownership group, was unfazed by the inside draw.

“It’s where we want to be,” Diamond said. “We’ve got the speed, and we’ll take off.”

Second choice in Mike Battaglia’s morning line behind Vekoma was Win Win Win at 7-2.

Win Win Win, trained by Michael Trombetta, has three wins among his five career starts.

Ashland Stakes

The field for Saturday’s $500,000 Central Bank Ashland Stakes at Keeneland was also drawn Wednesday.

Jaywalk was made the 8-5 morning-line favorite in an eight-filly field for the Kentucky Oaks prep race, which is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. Jaywalk won four straight starts in 2018, including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, before ending her win streak with a fourth-place finish in last month’s Grade 2 Davona Dale.

Restless Rider, who finished second behind Jaywalk in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and has two stakes wins under her belt, is the second choice in the Ashland at 5-2. Chocolate Kisses, who’s won both of her 2019 starts, is third at 5-1.

Saturday

Toyota Blue Grass Stakes

What: $1 million Grade 2 stakes race for 3-year-olds on dirt, a major prep race for next month’s Kentucky Derby

Where: Keeneland Race Course

Post time: 6:23 p.m.

Distance: 1 1/8 miles

TV: NBC Sports Network

Blue Grass, Ashland fields

Toyota Blue Grass Stakes post positions and odds:

1-Somelikeithotbrown (10-1)

2-Vekoma (9-5)

3-Signalman (8-1)

4-Market King (20-1)

5-Chess Chief (30-1)

6-Dream Maker (10-1)

7-Admire (15-1)

8-Win Win Win (7-2)

9-Sir Winston (15-1)

10-Lucky Lee (15-1)

11-So Alive (15-1)

12-Parsimony (20-1)

13-Moonster (30-1)

14-Aquadini (30-1)

Central Bank Ashland Stakes post positions and odds:

1-Bizwhacks (15-1)

2-Chocolate Kisses (5-1)

3-Lady Kate (15-1)

4-Jaywalk (8-5)

5-Feedback (3-1)

6-Restless Rider (5-2)

7-Bell’s the One (15-1)

8-Out for a Spin (20-1)

This story was originally published April 3, 2019 at 11:52 AM.