Guide to the 2025 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on Tuesday

Keeneland’s big Kentucky Derby prep race, the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, plays out Tuesday evening in Lexington after a three-day weather delay. Here’s everything you need to know to get set for the 101st running of the Blue Grass:

How to watch the race

Post time: 5:52 p.m. (10th race).

Purse: $1.25 million (Grade 1).

For: 3-year-olds.

Distance: 1 1/8 miles (dirt).

Derby points: 100-50-25-15-10.

TV: FanDuel TV

Online: Cameron Drummond (@cdrummond97) of the Lexington Herald-Leader will provide live updates from the track on X/Twitter.

The field with odds

Here’s a look at the field with morning-line odds for the 2025 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes:

1. River Thames (5-2)

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

Trainer: Todd Pletcher.

Owner: WinStar Farm, CHC, Pantofel Stable and Wachtel Stable.

Career record: 3 starts (2 firsts, 1 second, 0 thirds).

Career earnings: $164,400.

Kentucky Derby points: 25 (28th on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Finished second in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on March 1.

Notable: The morning-line favorite is trained by a four-time winner of the Blue Grass in Pletcher, who has won it with Bandini (2005), Monba (2008), Carpe Diem (2015) and Tapit Trice (2023). River Thames did not run as a 2-year-old and is the most lightly raced colt in the field.

2. Render Judgment (20-1)

Jockey: Sheldon Russell.

Trainer: Kenny McPeek.

Owner: Baccari Racing Stable, Dream Walkin Farms, MJM Racing and Rocket Ship Racing.

Career record: 6 starts (1 first, 2 seconds, 1 third).

Career earnings: $214,110.

Kentucky Derby points: 29 (24th on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Finished second in the Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs on March 15.

Notable: McPeek, who completed the rare double of winning the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby last year, has won the Blue Grass twice, with Harlan’s Holiday (2002) and Java’s War (2013). Render Judgment has won only one race in his six career starts, a maiden special weight event at Churchill Downs last October that came three weeks after he finished second in his career debut in a maiden special weight race at Keeneland.

3. Burnham Square (9-2)

Jockey: Brian Hernandez Jr.

Trainer: Ian Wilkes.

Owner: Whitham Thoroughbreds.

Career record: 5 starts (2 firsts, 1 second, 1 third).

Career earnings: $222,130.

Kentucky Derby points: 30 (23rd on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Finished fourth in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on March 1.

Notable: The gelding Burnham Square won the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream on Feb. 1 but then rallied too late one month later in the Fountain of Youth, a race in which Blue Grass favorite River Thames ran second by a neck to Godolphin’s late-charging Sovereignty.

4. Owen Almighty (3-1)

Jockey: Jose Ortiz.

Trainer: Brian Lynch.

Owners: Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing.

Career record: 6 starts (3 firsts, 2 seconds, 0 thirds).

Career earnings: $484,310.

Kentucky Derby points: 65 (eighth on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Won the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs on March 8.

Notable: Owen Almighty has won three of his six career races and been runner-up in two others. Moving the race to Tuesday, after the rains have presumably stopped, might remove a potential advantage. “I think he will relish (a possible off track), and that is a thing that might be in his favor,” Lynch said after post positions were drawn last week.

5. East Avenue (3-1)

Jockey: Luan Machado.

Trainer: Brendan Walsh.

Owner: Godolphin.

Career record: 4 starts (2 firsts, 0 seconds, 0 thirds).

Career earnings: $410,645.

Kentucky Derby points: 10 (41st on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Finished 10th in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds on Feb. 15.

Notable: East Avenue won his lone start at Keeneland, beating a field of 10 other 2-year-olds in the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity on Oct. 5 last year. His two starts since then have not gone as well — ninth as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar last November before his 10th in the Risen Star, in which he was also the favorite.

6. Chancer McPatrick (7-2)

Jockey: Flavien Prat.

Trainer: Chad Brown.

Owners: Flanagan Racing.

Career record: 5 starts (3 firsts, 1 second, 0 thirds).

Career earnings: $605,000.

Kentucky Derby points: 35 (19th on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Finished second in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs on March 8.

Notable: Much like East Avenue, Chancer McPatrick launched a 2-year-old campaign with major upside, winning the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga and the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont At the Big A last fall. He then finished sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and took some time off to fix an ankle problem before returning with flair, running second to Owen Almighty in the Tampa Bay Derby on March 8. Brown has won the Blue Grass three times, with Sierra Leone (2024), Zandon (2022) and Good Magic (2018).

7. Admiral Dennis (20-1)

Jockey: Manny Franco.

Trainer: Brad Cox.

Owner: Albaugh Family Stables.

Career record: 5 starts (2 firsts, 0 seconds, 1 third).

Career earnings: $151,050.

Kentucky Derby points: Two (70th on leaderboard).

Most recent race: Finished sixth in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 23.

Notable: Admiral Dennis’ only graded stakes in five starts was the Rebel. He most likely needs to finish first or second on Tuesday in order to secure enough qualifying points to run for Cox in the Kentucky Derby. The trainer saddles four horses already in the top 20 in points: Tappan Street (third, with 110 points), Final Gambit (fifth, with 100 points), Flood Zone (12th, with 50 points) and John Hancock (20th, with 35 points).

This story was originally published April 4, 2025 at 6:00 AM.