Blue Grass Stakes Handicapping Picks
Horse racing gamblers are you looking for 2023 Blue Grass Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping Odds…plus some predictions? Need some advice on who to take? The 2023 Blue Grass Stakes is set for April 8 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. Here’s a preview of our top contenders.
Blue Grass Stakes Preview
- Race: Blue Grass Stakes
- Purse: $1 million
- Track: Keeneland Race Course
- Date: April 8
- Post Time: 5:15 PM (ET)
- Live: Blue Grass Stakes Odds: Click Here
2023 Blue Grass Stakes Racebooks / Betting Apps We Like!
Before we can give you our expert 2023 Blue Grass Stakes free pick, we have to break down the entries! In fact, we’d love to hear from you after you’ve given this post a read to see if you see an angle that we don’t!
2023 Blue Grass Stakes Handicapping
The 46-race 2023 Kentucky Derby qualifying series that kicked off last September with the Iroquois Stakes reaches a climax this weekend with three major qualifying races. Although the final qualifier goes next weekend, Saturday’s races will be the last to award points in a 100-40-30-20-10 scale, and are realistically the last shot for a horse to make the Derby field.
Included in those three is the (G1) Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, the location of last fall’s Breeders’ Cup World Championship.
The Blue Grass has drawn a field of 11 to race 1 1/8 miles the dirt track.
Odds listed here are provided by the Keeneland track oddsmaker.
2023 Blue Grass Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping: Tapit Trice Race Odds: 5-2
The slight morning line favourite is Tapit Trice, who ships in after winning the Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs one month ago.
That was his third consecutive win from four lifetime starts. He seems to have no problem with travel, as all three of those wins came at different tracks. He’s also one that likes to come from off the pace, as was the case at Tampa Bay as he came from dead last to pass the field, showing strong acceleration in the lane.
Trainer Todd Pletcher is a three-time winner of the Blue Grass, while jockey Luis Saez has won twice before.
2023 Blue Grass Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping: Verifying Race Odds: 3-1
Coming in off a fourth-place finish in the (G2) Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park, Verifying was last seen at Keeneland in the BC Juvenile in November where he finished sixth after a rough start.
He made his three-year-old debut at the allowance level at Oaklawn in a race where he cruised to victory by more than five lengths and scored a career-best 102 Equibase speed figure. He followed that up with his run in the Rebel where he went off as the post-time favourite.
Brad Cox was the winning trainer of the Blue Grass in 2021. Tyler Gaffalione will ride.
Raise Cain Race Odds: 9-2
A half brother to current Kentucky Derby favourite Forte, Raise Cain ships in after last winning the (G3) Gotham Stakes over one mile at Aqueduct by an eye-catching 7 1/2 lengths.
One of the more experienced runners in the field with six lifetime starts, he only has one other win on his record, but that win did come at Keeneland where he broke his maiden at second asking.
He’s trained by Ben Colebrook and Joel Rosario will ride.
Blazing Sevens Race Odds: 6-1
After running fourth in the BC Juvenile, Blazing Sevens didn’t make his 2023 debut until early March where he came up rather flat and finished second-from-last in the (G2) Fountain Of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream.
That being said, he is already a Grade 1 winner, as he won the Champagne Stakes over a sloppy Aqueduct track way back in October. The runner-up in that race by more than three lengths was the previously mentioned Verifying.
He’s trained by Chad Brown, who won the race last year as well as in 2018. Last Saturday, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. won six races at Gulfstream.
Here’s My 2023 Blue Grass Stakes Free Pick.
On paper I don’t see a real standout in this race, and I don’t know if it’s a very strong field compared to some of the other prep races we’ve seen recently. All-in-all it seems like a race where you can find some value beyond the top choices.
With that in mind I’m going to take Blazing Sevens for the win. I think you can draw a line through his race in the Fountain of Youth as he was making just his first start in four months. It’s also important to note that the FOY was a very good field, with four horses from that race besides Blazing Sevens who have all but locked up their spot in the Kentucky Derby gate.
Full Field: 2023 Blue Grass Stakes Odds
By post position
- #1 – Tapit Trice 5-2
- #2 – Clear the Air 30-1
- #3 – Verifying 3-1
- #4 – Classic Car Wash 12-1
- #5 – Hayes Strike 15-1
- #6 – Scooby Quando 15-1
- #7 – Sun Thunder 10-1
- #8 – Blazing Sevens 6-1
- #9 – Major Blue 30-1
- #10 – Raise Cain 9-2
- #11 – Mendelssohns March 20-1
Blue Grass Stakes Tweet Of The Day
.@keeneland opens spring meet with Ashland on Friday, Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday https://t.co/466J4keYvh | @KentuckyDerby #KentuckyOaks #horseracing pic.twitter.com/zypLTPmNzP
— WDRB News (@WDRBNews) April 7, 2023
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