The Blue Grass Stakes is an annual horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds that takes place in April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. The track is 1+1⁄8 miles long and the race is run on dirt. The purse for the race is $1,000,000. It's been a Grade I event twice, once from 1974-1989 and again from 1999-2016. It was classified as a Grade II event from 2017-2021, and in 2022, it was elevated back to Grade I status.
The race is named after the Bluegrass region of Kentucky, which is famous for its thoroughbred racing industry and its bluish-green grass.
The Blue Grass Stakes was first held in 1911 at the Kentucky Association track in Lexington, and it has always been an important race leading up to the Kentucky Derby. The Blue Grass was staged at the Lexington Association track from 1911-1914 and from 1919-1926. In 1937, the race was revived at Keeneland and has been a part of their program ever since. The Blue Grass was also a part of the Keeneland-at-Churchill Downs meeting in 1943-1944 and was run at Churchill Downs in 1945.
Recent Winners
| YEAR | WINNER | JOCKEY | TRAINER |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Zandon | Flavien Prat | Chad C. Brown |
| 2021 | Essential Quality | Luis Saez | Brad H. Cox |
| 2020 | Art Collector | Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. | Thomas Drury, Jr. |
| 2019 | Vekoma | Javier Castellano | George Weaver |
| 2018 | Good Magic | Jose L. Ortiz | Chad C. Brown |
By Al CImaglia
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