Keeneland opens spring meet with Ashland on Friday, Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Keeneland opens its spring meet with big stakes races including the last of the big prep races for fillies.

Friday's opening of the 15-day meet at the Lexington track includes a 10 race card that includes the $400,000 Lafayette, the $400,000 Kentucky Utilities Transylvania (G3) and the $600,000 Central Bank Ashland (G1).

Juvenile champion Wonder Wheel headlines the field of seven in the 86th running of the Ashland. Trained by Mark Casse and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, the 3-year-old fillie breaks from post two. Todd Pletcher's Julia Shining with Luis Saez aboard is out of position four, and Chad Brown's Guns n' Graces is out of the three with Joel Rosario for the mount.

The field for the Central Bank Ashland, with riders from the rail out, is:

Pride of the Nile (Dettori)

Wonder Wheel (Gaffalione)

Guns n’ Graces (Rosario)

Julia Shining (Saez)

Punchbowl (Flavien Prat)

Defining Purpose (Brian Hernandez Jr.)

Effortlesslyelgant (Ricardo Santana Jr.)

The year's first Grade 1 race for 3-year-old fillies offers 200 points on a 100-40-30-20-10 scale for the first- through fifth-place finishers toward the Kentucky Oaks (G1). The Oaks at May 5 at Churchill Downs is limited to the top 14 point earners.

All starters carry 121 pounds. Post time for the Ashland is at 5:16 p.m.

Todd Pletcher-trained Tapit Trice is the 5-2 morning-line favorite and will start from the No. 1 post in Saturday's $1 million Blue Grass at Keeneland, one of three major preps being run this weekend for next month's Kentucky Derby.

Verifying is the 3-1 second choice and will start from the No. 3 post. Third-choice Raise Cain drew the No. 10 post in the 11-horse on Wednesday. Blazing Sevens is next at 6-1, starting from the No. 8 post.

The field for the Toyota Blue Grass, with riders and morning line odds from the rail out, is:

Tapit Trice (Saez, 5-2)

Clear the Air (Ricardo Santana Jr., 30-1)

Verifying (Gaffalione, 3-1)

Classic Car Wash (Castellano, 12-1)

Hayes Strike (Graham, 15-1)

Scoobie Quando (Machado, 15-1)

Sun Thunder (Geroux, 10-1)

Blazing Sevens (Ortiz Jr., 6-1)

Major Blue (Cabrera, 30-1)

Raise Cain (Rosario, 9-2)

Mendelssohns March (Hernandez Jr., 20-1)

All starters will carry 123 pounds. Blue Grass post time is 5:15 p.m. on Saturday.

The 1 1/8-mile, Grade 1 dirt race for 3-year-olds will award points on a 100-40-30-20-10 scale for the 149th Derby on May 7 at Churchill Downs. The other big Derby preps this weekend are the Santa Anita Derby in California and Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in New York.

The Spring Meet at Keeneland runs through April 28. There is no racing on Easter Sunday. Tickets are available through Keeneland's Official Online Ticket Office.