BLUEGRASS STAKES

(GRADE 1)

WINSTAR Farm and Stonestreet’s Carpe Diem won for fun in the $1 million Grade 1 Toyota Bluegrass Stakes on opening weekend of Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky.

Living up to his hype and 2/5 favouritism, the colt by Giant’s Causeway outclassed his rivals in the nine furlong test last Saturday.

Carpe Diem put steady pressure on pacesetter Ocho Ocho Ocho and then powerfully took command coming out of the final turn, drawing away down the stretch under John Velazquez to finish three lengths ahead.

Danzig Moon put in a good closing run to get second, but could not reach the winner. Ocho Ocho Ocho, two and a half lengths behind, held on for third.

“We had a really good trip. He was pretty close to the pace and then he just stayed there,” Velazquez said. “There wasn’t much speed in the race. It was a nice slow pace and I didn’t want to fight him very much. He was doing it pretty easy. Once he gets to the lead, he wants to wait, so I have to make sure I keep his mind on running.

“He’s done everything right to this point, so hopefully we can keep him like that when we go to Churchill Downs.”

The Blue Grass was worth 100 points to the winner on the road to the Kentucky Derby, boosting Carpe Diem’s total on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard to 164 points.

It was the first time the classic prep was run over Keeneland’s new dirt track surface.

“He likes the surface here and we like the surface here, so we’ll probably stay here a couple weeks or a week at least and then decide if we want to have one breeze at Churchill or two,” Pletcher said of future plans for Carpe Diem, one of the trainer’s key Kentucky Derby contenders along with Grade 1 Florida Derby winner Materiality.

“He just continues to get better and you want to have a horse that’s moving forward this time of year - you want to have a horse that’s blooming and he’s doing that,” said Elliott Walden, WinStar’s president and CEO.

Carpe Diem was bred in Kentucky out of the Unbridled’s Song mare Rebridled Dreams. He was a $1.6 million purchase by WinStar and Stonestreet from the Northwest Stud consignment to the 2014 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. selected sale of two-year-olds in training.

The Blue Grass brought his career record to four wins and a second from five starts, for earnings of $1,519,800.

Also on the card the Grade 1 Carter Handicap saw Dads Cap, a son of Discreet Cat, repeat his 2014 victory over a high class field where the favourite The Big Beast could only finish fourth.

In the Grade 2 Gazelle Stakes over nine furlongs, the filly Condo Commando made it three wins in a row at Aqueduct. Chad Brown’s March overcame Lord Nelson and the favourite Ready For Rye in a rough race for the Grade 3 Bay Shore Stakes.