Keeneland overflows with Good Magic as Spring Meet nears

Good for the mind, good for the heart, and good for the soul. There is nothing that quite matches the Spring Meeting at Keeneland. It's been nearly four decades since I first visited the beautiful rolling hills of the horse capital of the world to attend the races at one of God's gifts to all racing fans. Every time I've gone since, my senses return to the smells, sounds, tastes and visual delights that I first experienced so many years ago. A visit to Keeneland brings me directly back to the innocence and wonder of childhood.

Recognized as a historical landmark, Keeneland offers it all for the horse lover. Surrounded by many of the most beautiful horse farms in the world, it is situated on a picturesque piece of property which would make any landowner envious. Many of the world's greatest horses were brought here as yearlings to be sold in the historic auction house. From the track kitchen to the walk through the barns, it is unlike any other racetrack in the United States. The place oozes with memories and history, but it's never old. Each April it opens anew with a freshness of anticipation and excitement. Spring is not spring until the turnstiles begin to spin.

Opening day for 2018 is set for Friday, but don't wait too long to visit, because the Wednesday through Sunday meeting will be here and gone again on April 27. As always, the setting is sensational, but the biggest stars are the horses themselves. Keeneland packs each and every card with very good horses.

Horses like the champion World Approval. The Live Oak Plantation star capped off a fantastic 5-year-old season with a decisive victory in the Breeders' Cup Mile. Plenty enough to secure an Eclipse Award last year, 2018 has not started off quite that well for the big gray. Two starts, and only win, there is a question as to whether he still is at his very best.

We will find out a lot more about his current abilities when the Mark Casse-trained gelding makes his next start in the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile on April 13. Somehow, in his 26 starts, and 12 career wins, World Approval has never before run at the Lexington, Ky., racecourse, which gives us all the more reason to look forward to seeing him do his thing one week from Friday.

Another who has never before run at Keeneland, albeit in a much shorter career than World Approval, is Monomoy Girl. The daughter of Tapizar has been near unbeatable so far in her five-race career. Her early excellence has situated her on top of the current standing of best three-3-old fillies in the land, and with one month to go before the first Friday in May, the Brad Cox-trained filly is the current favorite for the Kentucky Oaks. Before that, though, she will get in one more test in Saturday's Grade 1 Ashland Stakes.

Just two of the many top horses pointed for the Spring meeting at Keeneland, World Approval and Monomoy Girl will not even be part of the biggest race of all among the first seven days. Of course, that honor belongs to the 94th edition of the Blue Grass Stakes. An important event on its own, the $1 million race promises, as always, to be an important prep for those top 3-year-olds looking to be in the starting gate for the 2018 Kentucky Derby.

Among the intriguing names pointing for this year's Blue Grass include Quip, recent winner of the Tampa Bay Derby; Free Drop Billy, winner of the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity last fall at Keeneland; Sporting Chance, the winner of the Grade 1 Hopeful; the multiple stakes winner, Flameaway; and the talented Machismo, from the colorful barn of Loooch Racing. None of them, though, will be the horse to beat on Saturday. That distinction will fall to the aptly name Two-Year-Old Champion Male of 2017.

Good Magic may have lost just a little luster of his shiny new Eclipse Award when he finished third in the Fountain of Youth, but there was very good reason that the son of Curlin was sent out to the West Coast for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. The hero that day at Del Mar, this colt is full of potential and ability. Qualities that the Chad Brown-trained, and the e-Five Racing owned colt will likely be ready to put on display for a packed house at Keeneland.

What could be more perfect than having the biggest star of all during this upcoming three weeks at Keeneland being named Good Magic? The place has always been overflowing with its own good magic since 1936.