Blue Grass: Encino is scratched, will be aimed for Lexington

Lexington, Ky.

Graded-stakes winner Encino has been scratched from Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and will be aimed instead for next weekend’s Lexington (G3), a less valuable Kentucky Derby 2024 prep race.

Trainer Brad Cox confirmed the move in a text message Saturday morning.

“The outside draw wasn’t ideal for us getting to that turn quickly,” said Michael Banahan of Godolphin, Encino’s breeder-owner. “We wanted everything to his benefit going into a Grade 1 race. Obviously it’s one of the most competitive Derby trial races. We’ll go into the Lexington instead for his first time on the dirt as well. So he has a couple of different challenges to overcome.”

Encino drew widest among the 11 entrants and was 12-1 on the morning line for the Blue Grass. His stablemate Just a Touch, a maiden winner who finished second March 2 in a sloppy running of the Gotham (G3), will start from post 6 as the 7-2 second choice. Sierra Leone is the program favorite at 2-1 breaking from post 10.

A homebred Godolphin colt by Nyquist, Encino won last month’s John Battaglia Memorial on the synthetic surface at Turfway Park. He earned 20 qualifying points for that victory. He would have needed a top-two result in the 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass, worth 100-50-25-15-10 points to the top five finishers, to be mathematically assured of a spot in the Derby.

The Lexington, a 1 1/16-mile race, is worth 20-10-6-4-2 points. If Encino were to win and run his point total to 40, he still might get a Derby invitation depending on the outcome of Saturday’s final major preps and the inevitable attrition from the list of qualified horses.

Banahan said the Derby was not so much a goal now as it was a possibility.

“We’ll take one race at a time,” he said. “Let’s see how he gets on from that race. If the opportunity is there, yeah, we’ll certainly look at the Derby.”

Last year Cox and Godolphin won the Lexington with First Mission, who was then pointed to the Preakness. That did not work out when the Street Sense colt developed an ankle injury that took him off the track for six months.

Asked about the Preakness, Banahan said, “I think we’re looking too far down the road. There’s a few hurdles yet to get over. We’re hoping he’ll be able to achieve those.”