Keeneland news: Vekoma shoots for Blue Grass Stakes history

R.A. Hill Stable and Gatsas Stables’ Vekoma, the morning-line favorite for Keeneland's Grade 2, $1 million Blue Grass Stakes, will be chasing a bit of history Saturday

No horse since Coaltown in 1948 has won the Blue Grass coming into the event with just three lifetime starts, but that is what Vekoma will do Saturday.

“He is a late May foal," said trainer George Weaver, "and after the Nashua last year he indicated he may need a break, so we passed the Remsen and decided to focus on his 3-year-old campaign."

Vekoma returned to the races March 2 with a third-place finish in the Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park. Manny Franco was aboard that day but on Saturday, Javier Castellano will have the mount.

“We were late to commit to the Blue Grass because we had considered the Florida Derby,” Weaver said. “Manny’s agent already had made commitments to ride this Saturday at Aqueduct. Javier worked him last Saturday."

Earlier on the card Saturday, Weaver will shoot for his second victory in the Commonwealth (G3).

R.A. Hill Stable’s Majestic Dunhill will break from the 14 hole in the 7-furlong sprint under Irad Ortiz Jr.

“The 14 is OK because there is plenty of backstretch and he is not up with the early pace,” said Weaver, who won the race in 2010 with Together Indy.

Majestic Dunhill made the first nine starts of his 12-race career on the grass, but things changed last fall after he finished second in the Franklin-Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs.

“As a 3-year-old last year, we thought he was a turf sprinter, so there was no need to change,” Weaver said. “But after the stakes at Kentucky Downs, he worked brilliantly on the dirt at Belmont. Then he won the City of Laurel Stakes and that was probably his best race.”

In his lone start of 2019, Majestic Dunhill was a fast-closing runner-up in the General George (G3) at Laurel on Feb. 16.

UPCOMING STAKES PROBABLES