Keeneland spring meet, with 19 stakes, begins April 4
Keeneland opens its spring meet next to launch 15 days of Thoroughbred racing along with a slate of special events.
The first Saturday of the meet is Blue Grass Stakes day, traditionally the biggest racing day of the year at Keeneland, with an 11-race card featuring five stakes worth a combined $3.15 million and led by the 101st running of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Blue Grass. The season overall will present 19 stakes worth a spring meet record $9.4 million.
With a $250,000 purse increase this year, the 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass for 3-year-olds joins the Turf Mile (G1) as Keeneland’s two $1.25 million races, which are the richest in track history. The Turf Mile reached that amount during the 2024 fall meet.
The Blue Grass and the 88th running of the Ashland on opening day, which features an increased purse of $750,000 and is the year’s first Grade 1 event for fillies, are key springtime races on the dirt for 3-year-olds. Both stakes are worth 200 points on the road to the Kentucky Derby and road to the Kentucky Oaks (G1), respectively, with the winners of each stakes earning 100 qualifying points to the respective classic.
In all, the spring meet will offer three Grade 1 stakes in addition to the Ashland and Blue Grass. They are the $650,000 Madison on April 5, the $650,000 Maker’s Mark Mile on April 11 and the $650,000 Jenny Wiley on April 12.
Racing during the spring meet will be conducted Wednesdays through Sundays, but Keeneland will be closed for racing on Easter, April 20. Post time for the first race is 1 p.m. EDT each day, except April 25 when the first race is at 12:30 p.m. to accommodate the 10-race card that will conclude in time for that evening’s April selected horses of racing age Sale. The auction is scheduled to begin at approximately 6:30 p.m.
The spring meet will mark the final Keeneland season that the three-level paddock building, which extends the entire length of the saddling paddock and walking ring, will be under construction. Scheduled to open this fall, the Paddock Building will provide new ticketed experiences for more than 1,000 fans during race meets, including traditional sit-down dining, new bar concepts and access to a new paddock lawn on the north side of the Saddling Paddock.
New jockeys quarters in the building will give patrons a unique experience when riders walk directly through one of the dining venues before and after each race. The ground floor of the paddock building will contain the saddling stalls to provide a safe environment for equine and human participants and give fans an unmatched view of pre-race pageantry.
In a continuation of Keeneland policy, all tickets must be purchased in advance via the track’s official online ticket office at tickets.Keeneland.com/racing. Cash and walk-up purchases are not accepted at the main gates on race days. Season passes, which offer general admission throughout the meet, are available for purchase prior to opening day.