Inside the Numbers: 2020 Blue Grass Stakes

Racing
Good Magic won the 2018 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland one start prior to finishing second in the Kentucky Derby. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Like many other areas of life, 2020 is anything but normal for the sport of horse racing. Iconic Keeneland Race Course will hold its first-ever July meet this week featuring many stakes from its canceled April meet, including the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. Saturday’s race features several 3-year-olds hoping to earn a place in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve.

Take a look at this year’s Blue Grass Stakes by the numbers below.

- The number of times the race has been run in July. This year will be the first due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

- The number of fillies who have won the race. Swiss Skydiver could be the first if her connections choose to run her in the Blue Grass rather than the Central Bank Ashland Stakes.

1 1/8 miles - The distance of the race.

1:47 1/5 - The record time the race has been completed in, set by Skip Away in 1996.

- The number of Blue Grass winners who were each owned and trained by the same person: Holy Bull was owned and trained by Warren Croll Jr. in 1994 and General Quarters was owned and trained by Thomas McCarthy in 2009.

$2.10 - The lowest payoff on a $2 win bet in Blue Grass history, when Spectacular Bid won in 1979.

- The record-tying number of wins trainer Nick Zito has in the race, along with four other trainers. ZIto could make it four wins if Hunt the Front is victorious Saturday.

- Each of the last five Blue Grass winners was bought at the Keeneland September yearling sale, ranging in price from $100,000 (Irap, 2017 winner) to $1 million (Good Magic, 2018).

- The number of geldings that have won the race, most recently Dominican in 2007. Finnick the Fierce or Winning Impression could join that group this year.

15 lengths - The record margin of victory when eventual Kentucky Derby runner-up Arts and Letters won the 1969 Blue Grass.

23 - The number of Blue Grass runners who went on to win the Kentucky Derby, most recently Street Sense in 2007.

Vekoma wins the 2019 Blue Grass. (Eclipse Sportswire)

60% - Success rate of the betting favorite in the last five years. Three have won, including Carpe Diem in 2015, Good Magic in 2018, and Vekoma last year.

$82.20 - Record win payoff in the race, when 40.10-1 longshot Stately Victor won in 2010.

96th - This year is the 96th running of the Blue Grass, first run in 1911 at the Kentucky Association track in Lexington. It was run there through 1914 and again from 1919-1926 before moving to Keeneland in 1937.

170 points - Total Kentucky Derby qualifying points up for grabs in the race. The winner gets 100, virtually guaranteeing a place in the Derby, while second- through fourth-place finishers get 40, 20, and 10 points respectively.

1966 - The last time a field of just three horses contested the Blue Grass. A field of three also competed in 1940 and 1942.

40,617 - The number of fans that packed Keeneland for Blue Grass day 2012. It was the highest attendance of any day in the track’s history.

$600,000 - Total purse of the 2020 Blue Grass.

$25,809,200 - Total dollars bet on Blue Grass day 2019, a record.

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