Stakes: Grade II for 3-year-old thoroughbreds and fillies
Distance: 1 1/8 miles
Track: Dirt
Purse: $1,000,000
The Blue Grass Stakes, starting in 1937, has been raced in early April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, KY. The Prep Race is scheduled for 3-year-olds in their quest to qualify for Kentucky Derby. The most famous Blue Grass Stakes winner was Strick the Gold who ended up winning the Kentucky Derby in 1991, a final prep race before the Derby.
Initially, the race was held at the Kentucky Association Track in Lexington until 1933 when it was moved to Keeneland Race Course, where it has been held ever since.
It attracts some of the best three-year-old horses in the country, and the winner earns valuable qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby. Many Kentucky Derby contenders use the Blue Grass Stakes as
The race has undergone several distance changes throughout its history. It was initially run at 1 1/16 miles but was later changed to 1 1/8 miles in 1919. In 1933, the distance was increased to 1 1/16 miles again, and in 1989, it returned to 1 1/8 miles, where it currently stands.