KEENELAND 2011 Spring Season-At-A-Glance

Season: April 8 – 29

Race schedule: Wednesday thru Sunday, except Easter Sunday, April 24

Post time: 1:15pm ET/10:15am PT

Exotic Wagers: 50-cent Pick 3, Pick 4 and Trifecta, 10-cent Superfecta and a brand new 50-cent Pick 5.

Take-out rates: Win, place and show: 16% – All other exotics: 19%

Thoroughbred racing returns to Keeneland on Friday, April 8, the official start of the track’s 75th anniversary celebration. Highlights of the 15-day season, which concludes April 29, include the G1 $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass and the G1 $400,000 Central Bank Ashland.

This spring, Keeneland will feature racing on Wednesday through Sunday except Easter Sunday, April 24. Post time for the first race each day is 1:15 p.m. ET/10:15am PT. Fifteen of the 16 stakes are graded; half of them will be contested on the turf. At least one stakes race will be held on 11 days.

New at Keeneland this spring is the popular 50-cent Pick Five wager in which a player must select the winner of five consecutive races.

Handicapping Keeneland

Get free picks from Keeneland’s top handicappers, insights from the track clocker and track trends and biases from turf writer Jeremy Plonk for every live race day at Keeneland. Also check out the Polycapping database and the Trakus page for detailed statistics to help you win more – all courtesy of Keeneland.

The PolyCapping Database
Keeneland’s PolyCapping tool is a free database designed especially for expert horseplayers who want detailed information. It offers detailed race information on the individual winners of every Keeneland race since October 2006, including weather, maintenance, position at key junctures of the race, last start information and much more.

Track Trends and Analysis
Written by nationally recognized handicapper Jeremy Plonk, this information includes traditional picks and analysis, but emphasizes analyzing how the track itself is playing on a day-by-day basis.

Trakus
The Trakus technology is a wonderful resource for handicappers, as its T-Charts give detailed information about the distance each horse travels in a race, its peak speed, its final time and more.

Expert Picks
Three expert handicappers-longtime track oddsmaker Mike Battaglia, along with former DRF handicappers Bill Howard and Kim Nelson, provide selections for each race day.

Clocker’s Comments
Keeneland’s official clocker give his analysis of key works each morning leading up to and during the meets. To make those Comments even more useful, we query the comments against the day’s entries and create a Clocker’s In-Today Report.

Current Meet Stats
This page is updated each race day to reflect the latest jockey and trainer standings.

Keeneland’s 2011 Spring Stakes Schedule

Keeneland’s 2011 Spring Meet will offer a total of 18 stakes totaling $4.35 million – including ten stakes races during its opening FallStars Weekend

April 8 – Transylvania (G3), $100,000, 3-year-olds, 1 1/16 miles (turf)
April 9 – Central Bank Ashland (G1), $400,000, 3-year-old fillies, 1 1/16 miles
April 14 – Vinery Madison (G1), $300,000, 4-year-olds & up, fillies & mares, 7 furlongs
April 15 – Maker’s Mark Mile (G1), $750,000, 4-year-olds & up, one mile (turf)
April 16 – Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1), $750,000, 3-year-olds, 1 1/8 miles
April 16 – Commonwealth Stakes (G2), $175,000, 3-year-olds & up, 7 furlongs
April 16 – Jenny Wiles Stakes (G2), $200,000, 4-year-olds & up, fillies & mares, 1 1/16 miles (turf)
April 16 – Shakertown Stakes (G3), $100,000, 3-year-olds & up, 5.5 furlongs (turf)
April 17 – Beaumont Stakes (G2), $150,000, 3-year-old fillies, 7f & 184′
April 21 – Appalachian Stakes (G3), $100,000, 3-year-old fillies, one mile (turf)
April 22 – Doubledogdare Stakes (G3), $100,00, 4-year-olds & up, 1 1/16 miles
April 23 – Coolmore Lexington Stakes (G3), $200,000, 3-year-olds, 1 1/16 miles
April 23 – Giant’s Causeway Stakes, $100,000, 3-year-olds & up, fillies & mares, 5.5 furlongs (turf)
April 23 – Ben Ali Stakes (G3), $150,000, 4-year-olds & up, 1 1 /8 miles
April 28 – Grey Goose Bewitc Stakes (G3), 4-year-olds & up, fillies & mares, 1 1/2 miles (turf)
April 29 – Elkhorn Stakes (G2), 4-year-olds & up, 1 1/2 miles (turf)