Keeneland barn notes: Great White works for Blue Grass

KyHBPA video: Three Chimneys’ Luis Ettedgui and trainer John Ennis on Great White

KyHBPA video: Jockey Alex Achard after working Great White

Keeneland press release (Coady Media/Kurtis Coady photo above of Great White winning the John Battaglia at Turfway Park)

Click here for Keeneland’s 2026 Media Guide.

Click here for the Spring Meet stakes schedule, which includes links to the lists 
of nominees for upcoming stakes and their past performances.

Every race during the Spring Meet will be streamed live and at no charge
on Keeneland.com and broadcast live on FanDuel TV.

Complimentary digital programs with Equibase past performances 
Powered by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) 
will be available to download by clicking here.

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• GREAT WHITE TUNES UP FOR TOYOTA BLUE GRASS
• WALSH BRINGS BACK BREEDERS’ CUP RUNNERS FOR 2026 DEBUTS
• WORK TAB
• KEENELAND OFFERS NEW RACE CATEGORY
• PROSPECTIVE FIELDS FOR OPENING WEEKEND STAKES

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GREAT WHITE TUNES UP FOR TOYOTA BLUE GRASS

Three Chimneys Farm and trainer John Ennis’ Great White tuned up for his dirt racing debut in Saturday’s Toyota Blue Grass (G1) by working a half-mile in company in :47.60 over a fast track Sunday morning.

Working with the 3-year-old maiden Just Munny and exercise rider Omar Torres, Great White started 2 lengths behind his stablemate and finished 2 lengths in front with fractions of :35.60, :47.60 and galloping out 5 furlongs in 1:01.20.

“He started off slow but then flew down the lane and (jockey) Alex (Achard) had a hard time pulling him up,” Ennis said. “It was a sharper work compared to last week (a half-mile in :52.60) when we wanted him to get a feel for the track.”

Great White is based at the nearby The Thoroughbred Center, where he returned after the work. Ennis said Great White would come back to Keeneland Wednesday or Thursday and would have a morning Paddock schooling session prior to the Toyota Blue Grass.

Great White has won two of three starts over the all-weather surface at Turfway Park, taking the Feb. 21 John Battaglia Memorial (L) in his most recent race. That is the same race Epic Ride ran in two years ago prior to his dirt debut in the Toyota Blue Grass in which he finished third behind Sierra Leone. Epic Ride then raced in the Kentucky Derby (G1).

“They are different horses and this one is probably a better horse. He has a high cruising speed,” Ennis said. “Epic Ride has some distance limitations but a mile and an eighth or a mile and a quarter is not an issue with (Great White). It would be interesting to go to the (Kentucky) Derby with him.”

WALSH BRINGS BACK BREEDERS’ CUP RUNNERS FOR 2026 DEBUTS

Brendan Walsh, who shared the 2025 Spring Meet training title with Brad Cox, has his runners positioned for a fast start to this year’s 15-day Keeneland Spring Meet, which begins Friday.

Two of those runners, Clicquot and Imaginationthelady, will be making their 2026 debuts after closing their 2025 campaigns with fourth-place finishes in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar.

“Clicquot worked nice yesterday,” Walsh said of the :48.20 half-mile breeze. “The (7-furlong Resolute Racing) Madison (G1) on Saturday is a good place to come back.”

Winner of the Indiana Oaks (G3) and the Cotillion (G1), Clicquot finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1). She is owned by the partnership of X-Men Racing, Madaket Stables, SF Racing and Blue Horseshoe Racing.

Mark Dobbin’s Imaginationthelady, winner of last fall’s Jessamine (G2) Presented by Keeneland Sales, worked a half-mile in :51 on the grass Sunday morning preparation for Saturday’s Appalachian (G2) Presented by Japan Racing Association. She had finished fourth of 12 in the John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) to close 2025.

Imaginationthelady is expected to be joined in the Appalachian starting gate by stablemate Lion Lake (IRE), who is owned by Emcee Stable. Lion Lake won the Herecomesthebride (G3) at Gulfstream Park in her most recent start and worked a half-mile on the turf in :51.20 Sunday morning here.

Also working on the grass for Walsh was JDT Racing’s Vasy (IRE). Winner of Gulfstream’s Colonel Liam (L) in his most recent start, Vasy breezed a half-mile in :51.20 for Friday’s UK HealthCare Transylvania (G3).

Walsh, who won seven Keeneland stakes in 2025, also plans to run Dawn and Ike Thrash’s Carson Street, in Friday’s first stakes race, the 7-furlong Lafayette (L). Carson Street would be cutting back to one turn after running third in the Lecomte (G3) and fifth in the Risen Star (G2) at Fair Grounds this winter. Carson Street worked a half-mile in :48.60 on the main track Sunday morning.

WORK TAB

Midway Racing’s Street Beast, daylight winner of the 2025 Global Tote Juvenile Mile (L) at Kentucky Downs and fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1), breezed a half-mile on the grass in :52.40 in preparation for Friday’s UK HealthCare Transylvania (G3) for trainer Ben Colebrook.

KEENELAND OFFERS NEW RACE CATEGORY

For April 15, the eighth day of Keeneland’s 15-day Spring Meet, the Condition Book offers a new type of race: a “ratings handicap.” Worth $84,000, the 6½-furlong event for 4-year-olds and up is for horses with performance numbers (85-75) derived from previous performances based on speed, finish position, competition and other factors.

Developed by Equibase, the Thoroughbred industry’s official database, the ratings system was designed to simplify eligibility requirements, improve race competitiveness and attract larger fields. It differs from Equibase Speed Figures, which measure how fast a horse has run in past races.

“I am excited about having our first ratings handicap at Keeneland,” Racing Secretary Ben Huffman said. “Equibase has put a lot of time and energy into developing the ratings handicap system. Although it is in the early stages, Keeneland is happy to offer a handful of these. We have started with two ratings handicaps and can add a few more if necessary before the meet ends on April 24.”

Entries for Keeneland’s first ratings handicap will be taken Wednesday, April 8.

A second ratings handicap (85-75), a 6-furlong race for fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, is in the Condition Book for Thursday, April 23. Entries for that race will be taken April 16. 

Click here for more information from Equibase.

PROSPECTIVE FIELDS FOR OPENING WEEKEND STAKES

Following are possible stakes entrants for the first two days of Keeneland’s Spring Meet from Stakes Coordinator Jorie Beschizza:

Entries taken Monday; races Friday, April 3

$750,000 CENTRAL BANK ASHLAND (G1) — French Friction (trainer Mark Casse), Hollybygolly (Rodolphe Brisset), Omaha Bay (Ian Wilkes), Percy’s Bar (Ben Colebrook), Zany (Todd Pletcher). Possible: Sneaky Good (Brad Cox).

$600,000 UK HEALTHCARE TRANSYLVANIA (G3) — Ganaas (Andrew McKeever), Remember Mamba (Cherie DeVaux),Street Beast (Colebrook), Time for America (Michelle Nihei), Vasy (IRE) (Brendan Walsh), Zeppelin (Rusty Arnold). 

$400,000 MIDDLEGROUND CAPITAL BEAUMONT (G2) — A Fine Chardonnay (Wilkes), Baracca (Walsh), Coco Connect (John Ennis). Possible: Sneaky Good (Cox).

$400,000 LAFAYETTE (L) — Arctic Beast (Mike Maker), Carson Street (Walsh), Trouble Calling (Greg Foley). Possible:Oscar’s Hope (Kinnon LaRose).

Entries taken Tuesday; races Saturday, April 4

$1,250,000 TOYOTA BLUE GRASS (G1) — Class President (Pletcher), Creole Chrome (Joe Sharp), Further Ado (Cox), Great White (Ennis), Reagan’s Honor (DeVaux).

$650,000 RESOLUTE RACING MADISON (G1) — Autumn Evening (Jose D’Angelo), Clicquot (Walsh), Praying (Robbie Medina), Sterling Silver (Anthony Margotta Jr.). Possible: Mystic Lake (Saffie Joseph Jr.), R Disaster (Joseph).

$500,000 APPALACHIAN (G2) PRESENTED BY JAPAN RACING ASSOCIATION — Belle of the Barn (Caio Caramori),Imaginationthelady (Walsh), Lion Lake (IRE) (Walsh), Spirit Doll (Joseph), To a Flame (Arnold). Possible: Alone Time (DeVaux).

$400,000 VALVOLINE GLOBAL SHAKERTOWN (G2) — Clock Tower (Wesley Ward), Full Disclosure (Amzadali Jehaludi), Heart Headed (Sharp), Its Bourbon Thirty (Jeremiah O’Dwyer), Joe Shiesty (Eric Foster), My Boy Prince (Casse), No Nay Hudson (IRE) (Ward).

$350,000 COMMONWEALTH (G3) — Crazy Mason (Greg Sacco), Multitask (David Jacobson), Track Mate (Arnold).

NO RACING APRIL 5, EASTER SUNDAY