For the first time since the track opened in 1936, the horses are running in a summer meet at Keeneland in Lexington. It’s unusual timing for horse racing at the historic track, but the coronavirus pandemic is causing major scheduling changes.
The five day summertime meet started mid-week with no spectators in the Keeneland stands. There are still a number of key prep races over the next few days including the 96th running of the $600,000 Toyota Bluegrass Saturday afternoon.
It’s a major steppingstone to the Three million Dollar Kentucky Derby scheduled for September fifth. Among those in the field of 13 in the Bluegrass, the filly Swiss Skydiver is set to compete.
No filly has ever won the race and only one has run since it debuted at Keeneland during the inaugural spring meet in April of 1937. In 1948, future Hall of Famer Bewitch was scratched.?
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