Full field of 14 set for 89th Blue Grass Stakes

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Lexington, KY (Sports Network) - Saturday's 89th Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland will feature a full gate of 14 3-year-olds for the $750,000 Kentucky Derby prep over 1 1/8 miles. A total of 15 were entered.

Winning the Blue Grass will be worth 100 points in the Kentucky Derby points system in determining the starting field for May 4.

Won last year by Dullahan, the Blue Grass champ has not won the Run for the Roses since Strike the Gold in 1991.

Trainer Mark Casse and owner John Oxley have a pair of colts in the race, Uncaptured and Dynamic Sky.

Spiral Stakes runner-up Uncaptured tops the field and has been installed as the 7-2 morning line favorite. The colt will start from post 7 with Miguel Mena again riding.

Uncaptured began his career at Woodbine by winning his first four starts. At Churchill Downs, he won the Iroquois and Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes.

In eight career starts Uncaptured has six wins and $613,137.

Dynamic Sky will have the services of jockey Joel Rosario on Saturday with the pair leaving from the inside post. The colt, 10-1 in the program, is coming off a fourth-place finish behind Verrazano in the Tampa Bay Derby.

As a 2-year-old, Dynamic Sky began with a third at Woodbine in the Vandal Stakes and a win in the Simcoe. At Keeneland he was second in the Breeders' Futurity and sixth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.

In his first start of 2013 the colt won the Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay and followed with a second there in the Sam F. Davis Stakes. Dynamic Sky has won two of seven starts for $305,615.

Rydilluc and Java's War are both listed as the 4-1 second picks.

Trained by Gary Contessa, Rydilluc will break from post 13 with Edgar Prado riding. Owned by a partnership, the colt was bought by Contessa last May at a 2-year-old sale.

"I liked his stride, the way he moved," Contessa said. "I look for horses that will go two turns and I like to see horses that gallop out strong."

Rydilluc won the Palm Beach Stakes on the turf at Gulfstream Park five weeks ago after taking an allowance race there on Jan. 5. He's won three of four starts for $158,490.

Java's War, second in the Tampa Bay Derby, has drawn post 4 with Julien Leparoux in the saddle. The colt is owned by Charles Fipke and trained by Ken McPeek.

After breaking his maiden the second time out, he won the Sunday Silence Stakes at Louisiana Downs in September and was third at Keeneland in the Breeders' Futurity. He finished his 2-year-old season with a sixth in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes.

Java's War has earned $222,091 with two wins in six starts.

Here is the field for the Blue Grass in post position order: Dynamic Sky, Joel Rosario, 10-1; My Name is Michael, Shaun Bridgmohan, 15-1; Undrafted, Corey Nakatani, 10-1; Java's War, Julien Leparoux, 4-1; Palace Malice, Garrett Gomez, 8-1; Channel Isle, Joe Rocco Jr., 30-1; Uncaptured, Miguel Mena, 7-2; Charming Kitten, Joe Bravo, 10-1; Tesseron, Alan Garcia, 50-1; Footbridge, Corey Lanerie, 20-1; Balance the Books, Javier Castellano, 15-1; West Hills Giant, Jose Espinoza, 20-1; Rydilluc, Edgar Prado, 4-1 and Fear the Kitten, Rosie Napravnik, 30-1. Divine Ambition, 50-1, is the also eligible.

Post-time for the Blue Grass is set for 5:40 p.m. (ET) and will televised on the NBC Sports Network.