BG Stakes (Grade 1)- $1,250.000 Purse
KEE- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
April 5, 2025

If you add together the purses for the other two KYD preps on Saturday, the Wood Memorial and the SA Derby, you get $1,250.000. That would also be the purse amount for the BG Stakes, by itself. KEE is certainly doing something right by increasing their purses, a stark contrast from SA, who lowered theirs for 2025. There will be a full field of fourteen horses going for the winner’s share of that, as well as the 100 KYD points that are on the line. The BG Stakes was won by Winned, for Team 7 Illusions, last year. A month later, Winned failed to beat anyone in the KYD, and would be moved to the grass afterwards, where he has been highly successful. Here’s a look at the field!

1- Banned (Mb Stables, ridden by F Prat)- I have a rule that I have used before. I cover you one week, you scratch, then are back in one of my races with similar conditions the next week, I say the same thing. So…. at the start of the month, Banned was down at TAM and got the win in the TAM Derby, and with those points, he presently sits seventh on the KYD leaderboard. Normally, that is good at this point, but he is not in the top three of horses owned by the trainer following his two big wins last week. Overall, Banned is four out of nine, and had struggled in his three prior races before the TAM Derby. Therefore, if Banned wants to run in the KYD next week, he has to prove himself to his trainer that he deserves to be one of his three.

2- Point Given (Alydar Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- He wants to join his stablemate, Daemon, in the KYD, and based on the points right now, he is the trainer’s best chance to do so. Point Given finished third to Daemon in the BC Juvenile, and would be sent to the auction by Fractious afterward. Alydar won the auction for him, spending $444.010 to acquire him. In two starts since, his best race was a third in the Fountain Of Youth last month. That gives him 29 points, which is good enough for 23rd on the board right now, so it’s not necessary for him to win this. Another third “probably” is enough.

3- Ref You Def (Night Rider Stakes, ridden by J J Castellano)- After his geld, Ref You Def began to get more consistent results, and would eventually win the $100.000 Gun Runner in late December. That was a strong effort and it seemed then like Ref You Def would make more of an impact on the KYD trail. That has not materialized, as he was a non factor in the Withers, then had a poor effort in the Risen Star. Night Rider Stables was not deterred by that, and Ref You Def bounced back by running fourth in the Mike La Rosa LA Derby two weeks ago. It was an improved result that the horse needed, and now, there’s no time to rest to get into the derby. I’m concerned about the two week rest, though, as he tried this before in the Risen Star, and had his worst career start.

4- Soho Police (Night Rider Stables, ridden by D Davis)- It was just six weeks ago that Night Rider Stables claimed this gelding for $7.500, and he immediately liked what he saw. Two weeks ago, Soho Police debuted in his new silks in the $250.000 Rushaway Stakes at TP, and he nearly pulled it off before settling for second. At face value, it doesn’t seem like the trainer changed much with him, so maybe Soho Police simply needed the opportunity to run against better. Now, can he take it a step further?

5- Tube (Williams9, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- Another horse than ran two weeks ago, and it was interesting to see the add changes that Williams9 employed for the Mike La Rosa LA Derby, since you usually don’t see that so late in the game on a horse regularly running in preps. That did not go well, and not surprisingly, the adds are back to how they were before that trip to the FG. He went into that off a solid fourth place effort in the Rebel, but is now in a position where he is 28th on the leaderboard, with 25 points.

6- Pretty Boy Floyd (Big Jd Racing, ridden by B Curtis)- Spent most of his career running on the grass, and even won an ungraded stake on that surface at AQU in November. For now, the trainer called that off, in the pursuit of the KYD, and after he ran third in the Davis Stakes at TAM, he certainly showed that it was the right move. However, Pretty Boy Floyd could do no better than fifth in the TAM Derby, and that puts him at 11 points and 45th on the board.

7- Intergration (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by M E Smith)- Unusual placement on this one, with two graded race attempts before breaking his maiden. That’s not necessarily crazy, but to finally get the first win, it would come for a $25.000 purse at TAM. With that win finally in the bag, it was back to graded company, for the Fountain Of Youth, where he would be fifth. Having said that, he was never really a threat to the top three in that race. A much stronger run is needed here.

8- Winds Of Opus (Fabone1, ridden by Ar Bocachica)- The last two races for this horse have come at TUP, breaking his maiden there in February, before winning the $50.000 TUP Derby just three weeks ago. That’s typically a better a race than its purse suggests in the past, but I’m not sure that was the case this year. Regardless, I don’t mind the jump from that, for the winner, into one of these preps, as this is the last chance for a horse with no points to get into the KYD. He’ll be a longshot, but that didn’t stop him in the TUP Derby.

9- In Good Order (Acber Farms, ridden Mario Gutierrez)- Unless the trainer decides to change things up, we can expect to see In Good Order at the back of the pack out of the gate. He’s done well with his late runs, with his closing kick on strong display last time out in the Battaglia Memorial Stakes at TP that he ended up winning. A couple starts before that, he nearly did the same in the KY Jockey Club (Grade 2) against a few that he sees here again today. His 23 points have him 34th on the leaderboard, so he’ll need a top two here.

10- Turning Point (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by R M Hernandez)- Had a strong summer, but the turning point for Turning Point was when he was entered into stakes competition, as that is where the results stopped coming. Sure, he’s been fourth three times since, so he is not completely going home empty handed, but has not done any better than that. Finishing in that spot last month at the TAM Derby was his best effort in a while, so there is something to build on.

11- Fantasy Blaze (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by A Jimenez)- Last year, Maxmillion Farm looked like he might not be heading to the KYD until a horse by Blaze Ahead, Blazing, won the FL Derby. Now, he’s on the outside looking in again, so can it be yet another Blaze Ahead foal that gets it done? Like Blazing did last year, Fantasy Blaze makes his stake debut in a “last chance” race. Last month, he won an optional claimer at SA, then a little bit after, worked extremely well at that track. Will history repeat itself, or is it just fantasy?

12- Obi Wan (Mb Stables, ridden by P Lopez)- Picked up by the trainer for $500.000 about six weeks ago, not long after he struggled in the Southwest. Before that, he was better, and of course can be known for being the runner up in the BC Juvenile. Last month, Obi Wan would debut for Mb Stables in the Grade 3 Gotham, and after setting the early fractions, went on to settle for third. He has 45 points and is presently 14th on the leaderboard, but sixth on the Mb leaderboard. It’ll be interesting to see who the trainer chooses.

13- Architect (Nakamura Stables, ridden by A A Gallardo)- Certainly a case right here of the trainer taking a shot simply because there is no more time. There’s not much to see on Architect, with two starts, and just his maiden win, at SA on the grass last month, that is appealing. Very little in the way of public works, too. He may be very capable, but he’s too unknown for me to pick as an outsider.

14- Olumuyiwa (Riggins Racing, ridden by F Geroux)- He had his moments prior to the VA Derby where he showed his potential, but it would not be until that $500.000 race where he stepped up and turned in a monster of a performance. Perhaps, the return of shadow roll that he was wearing made a difference, and that will be back as he starts from the outside. Placed second in the VA Derby in a photo with The Golden Age, giving him 25 points, and 27th on the leaderboard. I think he’s going to follow that up very well right here.

Prediction: 14-2-1-9

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES