Brown Likes Blue Grass Timing for Practical Joke

Chad Brown will send out Practical Joke in the $1 million Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) and while April 1 may have been an appropriate date based on the horse's name, the Eclipse Award-winning trainer likes that the April 8 race at Keeneland allows his two-time grade 1 winner an extra week of training.

Brown also had considered running the Into Mischief   colt in the Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park April 1 before landing on the Blue Grass, which will conduct its race draw at 11 a.m. April 4.

"I just felt in the end the horse would benefit from one extra week of training," Brown said. "We were coming to Keeneland with some other horses. I like the Blue Grass. We had some success last year with My Man Sam running a good second. So it made sense for us."

A graduate of two Keeneland sales, Practical Joke races for Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables and William H. Lawrence. Last year, the colt won the Hopeful (G1) and Champagne (G1) stakes in New York before finishing third in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Santa Anita Park. In his only start of 2017, Practical Joke was second in the Xpressbet Fountain of Youth (G2) March 4 at Gulfstream.

Saturday at Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, Practical Joke turned in his final work for the Blue Grass, covering five furlongs in 1:00.45. He arrived at Keeneland the afternoon of April 2 and jogged on the main track April 3. Brown said he would gallop April 4, depending on the weather.

Joel Rosario will ride Practical Joke in the Blue Grass as Brown's fourth starter in the race. In addition to My Man Sam, Brown placed sixth in the race with Balance the Books  , who raced for Practical Joke's owners, in 2013 and was 12th with Bobby's Kitten   in 2014.

Blue Grass Hopeful Wild Shot Works Half-Mile: Calumet Farm homebred Wild Shot completed his major preparation for the Blue Grass by working a half-mile in :48 1/5 the morning of April 3 at Keeneland.

Working solo over a fast main track, Wild Shot posted fractions of :12 1/5, :24, :48 1/5 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:02 with Angel Cruz aboard.

"He did it easy and in hand," said Cruz, who was aboard Wild Shot for the first time. "He's a nice horse. The track is fast and he did it on his own."

Wild Shot, trained by Rusty Arnold, is slated to be ridden Saturday by Corey Lanerie. 

Cruz, who posted his first grade 1 victory with Dancing Rags in the 2016 Darley Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland, will be riding his first full Keeneland meet this spring. He will ride Dancing Rags in the Adena Springs Beaumont Stakes (G3) April 9 for trainer Graham Motion.

In other Blue Grass news, probable favorite McCraken jogged once around Keeneland's main track April 3 alongside a pony and then returned to his barn. Regular exercise rider Yoni Orantes was up.

Making his first appearance on the track was Tampa Bay Derby (G2) winner Tapwrit. Trained by three-time Blue Grass winner Todd Pletcher, Tapwrit galloped 1 1/4 miles before the renovation break with exercise rider Romain Techer aboard.

The monsoon that was forecast never arrived Monday morning, but a shower rerouted the morning activity of Reddam Racing's Irap to the five-furlong all-weather training track. With exercise rider Antonio Romero aboard, Irap jogged once around and then galloped 1 1/2 miles.

It's Your Nickel, owned by the partnership of Harold Lerner, AWC Stables, Scott Akman, and Nehoc Stables, walked the shedrow at trainer Kenny McPeek's barn following a five-furlong work in 1:01 3/5 April 2.