Lexington Stakes — Betting Preview and Picks (Apr 12)

The long Road to the Kentucky Derby reaches its conclusion this Saturday, as the final prep race before the opening leg of the Triple Crown is staged. A final points scoring opportunity for Derby hopefuls will be run at Keeneland, as the Lexington Stakes is staged. Find the odds and our picks here.

Odds

Lexington Stakes Recent Winners

Lexington Stakes: Event Information

Event Preview

The final race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby will be staged this Saturday, as the field for the opening leg of the Triple Crown is set to be finalized. However, in truth, this weekend’s race is unlikely to have a major impact on the betting for the race at Churchill Downs next month.

Chad Brown-trained Praetor is a hot favorite for the race on Saturday. The three-year-old has won two from three career starts, and the son of Into Mischief made an excellent start to his three-year-old campaign when scoring in an allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream Park in early March.

Kenneth McPeek has an excellent record in the Lexington, and he could enhance his strike-rate in the race with Hypnus on Saturday. The three-year-old has kept high-quality company this year, but he didn’t trouble in either the G2 Rebel or G2 Louisiana Derby when finishing seventh. Down in class, and potential.

Bullard could be a very interesting contender for Michael McCarthy this weekend. The three-year-old landed the G3 Bob Hope at Del Mar in November, and was a very respectable third behind Barnes in the G2 San Vicente Stakes in January.

Lexington Stakes Picks

I’m prepared to take a chance on Native Runner for the team of Jose Ortiz and Kenneth McPeek on Saturday. The three-year-old by Laoban broke his maiden in February when beating Tested and Diamond Eyed Jack.

He finally looked like the talented horse connections believed when winning in stakes company at Fair Grounds last month, holding off Magnum Force to cause the upset. Could yet be plenty of improvement to come.