Blue Grass Stakes

The Blue Grass Stakes, currently the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes due to sponsorship by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is an American Grade 1 horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky.

It was named for the Bluegrass region of Kentucky, characterized by grass having bluish-green culms, which is known as the "heart" of the thoroughbred racing industry.

First run at the Kentucky Association track in Lexington in 1911, the Blue Grass has, from its inception, served as an important prep for the Kentucky Derby. At the Association track, the Blue Grass was staged from 1911 through 1914 and from 1919 through 1926. The race was revived at Keeneland in the spring of 1937. In 1943-1944, the Blue Grass was renewed as a part of the Keeneland-at-Churchill Downs meeting. In 1945, the Blue Grass was run as part of the Churchill Downs meeting. Today it is part of the Keeneland program.

The race is run at a distance of one and one-eighth miles on dirt.

Bluegrass

Bluegrass refers to several species of grasses of the genus Poa (with the most famous being the Kentucky bluegrass)

The term has also been applied to various things that relate to the region in which the grass grows: