Burnham Square wins Blue Grass for Derby spot
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Burnham Square chased down East Avenue from the back of the pack and won by a nose in the storm-delayed $1.25 million Blue Grass at Keeneland on Tuesday, earning enough points to qualify for next month’s Kentucky Derby.
The 101st running of the Blue Grass was postponed from Saturday because of heavy rain and deadly flooding in Kentucky. The upcoming Lexington Stakes on Saturday is the final derby qualifying race.
Burnham Square, ridden by Brian Hernandez, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.33 and paid $10.48, $5.18 and $3.34 at 4-1 odds.
The Ian Wilkes-trained gelding also earned 100 points from the Grade I race and has 130 overall toward the 151st Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs in Louisville. Sandman is one point behind, and Santa Anita Derby winner Journalism is third with 122.5.
“I’ll watch him. He’ll tell me what I need to do,” Wilkes said. “But we have to keep the foot on the gas — got to keep the foot down on the pedal — because we’ve got to get a little better again. It’s going to be very deep waters, and we’ve got to get a lot better.”
East Avenue returned $6.42 and $4.26 for second and earned 50 Derby points, while Todd Pletcher-trained favorite River Thames finished third, paying $3.24 and receiving 25 points.
Admiral Dennis (15 points) was fourth beneath substitute jockey Manny Franco, who took the mount after veteran Luiz Saez was injured from a fall in the second race. Saez was in stable condition at a hospital after Fateful Lightning on Keeneland’s turf course.
Burnham Square lagged far behind as East Avenue led seven horses entering the backstretch before steadily moving up and saving his best after rounding the final turn. He stalked East Avenue from the outside and the horses were even in the final yards before Burnham Square edged East Avenue at the line for his second stakes victory in three starts this year.
“When we turned for home my horse had a full head of steam, and I was pretty confident we were going to able to run (pacesetter East Avenue) down,” Hernandez said. “So right at the wire I had an idea that we got our neck in front of him.”
He won the Grade III Holy Bull at Gulfstream by 1 3/4 lengths in February before running fourth in the Grade II Fountain of Youth on March 25.
The 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs begin on April 19. The Winnipeg Jets are the NHL’s top overall seed, having finished the regular season with the most points in the standings, and the Washington Capitals earned the No. 1 seed in the East.
This page will be your home throughout the postseason, including schedules, scores, highlights and other preview content.
Read on for the full playoff coverage from every first-round series all the way through the Stanley Cup Final.
First round
Atlantic Division
Regular-season records:
Maple Leafs: 51-26-4, 106 points
Senators: 44-30-7, 95 points
Leading scorers:
Maple Leafs: Mitch Marner (27 goals, 73 assists)
Senators: Tim Stutzle (23 goals, 53 assists)
Schedule:
Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD
Regular-season records:
Lightning: 47-26-8, 102 points
Panthers: 47-31-4, 98 points
Leading scorers:
Lightning: Nikita Kucherov (37 goals, 84 assists)
Panthers: Sam Reinhart (39 goals, 42 assists)
Schedule:
Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD
Metropolitan Division
Regular-season records:
Capitals: 51-21-9, 111 points
Canadiens: 40-31-11, 91 points
Leading scorers:
Capitals: Dylan Strome (29 goals, 52 assists)
Canadiens: Nick Suzuki (29 goals, 58 assists)
Schedule:
Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD
Regular-season records:
Hurricanes: 47-29-5, 99 points
Devils: 42-32-7, 91 points
Leading scorers:
Hurricanes: Sebastian Aho (29 goals, 45 assists)
Devils: Jesper Bratt (21 goals, 67 assists)
Schedule:
Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD
Central Division
Regular-season records:
Jets: 56-22-4, 116 points
Blues: 44-30-8, 96 points
Leading scorers:
Jets: Kyle Connor (41 goals, 55 assists)
Blues: Robert Thomas (21 goals, 60 assists)
Schedule:
Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD
Regular-season records:
Stars: 50-25-6, 106 points
Avalanche: 49-29-4, 102 points
Leading scorers:
Stars: Matt Duchene (30 goals, 51 assists)
Avalanche: Nathan MacKinnon (32 goals, 84 assists)
Schedule:
Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD
Pacific Division
Regular-season records:
Golden Knights: 49-22-10, 108 points
Wild: 45-30-7, 97 points
Leading scorers:
Golden Knights: Jack Eichel (27 goals, 66 assists)
Wild: Matt Boldy (27 goals, 46 assists)
Schedule:
Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD
Regular-season records:
Kings: 48-24-9, 105 points
Oilers: 47-29-5, 99 points
Leading scorers:
Kings: Adrian Kempe (35 goals, 38 assists)
Oilers: Leon Draisaitl (52 goals, 54 assists)
Schedule:
Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD
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