Sierra Leone versus Dornoch, Round 2, is on for the $1 million Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland. Those two colts met Dec. 2 in the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct, where Dornoch rode an inside-speed bias to a narrow victory over Sierra Leone, who rallied to take the lead in the final furlong before losing it again at the wire. While Dornoch’s performance was bias-aided, it also was brave, the colt regaining the lead after contesting a fast pace. The face-off between Dornoch and Sierra Leone is only one piece in a complex puzzle, the Blue Grass drawing 11 3-year-olds when entries for Keeneland’s Saturday card were taken Tuesday. Dornoch drew post 4 with Luis Saez, Sierra Leone post 10 with Tyler Gaffalione. The Grade 1, 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass is a major part of Churchill Downs’ Road to the Kentucky Derby, which determines the composition of what has become a standard 20-runner Derby. Points will be distributed Saturday to the first five finishers – 100, 50, 25, 15, and 10. Dornoch and Sierra Leone each have raced once this year, Dornoch winning the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream, Sierra Leone the Risen Star at Fair Grounds. Dornoch with 60 points and Sierra Leone with 55 are all but assured of a spot in the Derby starting gate. Everyone else in this race needs a high placing if connections hold Derby desires. Danny Gargan trains Dornoch, while Chad Brown trains Sierra Leone. Brown also entered Top Conor, who drew post 1 with Jose Ortiz, and Good Money, post 5 with Javier Castellano. Brown told Daily Racing Form after Top Conor’s lone start, a one-mile maiden win Feb. 17 at Gulfstream, that he viewed Top Conor more as a Preakness horse than a Derby horse. Good Money exits a fourth-place Tampa Bay Derby finish in his second career start and needs sharp improvement to contend. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2024: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Trainer Brad Cox, who has Catching Freedom with qualifying points sufficient to make the Derby, also entered two: Just a Touch at this point appears to be a more interesting horse than Encino, whose dirt debut following three Tapeta surface starts at Turfway Park begins from post 11, Flavien Prat picking up the mount. Just a Touch comes into the Blue Grass with 27 points and ample promise. Twice started, the Justify colt has caught sloppy tracks in his two outings, a blowout sprint maiden win at Fair Grounds and an encouraging second-place finish behind Deterministic in the March 2 Gotham, a one-turn mile. Florent Geroux has the mount; Just a Touch breaks from post 6. Be You (post 2, Irad Ortiz Jr.) appeared to find himself when connections cut him back to seven furlongs last month, but the colt has high-level ability and is being given one more shot to see if it translates to route racing. Seize the Grey (post 3, Nik Juarez) just raced March 23, finishing third in the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas got Just Steel into the Derby with his second-place finish last weekend in the Arkansas Derby, while Seize the Grey has 27 points. Lat Long has been pointed to the Blue Grass since shortly after his third-place finish in the Jan. 20 Lecomte at Fair Grounds. His trainer, Kenny McPeek, showed how effective layoff runners from his barn can be when Thorpedo Anna easily won the Fantasy Stakes last weekend. Leading stable jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. has the mount, and Lat Long, a distant third behind Dornoch in a Keeneland maiden race last fall, drew post 7. Epic Ride (post 8, Adam Beschizza), a pace factor making his first start on dirt, and deep longshot Mugatu (post 9, Joe Talamo), round out the field. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. The Blue Grass is the 10th of 11 races Saturday, post time set for 5:52 p.m. Eastern. It is the last of five consecutive stakes. Bo Cruz cuts back to seven furlongs and Minnesota Ready stretches out to the distance in race 6, the Commonwealth, both horses having wintered at Fair Grounds. Race 7, the Appalachian, for 3-year-old turf-route fillies, marks the seasonal debut of Bucho, a grand winner of the Jessamine over the Keeneland course in October. Vahva and Alva Starr, one-two last fall at Keeneland in the Raven Run, square off in a strong renewal of the Grade 1 Madison, a seven-furlong dirt contest for older females, while two horses with prominent Keeneland turf-sprint wins, Mischief Magic and Arzak, are part of a competitive group in the Shakertown. Mischief Magic won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in November 2022, while Arzak captured the Woodford Stakes during Keeneland’s fall meet last year. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.