Expert Pick of the Week: 2025 Lexington Stakes

Apr 09, 2025 John Mucciolo/TwinSpires.com

A field of seven three-year-olds will run 1 1/16 miles on the Keeneland dirt in Saturday’s $400,000 Lexington S. (G3). The 2025 Road to the Kentucky Derby challenge series event will reward the top five finishers with qualifying points on a 20-10-6-4-2 structure.

The Chad Brown-trained Praetor kicked off his 2025 campaign with a facile score in an allowance triumph at Gulfstream Park and will make his first run with stakes horses on this occasion. By Into Mischief, the $725,000 yearling purchase flashed good ability as a two-year-old when a solid third behind a superb winner in a sprint debut, which was followed by a wire-to-wire win second time out over top Kentucky Derby prospect Sovereignty while stretching out to one-mile at Aqueduct.

Praetor runs like a colt who can easily handle this distance in advance of his two-turn bow, and he has posted a nice string of morning drills leading up to Saturday. The bay appears to be the quickest horse in the field, and I expect him to receive a fine trip from the opening bell with Flavien Prat taking the reins.

We've got FREE PP's for this weekend's G3 Lexington S. at Keeneland! 🤩 https://t.co/yj0zeUIYeH pic.twitter.com/qGyz2QDHSt

— Brisnet.com (@Brisnet) April 9, 2025

California import Bullard is two-for-three in his lifetime for conditioner Mike McCarthy, led by a strong score in the Bob Hope S. (G3) at Del Mar in November. The expensive son of Gun Runner, who checked in third in the San Vicente S. (G2) in his sophomore bow, is lightly raced with a lot of room for improvement. He lands in a very winnable spot against this crew. His female line traces back to multiple impactful horses with stamina influences, and I envision him thriving at the 1 1/16-mile voyage. Regular rider Umberto Rispoli comes in to guide the three-year-old, and he could ask the colt for some speed to get position in the early going while saving ground to the top of the lane.

Expert Pick

An exacta box with #7 Praetor and #3 Bullard in the 2025 Lexington Stakes is the Best Bet of the Week.