Trainer Todd Pletcher had just one victory at Keeneland under his belt going into the April 12 card. But he won again when it counted, and with Monba and Cowboy Cal finishing 1-2 in the $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I), it looks like North America’s leading trainer of 2007 will be headed to the May 3 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) after all.

Meanwhile, the on-fire record of Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Pyro was doused a little as the Steve Asmussen-trained colt finished 10th in a field of 12. Sent off as an even-money favorite, the Louisiana Derby (gr. II) winner never fired in the 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass, which was his first start on Polytrack. Monba, however, was given a perfect lead to the wire by stablemate Cowboy Cal, who showed the way through early fractions of :24.96 and :49.01. Never far back, the 8-1 shot moved up to second to go three-quarters in 1:13.17 while Cool Coal Man was third and Kentucky Bear was fourth.

“He grabbed the bridle right away and I was very happy with that,” said winning jockey Edgar Prado. “He was most of the time controlled and he wanted to go a little early, but I was a very lucky passenger most of the way until I started working on it at the head of the stretch.”

Rating well, Monba was set down for the stretch drive a quarter-mile out, and tenaciously wore down Cowboy Cal after a neck-and-neck battle. Kentucky Bear got up for third, while Stevil made a big move up the rail but ran out of ground to finish fourth. The final time was 1:49.71