Kentucky Oaks

Invictus, First Foal Out of Oaks Winner Serengeti Empress, Graduates at Keeneland

1st-Keeneland, $110,000, Msw, 4-8, 3yo, 7f, 1:23.51, ft, 2 1/2 lengths. INVICTUS (c, 3, Into Mischief--Serengeti Empress {MGISW, $2,175,653}, by Alternation) had not been seen since finishing a well-beaten seventh in the 6 1/2-furlong Saratoga maiden race won in 'TDN Rising Star' style by Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie) last July. The 8-5 second choice was hustled out to the early lead, but allowed favored Camp Hale (Mo Town) to take control and then settled in third as longshot Ship Ship Hooray (Midshipman) shot up the rail to lead as the quarter...

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Sunday Insights: $2.5m Uncle Mo Half To Shedaresthedevil Features On Keeneland Opening Day

7th-KEE, 110K, Msw, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 4:12 p.m. The second-highest priced yearling sold at Keeneland September in 2023, LADY SCUDERIA (Uncle Mo) went the way of John Stewart's Resolute Racing for $2,500,000. A daughter of Starship Warpspeed, the filly is a half-sister to GI Kentucky Derby winner (amongst other Grade I's) Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) who last sold to Whisper Hill Farm for $5,000,000 at FTKNOV in 2022. The mare has also produced GSP Mojovation (Quality Road) and strikes a perfect six-for-six record of runners to winners. TJCIS PPS

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Nyquist's Tenma Gets it Done in Santa Anita Oaks

Heavily favored Tenma (Nyquist) solidified her status as the West Coast's leading GI Kentucky Oaks contender with an easy victory in the GII Fasig-Tipton Santa Anita Oaks Saturday in Arcadia. Sent off at 1-5 in her first start since a romping win in the Feb. 2 GIII Las Virgenes Stakes, the dark bay filly was away well and was taken in hand to sit a stalking trip as stablemate Silent Law (Tiz the Law) exchanged blows with No Bad Beats (Midnight Storm) through an opening quarter in :22.85 before taking...

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Santa Anita, Aqueduct Star As Mother Nature Rains On Keeneland's Parade

The final weekend of major preps for both the GI Kentucky Derby and the GI Kentucky Oaks got a few extra days tacked on as significant rain around Lexington pushed Keeneland to delay their spring racing features back to Monday and Tuesday next week. While the races will be missed as part of Saturday's action, there is certainly no void as Santa Anita and Aqueduct both offer their final stops on the Road the Kentucky Derby. The 1 1/8-mile GI Santa Anita Derby features a small yet mighty field with...

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The Kentucky Oaks Top 10: Quietside, Five G On the Upswing

The last week of preps for the GI Kentucky Oaks is upon us. The GI Ashland Stakes will be run Friday at Keeneland on opening day and Aqueduct will offer the GIII Gazelle Stakes the next day. The Gazelle came up predictably weak, but the Ashland has some intriguing contenders that could crack the top three or four come Friday. Last week, Quietside (Malibu Moon) was a convincing winner of the GII Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn and Five G (Vekoma) never looked back to win the GII Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Park...

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The Kentucky Oaks Top 10 for Mar. 27

Here's a look at the sixth installment of our Kentucky Oaks Top 10 for 2025: Things are really starting to heat up. Last weekend saw Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro), who is now 6 for 6, winning the Fasig-Tipton Fair Grounds Oaks. For now, she looks like a strong favorite in the GI Kentucky Oaks. At Turfway Park, Bless the Broken (Laoban) won the Bourbonette Oaks, but didn't show enough versus a weak field to crack our top 10. This will be a huge weekend of preps that will include the...

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Bless the Broken Answers the Call in Turfway's Bourbonette Oaks

Bless the Broken (Laoban), last seen finishing third behind Saturday's GII Fair Grounds Oaks winner Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) in the GII Rachel Alexandra Stakes at the Fair Grounds Feb. 15, made a successful transition to Turfway Park's Tapeta surface over the same trip. Biding her time under a patient John Velazquez, the 6-1 fourth choice in the field of 11 sat in seventh early behind White Rocks (Frosted)'s even pace set in :24.24, :49.02 and 1:13.69. Advancing while four-wide on the far turn, she swept past White Rocks, Bracelet...

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Louisiana Derby, Fair Grounds Oaks Go Through Cox Barn

A year after recording a GII TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby-GII Fasig-Tipton Fair Grounds Oaks double with Catching Freedom and Tarifa, trainer Brad Cox will saddle the morning-line favorites in both races Saturday. The rail-drawn John Hancock (Constitution), a game wire-to-wire winner over next-out GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby winner Owen Almighty (Speightstown) in the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs Feb. 8, will put his two-for-two record on the line in the Louisiana Derby. The WinStar Farm and CHC, Inc. colorbearer is the 7-2 program favorite. The stretch-running...

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TRF Raffles Oaks and Derby Boxes

Raffles of six all-inclusive box seats to both the GI Kentucky Oaks and GI Kentucky Derby will be held by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF), with all proceeds benefitting the TRF's mission of providing lifetime aftercare to nearly 400 retired racehorses. Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) has donated the boxes, which hold an estimated value of $3,000 for the Oaks and $7,000 for the Derby. The special on-line raffle boxes are located in Section 324, which is on the third floor overlooking the eighth pole. All reserved seating includes food, as...

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Journalism Tabbed 3-1 Favorite In KY Derby Future Wager Pool 5; Oaks Future Wager Led By Good Cheer

GII DK Horse San Felipe Stakes winner Journalism (Curlin) was named the 3-1 individual favorite in pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager which opens Friday, March 14 and runs through Sunday, March 16. Joining him at 3-1 odds is the undefeated Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) in the lone Kentucky Derby Oaks Future Wager which opens the same time. Both pools feature $2 Win and Exacta wagering, as well as a separate Oaks/Derby Future Double linking selections in both races. The Kentucky Derby Future Wager closes Sunday at 6...

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Quietside Back To Work in Hot Springs

Shortleaf Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Quietside (Malibu Moon) returned to the Oaklawn Park worktab for the first time since taking the Feb. 23 GIII Honeybee Stakes, going a half-mile in :48 flat in the company of her stakes-placed stablemate Spankerboom (Mendelssohn). "Just a maintenance work," Ortiz said of Quietside, who covered her final quarter in :23.40 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:00.20 according to track clockers. "Spankerboom always works with her. It was a good work for both. After the wire, I let her gallop out a little bit....

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TDN Kentucky Oaks Top 10 for March 6: Good Cheer Gets the Nod in East-West Battle

It was a busy weekend with GI Kentucky Oaks preps being run at Santa Anita, Aqueduct and Gulfstream. None of the winners did enough to crack the top four, but they all have a license to improve. We've dropped the bottom three from last week's list--Running Away (Gun Runner), Runnin N Gunnin (Gun Runner) and White Rocks (Frosted)--and replaced them with horses who appear to have more potential. It will be a quiet week as there is not a single stakes race for 3-year-old fillies that will be run this...

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