Road to the Kentucky Oaks

There's never a bad day to win your first race but Where's My Ring (Twirling Candy) sure picked an opportune day to do it, breaking her maiden and earning 100 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks with a dominant effort in the GIII Gazelle S. at Aqueduct Saturday. A career maiden through seven starts, the $100,000 Keeneland September grad could perhaps be forgiven for running behind the likes of MGSW Dreamfyre (Flameaway), champion Just F Y I (Justify) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and not once...

Godolphin's Tarifa (Bernardini) extended her win streak to three with a professional score in Saturday's GII Fair Grounds Oaks. Installed the 3-2 choice ahead of GII Golden Rod S. victress Intricate (Gun Runner), the Godolphin homebred broke well and wrestled her rider Flavien Prat into contention as 4-1 Our Pretty Woman (Medaglia d'Oro) led the way through a :23.84 quarter. Continuing to fight for her head through a half in :47.93, she was finally given some rein and duly responded, closing on the frontrunner turning for home. Taking over turning...

The coach strikes again. Before seeing any past performances, if one was asked to guess Saturday morning before the day's races which trainer might break a maiden in a graded Kentucky Oaks points race while at the same time helping a young jockey get his first career graded score, odds are the first name off of most everyone's lips would be D. Wayne Lukas. The Hall of Famer, with his usual flair for the unconventional, sent out 28-1 Lemon Muffin (f, 3, Collected--Pelt, by Canadian Frontier) under Keith Asmussen to...

The 24-1 longest shot in a field of nine for Saturday's Martha Washington S. at a soggy Oaklawn Park, Dixiana Farms LLC's Band of Gold (Preservationist) became the first black-type winner for her young Airdrie Stud-based sire (by Arch) with an irresistible late run to best heavily favored Denim and Pearls (Into Mischief). Content to drop down onto the fence from her low draw, the $70,000 Keeneland November weanling switched off nicely behind midfield for Brian Hernandez, Jr. and remained within striking distance for the run around the turn. In...

Fresh off a second-place performance over course and distance in the Untapable S. Dec. 23, West Omaha managed to do one better and pick up an additional 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks Saturday with her win in the Silverbulletday S. With a total of 30 points, the homebred daughter of Gary and Mary West's young stallion West Coast now sits second behind GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Just F Y I (Justify) on the 2024 Oaks leaderboard. Never favored in any of her three prior...

In addition to awarding a season record $8.1 million for their 19 stakes races over the course of the meet running from Apr. 5-26, Keeneland will also celebrate the 100th running of the $1-million GI Toyota Blue Grass S. this spring. A total of $1.5 million is being contributed to the stakes purses from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF), pending approval from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. "Lucrative purses and outstanding competition make Keeneland's Spring Meet a highlight of the racing calendar for horsemen, horseplayers and fans during the...

Intricate (Gun Runner), a last out maiden winner going two turns at Keeneland Oct. 13, picked up 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks with a sensational score in Saturday's GII Golden Rod S. at Churchill Downs. It was 5 1/4 lengths back to favored 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) in second. Central Avenue (Street Sense), second behind unbeaten GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Just F Y I (Justify) in the GI Frizette S., was third. "She's a very easy filly to train and does...

A dozen stakes cumulatively worth a record $3,775,000 will be offered during the 14-day September Meet at Churchill Downs, which runs Sept. 14-Oct. 1 (pending Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund final approval). The meet will offer horsemen plenty of opportunities to prep for the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita, led by the GII Lukas Classic for 3-year-olds and the GIII Ack Ack--a Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" race for the Dirt Mile--Saturday, Sept. 30. Additionally, the Road to the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks series will kick-off Saturday,...

The model of consistency in her young career, Key of Life (Mo Town) turned in another gutsy performance Sunday with a coast-to-coast win in the GII Beaumont S., the final race in the 2023 Road to the Kentucky Oaks. Never off the board in her seven prior starts, including a three-race win streak last Fall at both Churchill Downs and Keeneland, the $350,000 OBS April grad entered off a 3 1/4-length score in Oaklawn's Purple Martin S. where she posted a career-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure. Bet like a sure...

Michael Lund Peterson's Faiza (Girvin) kept her record perfect in tact--and gave her sire his second graded win of the weekend--with a stylish victory in the GIII Santa Ysabel S. at Santa Anita Sunday. Sent off the 4-5 favorite, the bay filly tracked pacesetting longshot Blessed Touch (Girvin) through moderate fractions of :24.00 and :48.32. She stuck a head in front into the far turn, but Blessed Touch, proving surprisingly determined, battled back and those two rivals turned for home together with And Tell Me Nolies (Arrogate) joining the fray...

Since breaking her maiden two starts back over a sloppy track at Horseshoe Indy last fall and parlaying that into a win last time out in the Martha Washington S. over a wet-fast track at Oaklawn, Wet Paint (Blame) proved that her fondness for the off going was no fluke Saturday with a rousing win in the GIII Honeybee S. The new leader on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks with the 50 points earned Saturday giving her a total of 70 points, the Godolphin homebred broke a beat slow...

After romping by seven lengths to break her maiden at third asking over this same track and distance Dec. 1, The Alys Look checked in second behind 'TDN Rising Star' Pretty Mischievous in the Untapable S. Dec. 26. Going for her third straight effort at a mile and 70 yards Saturday, the Brad Cox trainee hung a length back outside of pacesetter Hayunevano through fractions of :24.37 and :48.08. As that leader began to fade past the quarter pole, The Alys Look got the first jump to take command as...