STARDOM BOUND (Tapit), the champion two-year-old filly of 2008 and winner of
the Las Virgenes S. (G1) at Santa Anita in her 2009 debut, heads an impressive
roster of 170 horses nominated to compete in the 135th running of the $500,000
Kentucky Oaks (G1), which will be run on May 1 at Churchill Downs.
The 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks is America’s premier race for three-year-old
fillies and is run each year on the eve of America’s greatest race, the $2
million Kentucky Derby (G1). Like the Derby, the Oaks has been renewed each year
without interruption since 1875 when the first racing meet was held at Churchill
Downs, then known as the Louisville Jockey Club.
Last year’s running of the Kentucky Oaks was won by PROUD SPELL (Proud
Citizen), who would become the second consecutive Oaks winner to earn the
Eclipse Award for champion three-year-old filly. A crowd of 100,046 — the
ninth-largest in Kentucky Oaks history — braved rainy weather to watch the
Larry Jones-trained Proud Spell rally to the victory.
Rags to Riches won the 2007 Oaks and would go on to score an historic victory
over eventual Horse of the Year Curlin and other males in the Belmont S. (G1),
the third jewel of racing’s Triple Crown. She was the first filly in a century
to win the 1 1/2-mile test and earned that year’s championship honors in her
division.
The 170 fillies nominated to the 2009 Kentucky Oaks is up from last year’s
nomination total of 165, but down from the record of 192 nominations received in
2007.
Nominations to the Kentucky Oaks closed on February 14, and required a
nomination fee of $100. Supplemental nominations to the race will be accepted at
the time of entry on April 28, for a fee of $25,000. The field for the Kentucky
Oaks is restricted to 14 fillies. If a greater number of fillies should be
entered, preference will be given to the fillies that have accumulated the
highest earnings in graded stakes races.
Other recent stars who won the Kentucky Oaks on their way to three-year-old
championship honors include Ashado (2004), Bird Town (2003), Farda Amiga (2002),
Silverbulletday (1999), Open Mind (1989) and Tiffany Lass (1986). Fillies who
failed to win the Oaks but went on to earn Eclipse Award championship honors at
the conclusion of their three-year-old seasons include Wait a While (third in
2006 Oaks), Banshee Breeze (second in 1998) and Go for Wand (second in 1990).
A victory in the Kentucky Oaks by Stardom Bound, who is also nominated to the
Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown, would make her only the third filly since the
Eclipse Awards were established in 1971 to follow her championship season at two
with a win in the Kentucky Oaks. Open Mind and Silverbulletday, both finalists
for the 2009 class that will enter racing’s Hall of Fame, are the only fillies
to have achieved the rare double.
Other major stakes winners nominated to the 135th Kentucky Oaks include L and
M Partners’ RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d’Oro), an eight-length scorer of the
Martha Washington S. in her sophomore bow and winner of Churchill’s Golden Rod
S. (G2) last year; Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC’s WAR ECHO (Tapit), victress of the Silverbulletday
S. (G3) at Fair Grounds and third in the Golden Rod; Livin the Dream
Racing, LLC’s DREAM EMPRESS (Bernstein), winner of Keeneland’s Alcibiades S. (G1) and
runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1); Halo Farms and Three Sisters
Thoroughbreds’ EVITA ARGENTINA (Candy Ride [Arg]), who defeated males in the recent San Vicente
S. (G2)
at Santa Anita; IEAH Stables, Gary Tolchin and Pegasus Holding Group Stables’
LARAGH (Tapit), queen of the Hollywood Starlet (G1) and third in the Breeders’ Cup
Juvenile Fillies Turf; Forward Gal S. (G2) winner FROLIC’S DREAM (Smoke Glacken); and Delta
Princess S. (G3) heroine FOUR GIFTS (Even the Score).
Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher nominated 12 fillies as
he bids for his third victory in the race. Pletcher won the Kentucky Oaks in
2004 with Ashado and 2007 with Rags to Riches.