Stardom Bound, Rachel Alexandra poised to lead Oaks Future Wager

Stardom Bound, Rachel Alexandra poised to lead Oaks Future
Wager

Champion STARDOM BOUND (Tapit), winner of five consecutive Grade 1 stakes,
and rising star RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d’Oro), the heavy favorite for
Saturday’s $300,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (Grade 2), are the narrowly separated top
betting choices heading to this week’s only pool of Churchill Downs’ Kentucky
Oaks Future Wager (KOFW).

The four-day pool, which opens at noon (EDT) on Thursday, offers racing fans
the opportunity to wager on candidates for the 135th running of the
$500,000-added Kentucky Oaks (G1) at odds that could be significantly greater
than those available on the day of the race on May 1. Reduced to a single pool
after it was conducted for five years in a three-pool format, the lone 2009
Kentucky Oaks Future pool will close at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday — 30 minutes later
than the close of its companion Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which also opens a
four-day run on Thursday at noon.

Stardom Bound, the champion two-year-old filly of 2008 and winner of the
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), extended her Grade 1 winning streak to five
races with her narrow victory in Saturday’s Santa Anita Oaks (G1). Churchill
Downs odds maker Mike Battaglia has installed the daughter the gray filly as a
tepid 5-1 favorite among the 24 wagering interests in the Oaks Future bet. Close
behind is Rachel Alexandra, an impressive winner in last fall’s Golden Rod (G2)
at Churchill Downs and the odds-on favorite for Saturdays Fair Grounds Oaks.
Rachel Alexandra is the 6-1 second choice.

The mutuel field, which includes all 3-year-old fillies not listed as
individual betting interests, is Battaglia’s 10-1 co-third choice. ELUSIVE HEAT
(Elusive Quality), a 13 1/2-length allowance winner in her most recent start at
Gulfstream Park for her second win in three races, is also listed at odds of
10-1. She is out of the brilliant sprinter Xtra Heat, who was named champion
three-year-old filly in 2001.

The Kentucky Oaks Future Wager is a $2 minimum bet and a “win” wager only. If
Churchill Downs should determine during the four-day KOFW pool that any of its
individual wagering interests will not be able to compete in the Kentucky Oaks
because of illness, injury or other cause, wagering on that filly will be
suspended immediately.

There are no scratches or refunds in the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager.

After the top three choices, Battaglia’s morning line odds for the 2009
Kentucky Oaks Future Wager reflect a closely-matched group of contenders.
Streaking JUSTWHISTLEDIXIE (Dixie Union), who made Gulftream Park’s Davona Dale
(G2) her fourth consecutive victory, is next in the morning line at 12-1. DREAM
EMPRESS (Bernstein), winner of the Alcibiades S. (G1) at Keeneland and runner-up
to Stardom Bound in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, is listed at 15-1, and
so is unbeaten WHAT A PEAR (E Dubai), a 10 1/4-length winner in Aqueduct’s
Busher S.

Betting interests in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager pools are selected by a
panel that includes Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form national handicapper;
Brad Free, West Coast correspondent for the Daily Racing Form; and John Asher,
vice president of racing communications at Churchill Downs.

Real-time odds on the 2009 Kentucky Oaks Future Wager are available on the
official Kentucky Oaks Web site at www.kentuckyoaks.com.

2009
Kentucky Oaks Future Wager Pool