Champion She’s a Tiger, Onlyforyou among 121 Kentucky Oaks
nominees
The names of
121
sophomore fillies — including 17 from the
sprawling stable of six-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher — are
included on the roster of nominees to compete in the Grade 1, $1 million Kentucky Oaks, scheduled to be run for the 140th consecutive year at Churchill Downs on May 2.
The 1 1/8-mile sister race to the Kentucky Derby has, like the Derby, been run
annually without interruption since those events made their respective debuts at
the track then known as the Louisville Jockey Club in 1875. The
Kentucky Oaks is traditionally run on the eve of the Kentucky Derby and its 2014
renewal will be televised live on the NBC Sports Network.
Pletcher has saddled three winners of the Kentucky Oaks, a
group comprised of champions Ashado and Rags to Riches as well as 2013 winner Princess of Sylmar. The Pletcher-trained array of 2014
early Oaks nominees is headed by unbeaten Onlyforyou, a
daughter of Malibu Moon who counts Gulfstream Park’s Grade 2 Davona Dale and
Grade 2 Forward Gal among her four career triumphs.
Other Pletcher trainees on the roster of Kentucky Oaks nominees include Sweet Whiskey, winner of Gulfstream Park’s
Grade 3 Old
Hat; unbeaten Dame Dorothy and Busanda scorer Fierce Boots, both owned by
celebrity chef Bobby Flay; Stopcharginmaria and Got Lucky, the respective 1-2 finishers in
Aqueduct’s Grade 2 Demoiselle last November; and Our Amazing Rose, a romping
debut winner in
her lone start last fall at Saratoga.
Outside of Pletcher’s universe, the roster of Oaks nominees
features the most accomplished members of this year’s crop of three-year-old
fillies.
Heading that list is She’s a Tiger, the Jeff Bonde-trained champion two-year-old filly of 2013.
The Tale of the Cat miss captured the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante, was a head
runner-up in the Grade 1 Chandelier and closed out her juvenile campaign with a
nose victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies before being demoted to
second when the stewards disqualified her for interference in the homestretch.
Other marquee names among the nominees include Untapable, the Steve Asmussen-trained winner of
last season’s Grade 2 Pocahontas under the Twin Spires and a 9 1/2-length
victress of Fair Grounds’ Grade 3 Rachel Alexandra in her sophomore debut last
weekend; Ria Antonia, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine now trained by
two-time Kentucky Oaks winner Bob Baffert; Fashion Plate, the front-running
scorer of Santa Anita’s Grade 1 Las Virgenes for trainer Simon Callaghan; and Silverbulletday
diva Unbridled Forever, a daughter of Lemons Forever, who won the 2006 Kentucky Oaks
at odds of 47-1 in the biggest upset in the history of the race. Dallas Stewart
trains Unbridled Forever and was the trainer and co-owner of her dam.
Other accomplished early nominees include Grade 1 Spinaway scorer Sweet Reason, who finished fourth for trainer Leah Gyarmati as the
favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies; Rosalind, runner-up in Keeneland’s
Grade 1 Alcibiades and a half-length third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies;
Please Explain, six-length winner of the Suncoast at Tampa Bay Downs; Bird Maker, runner-up
in Churchill Downs’ Grade 2 Golden Rod; Alcibiades winner My Conquestadory;
Grade 2 Santa Ynez heroine Awesome Baby; Davona Dale runner-up House Rules; Aragorn Ami,
unbeaten star of Oaklawn Park’s Martha Washington; Grade 3 Delta Princess
victress Tepin;
and Fiftyshadesofgold, winner of the Two Altazano at Sam Houston.
The 2013 running of the Kentucky Oaks attracted
120 early nominations.
The Oaks field is limited to 14 starters and up to four
fillies designated as “also-eligible” to start. Eligibility to compete in the
Oaks is determined by points amassed during the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks”
system, which determines the eligibility of nominees to compete in the race. If
one or more horses should scratch from the Kentucky Oaks by 9 a.m.
(EDT) on the morning of the race, fillies from the “also-eligible” list with
the highest respective point totals would be allowed to compete.
Although Princess of Sylmar won the 2013 Kentucky
Oaks, it was runner-up Beholder who earned the Eclipse Award presented to the
nation’s champion three-year-old filly at year’s end.
Beholder was the 17th Kentucky
Oaks winner or participant since 1972 to be named champion of her division.
Blind Luck won the 2010 Kentucky Oaks to conclude a string of four consecutive
Kentucky Oaks winner to earn championship honors. The others were Rachel
Alexandra (2009), Proud Spell (2008) and Rags to Riches (2007).
Rachel Alexandra
and Rags to Riches defeated males in Triple Crown races in their subsequent
starts. Rachel Alexandra defeated Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird in the
Preakness on her way to Horse of the Year honors, while Rags to Riches edged
eventual two-time Horse of the Year Curlin in a dramatic renewal of the Belmont
Stakes.
Other Kentucky Oaks winners named as three-year-old filly
champions include Ashado (2004), Bird Town (’03), Farda Amiga (’02),
Silverbulletday (’99), Open Mind (’89), Tiffany Lass (’86), Davona Dale (’79)
and Susan’s Girl (’72). Fillies that failed to win the Oaks but were named
divisional champions include Wait a While (3rd in ’06), Banshee Breeze (2nd in
’98), Go for Wand (2nd in ’90) and Wayward Lass (3rd in ’81).
Believe You Can,
heroine of the 2012 Oaks, and 2011 winner Plum Pretty were among three Eclipse
Award finalists in their respective three-year-old seasons.
A late nomination period for Kentucky Oaks 140 is
underway through April 9. A nomination of any three-year-old filly to the
Oaks during the late nomination phase will require payment of a $1,500 fee. A
final opportunity to make a filly eligible for the Kentucky Oaks is available
through the race’s supplemental nomination process. That process requires
payment of $30,000 fee at the time of entry to the 2014 Kentucky Oaks
on April 29.
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