2026 Kentucky Oaks Preview

Key Takeaways

• The 2026 Kentucky Oaks shapes up as a pace-influenced contest at Churchill Downs, where tactical positioning and the ability to finish strongly over nine furlongs often determine which improving three-year-old filly can handle the class and pressure of a full championship field.
• Fillies exiting strong performances in key final preps like the Ashland Stakes frequently carry forward competitive form, especially when they combine proven class with the potential to improve in their second start of the season.
• Rapid development early in a lightly raced campaign can signal meaningful upside, particularly for runners who have already demonstrated the ability to adapt to two-turn racing and maintain momentum against graded-stakes company.
• In races featuring contested early speed, runners capable of settling just off the pace and producing a sustained closing run often gain an advantage late, especially when the projected race shape favors stamina and composure in the final furlong.

The first Saturday in May isn’t all there is in horse racing this week – Friday’s feature at Churchill Downs is the Grade 1, $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks, and it’s one of the flagship races of Kentucky Derby week. The 1 ⅛-mile dirt race is the spring feature of the three-year-old dirt route filly division, and horses have been running in Road to the Kentucky Oaks preps since September in order to earn a spot. The race is just as classic as the Kentucky Derby – after all, it started the same year, in 1875, and has been a fixture of the racing year ever since.

Enthusiasm for the Kentucky Oaks was high this year – the race drew a full field of 14 fillies plus three also-eligible entrants. The 4-1 morning-line favorite is Zany, for trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. She was named the favorite despite being defeated for the first time in the Ashland (G1) by Percy’s Bar – though Percy’s Bar (6-1) is no slouch herself, with a win in the Alcibiades (G1) last fall and a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last year.

One of the earliest Kentucky Oaks winners is remembered in a race on Oaks day – Modesty (1884), whose namesake race used to be run at Arlington Park and is now a Grade 3 turf race on the Kentucky Oaks undercard at Churchill Downs. Many Kentucky Oaks contenders run in prep races named for Oaks winners Alcibiades (1930), Davona Dale (1979), Silverbulletday (1999), Rags to Riches (2007), or Rachel Alexandra (2009). And, though they’re not race namesakes yet, some of the biggest fan favorites in recent years have included Kentucky Oaks winners like Monomoy Girl (2018), Secret Oath (2022), and Thorpedo Anna (2024).

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Kentucky Oaks Information

• Race Date: Friday, May 1
• Track: Churchill Downs
• Post Time: 8:40 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: 1 ⅛ miles on the dirt
• Age/Sex: three-year-old fillies
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV, NBC, Peacock
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

2026 Kentucky Oaks Draw and Odds

This is the official field for the Kentucky Oaks, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line odds for each runner.

Bottle of Rouge was scratched Sunday after not scoping clean after her workout, which opened up a spot for Lovely Grey. On Wednesday, My Miss Mo was declared out of the Kentucky Oaks, opening up a spot for Nycon. Resist can still draw in if any more horses scratch before the deadline of Friday, May 1, at 9 a.m. EDT.

Kentucky Oaks Prep Race Results

Every horse in the main field for the Kentucky Oaks comes out of a top-two finish in a Kentucky Oaks points race.

The best regarded pair comes from the Ashland Stakes (G1) at Keeneland, in which Percy’s Bar got the jump on Kentucky Oaks morning-line favorite Zany, winning by 2 ¼ lengths and snapping Zany’s unbeaten streak. Their regard is particularly fitting given that this is the only Grade 1 race that any of the Oaks horses are coming out of as a final prep.

The top two horses from four different final-round Kentucky Oaks preps are sending the whole exacta into the Kentucky Oaks. Counting Stars scored by 5 ½ lengths over Search Party in the Fantasy (G2) at Oaklawn, and they’re both headed to Churchill Downs. Meaning won the Santa Anita Oaks (G2) in stalk-and-pounce fashion over her stablemate in the Michael McCarthy barn, Brooklyn Blonde. Prom Queen overhauled pacesetter My Miss Mo in the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2), winning by 2 ¾ lengths. Always a Runner remained undefeated in two starts, reeling in pacesetter Pashmina to win the Gazelle (G3) by 1 ¼ lengths.

Dazzling Dame was originally set for a rematch with Bottle of Rouge, who beat her by 4 ¼ lengths in the Virginia Oaks, though after the scratch of Bottle of Rouge, it’s just Dazzling Dame coming from Colonial Downs. Explora has freshened up since a three-quarter lengths win in the Honeybee (G3) on March 1 at Oaklawn – where she defeated Fantasy winner Counting Stars. Bella Ballerina is the only one coming from the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) on March 21; she was second, beaten 3 ¾ lengths by Life of Joy, who was ruled out of the Oaks in mid-April and is not expected to return until the fall.

Lovely Grey, second by three-quarters of a length to Lorelei Lee in the Bourbonette Oaks over the Turfway Tapeta, was originally first on the also-eligible list but gets into the main field after the defection of Bottle of Rouge. Lorelei Lee would have qualified for the Kentucky Oaks had her connections chosen to run her there, but she will contest the Edgewood (G2), a turf race on the undercard, instead.

The only horses who finished out of the exacta in their final prep are the pair of horses still on the outside looking in, even after the Sunday scratch of Bottle of Rouge. Nycon was fourth behind Always a Runner in the Gazelle, and Resist was third behind Lorelei Lee in the Bourbonette Oaks.

Kentucky Oaks Contenders

These are the contenders entered in the Kentucky Oaks:

1. Explora: In seven starts, this Bob Baffert trainee has never been worst than second in a race. The rail post could be a challenge – she tends to send it when buried inside, even in smaller fields, and she will face a field of 14 this time. She is one of the faster horses in the field early, but there is plenty of other early speed, and she won’t have an easy time because of that. She should take well to the distance, and she has been able to keep on after a fight – but it’s a deeper field than she has ever seen, and the trip concerns make a short price unappealing.
2. Zany: This stalk-and-pounce type, the morning-line favorite, won her first three starts by yawning margins, including the Demoiselle (G2), which covered 1 ⅛ miles, the same distance as the Kentucky Derby. However, she couldn’t keep up with Percy’s Bar in the Ashland (G1). That was over a good track – perhaps she’s just better on fast tracks, though there’s some chance of rain on Friday, meaning she may have to deal with that footing again.
3. Search Party: It took this Mark Casse trainee five starts to break her maiden, but after a blowout score in December, it was straight on to the Oaks trail. She won the Martha Washington, but found the likes of Explora and Counting Stars a little too good in her next two preps. Her tactical speed is a plus, and there’s some pedigree potential for this Gun Runner daughter to get 1 ⅛ miles, but she has to prove she is fast enough.
4. Counting Stars: Search Party’s stablemate in the Mark Casse barn, she ran her best race yet in the Fantasy (G2), stalking the early pace before taking over and winning with authority. She does have tables to turn on Explora from the Honeybee (G3) two back, but Explora has a tough post this time, and Counting Stars was a little further off the pace than she typically likes to be. With tactical speed and a win in her only start over the Churchill Downs surface, she has some appeal.
5. Meaning: The A-stringer from the Michael McCarthy barn, her only defeat came in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last year, a race she contested in just her second career start. She is the best from the west: she beat Explora in the Las Virgenes before beating stablemate Brooklyn Blonde in the Santa Anita Oaks (G2). She reliably works a tracking trip, and if she can take her consistent California form to Churchill Downs, she shapes as a contender.
6. My Miss Mo: My Miss Mo has been scratched from the Kentucky Oaks.
7. Dazzling Dame: The name of her game is obvious: speed, speed, speed. She is usually right up there, setting or battling on the pace, and she should be part of a hotly contested front end in the Oaks, especially under aggressive jockey Luis Saez. It would be a surprise for her to see it all the way through, though.
8. Bottle of Rouge: Bottle of Rouge has been scratched from the Kentucky Oaks.
9. Always a Runner: The least experienced horse in the Kentucky Oaks, Always a Runner made her debut with a win going a mile and 40 yards at Tampa Bay Downs, went straight to the Gazelle (G3), and won that, too. The Gazelle score showed she could handle 1 ⅛ miles, and in both of her starts, she has shown the ability to settle off the pace and make a well-timed run. There is a little fear of regression since she took such a big step up between her debut and the Gazelle, but the running style fits well, jockey Jose Ortiz is having a whiz-bang beginning to the Churchill Downs meet, and if she does improve off that last start, then she could very well prove the fastest horse of this bunch.
10. Prom Queen: In her one-turn mile debut, she set the pace before settling for second behind a very good horse in She Be Smooth. Her next two outings at two-turn trips have been better. The Brad Cox trainee found a tactical gear and worked track-and-take-over trips in both her maiden win on February 12 at Gulfstream Park and then the Gulfstream Park Oaks on March 28. Both of those trips featured Javier Castellano in the irons; he rides again for this. She is going the right way for a barn that has already won three editions of the Oaks.
11. Percy’s Bar: The Ashland has been one of the most live Kentucky Oaks preps in recent years, and this is the horse who snapped Zany’s undefeated streak in that race. Her career record is impressive – those precocious two-year-olds who graduate in baby races at Keeneland April and win the Debutante at Churchill don’t always train on, but she showed two-turn form in the fall and then won her sophomore debut in the Ashland. She did so over a good track, meaning the possibility of rain on Oaks day isn’t a bad thing, and she comes second off the layoff, a great part of the form cycle for Ben Colebrook trainees. Percy’s Bar also has versatility – she showed in the Ashland, specifically, that she and jockey Luan Machado can harness the tactical gear she showed in sprints in route distances as well.
12. Bella Ballerina: She has been on or near the lead in her last two starts, but showed something more tactical in her first two starts – including her win in the Golden Rod (G2) at Churchill Downs – and perhaps the blinkers-off move is trainer Brendan Walsh’s attempt to get back into that running style. That would certainly help, as there are a few speed horses in this race, and it will be good for her if she can stay out of the battle. Still, an equipment change before such a big race can raise questions.
13. Pashmina: She does her best work when she gets onto or very close to the lead. She’s drawn inside of Brooklyn Blonde, so that raises some questions about how good a trip she can get from the gate. She has some excuses from her last two – she steadied late in the Sunland Park Oaks and jumped some tracks late in the Gazelle – but those also suggest she may still have some growing up to do before she can handle the chaos of a 14-horse field.
14. Brooklyn Blonde: The second-stringer from the Michael McCarthy barn, she ran a decent second in the Santa Anita Oaks but was no match for Meaning late. She stands to be on or near the pace, meaning she’ll have some company, but at least she stands to get a clean trip to the outside of the other pace in the race. Still, she’ll need to improve to be in the picture at the end.
15. Lovely Grey: Lovely Grey drew in off the Kentucky Oaks also-eligible list after the scratch of Bottle of Rouge. Her dirt experience is limited – she has dirt breeding, but she was a well-beaten fourth sprinting in the slop at Indiana Grand and has raced only on turf and Tapeta since. She’s a late-running type who stands to get a better setup in the Kentucky Oaks than she did in any of her preps. But, she has to improve, and she also might get overbet by fans of her owner, internet rabble-rouser Dave Portnoy.
16. Nycon: Nycon got into the Kentucky Oaks field Wednesday after the scratch of My Miss Mo. Though her pedigree suggests that the Oaks distance could suit her nicely, her actual performance at the distance in the Gazelle last out was a regression. She does have a win in the mud at Churchill Downs – so she may move up if the surface comes up wet – but her best work so far has come in one-turn miles.
17. Resist: Resist needs two more scratches from the main field to get into the Kentucky Oaks. If she draws in, it would be her first try on the dirt – all four of her races so far have come over the Tapeta at Turfway. There’s some chance she could take to the dirt: Maclean’s Music has produced quality dirt horses, and her dam is half to stakes winners on both dirt (Independence Hall) and synthetic (Black Onyx, Francois). At least she’ll be able to stay out of the pace battle, but it’s still a challenging ask to run a career best on a new surface from a parking-lot draw.

Kentucky Oaks Past Winners Past Performances

The two key final preps across the last 10 editions of the Kentucky Oaks are the Ashland (G1) at Keeneland and the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) in New Orleans. Each of these races has accounted for three of the last 10 winners. Cathryn Sophia (2015) was third in the Ashland before winning the Oaks, and both Monomoy Girl (2018) and Malathaat (2021) prepared with a win in that Keeneland feature. In the Fair Grounds Oaks, Serengeti Empress (2019) bounced back from a seventh-place finish to win at Churchill Downs, Pretty Mischievous (2023) was the runner-up at Fair Grounds, and Good Cheer (2025) won.

Two other recent Kentucky Oaks winners prepared in traditional Kentucky Oaks points races. Abel Tasman (2017) came out of a runner-up finish in the Santa Anita Oaks (G1), and Thorpedo Anna (2024) won the Fantasy (G3) at Oaklawn. Fillies can also earn Kentucky Oaks points by running in Road to the Kentucky Derby races against males – they’re good for both the Derby or the Oaks – and Secret Oath did just that in 2022, coming out of a third-place finish in the Arkansas Derby (G1) before winning the Oaks.

In 2020 the Kentucky Oaks was postponed until September because of COVID, meaning that preparations were out of the normal order. Shedaresthedevil won the Indiana Oaks (G3) as her final prep for the Kentucky Oaks; that race still exists, but it’s a summer feature and is usually not available as an Oaks prep.

Kentucky Oaks: 3 Best Bets

These are the three best bets in the 2026 Kentucky Oaks:

1. Percy’s Bar (6-1)

Percy’s Bar got a long break after the Breeders’ Cup – well deserved, since her campaign started in an April baby race at Keeneland. She had one shot to make it to the Oaks – and she made the most of it, making a smart run to win by 2 ¼ lengths and become the first horse to defeat Kentucky Oaks morning-line favorite Zany.

Percy’s Bar is already a stakes winner at Churchill Downs; she won the Debutante last June, proving she can handle the track. Her tactical speed is going to play well, jockey Luan Machado already knows how to take advantage of it, and she has upside to improve second off the lay. Furthermore, the Ashland has been one of the most fruitful preps for the Oaks in recent years. And, even if a little rain falls, she is not only well bred for an off track but won the Ashland over dirt rated good. All in all, Percy’s Bar is a talented horse who has an exciting blend of experience, class, and upside.

2. Prom Queen (8-1)

Brad Cox has already won three editions of the Kentucky Oaks, including with Good Cheer last year. And, he has a live chance to make it four with Prom Queen. Experience is the question – she didn’t make her debut until January, and she has raced just three times. But, she figured it out quickly – the horse who beat her on debut, She Be Smooth, came back to win the Davona Dale in her next start, and then she fired off a maiden win and a Gulfstream Park Oaks win in her next two starts, proving she could thrive at two turns. Javier Castellano has given her a good stalking trip in both of their starts together, and they reunite for the Kentucky Oaks.

She also has every chance to love the stretch out to 1 ⅛ miles. She is by Quality Road, a horse who both loved 1 ⅛ miles and has passed that kind of stamina on to many of his foals. Though her dam only raced once and never won, she is by a top-class stamina merchant in Tapit out of a multiple stakes winner who was Grade 1 placed going as long as 1 ¼ miles.

3. Always a Runner (10-1)

Always a Runner cedes experience to the rest of the Oaks field, but she impressed in the 1 ⅛-mile Gazelle, showing that this daughter of Gun Runner already has the stamina to see out the Kentucky Oaks distance. Though she’s a closer, she doesn’t have to drop all the way out to clouds, and she got moving early enough in both her maiden special weight victory and her Gazelle win to suggest that she won’t be left with too much to do. With a contested pace likely in the race, that’s a solid running style to bring.

Her connections are also points in her favor. Trainer Chad Brown knows how to win big races with lightly-raced horses, and he gets a change to jockey Jose Ortiz. Ortiz has gotten a red-hot start to the beginning of the Churchill Downs meet, and if he can carry that momentum into the Kentucky Oaks, he can get Always a Runner to the wire at a square price.

Kentucky Oaks Undercard

The Kentucky Oaks is the 13th and final race on the Kentucky Oaks day card. In addition to the Oaks, the card features six other graded-stakes races. Those include the La Troienne (G1) for older dirt-route fillies and mares, Alysheba (G2) for older dirt routers, the Unbridled Sidney (G2) for older turf-sprint fillies and mares, the Eight Belles (G2) for sophomore fillies at seven furlongs, the Edgewood (G2) for sophomore turf route fillies, and the Modesty (G3) for older turf route fillies and mares.

With classy racing all day long, as well as many special wagers linking Oaks-day stakes races to Kentucky Derby day action on Saturday, it’s a great day to watch and wager. Stay on top of all the latest Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby news with FanDuel TV, and bet every race with FanDuel!

Kentucky Oaks FAQ

Q: When is the Kentucky Oaks?

A: The Kentucky Oaks (called the Longines Kentucky Oaks for sponsorship reasons) happens Friday, May 1, 2026, at 8:40 p.m. EDT.

Q: Where is the Kentucky Oaks?

A: The Kentucky Oaks happens at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Kentucky Oaks?

A: Woody Stephens and D. Wayne Lukas lead all trainers with five Kentucky Oaks wins each. Among trainers with horses in the 2026 Kentucky Oaks, Todd Pletcher is in line to tie Lukas and Stephens if Zany takes the blanket of lilies. Pletcher has already won with Ashado (2004), Rags to Riches (2007), Princess of Sylmar (2013), and Malahtaat (2021).

Q: Who is the favorite for the Kentucky Oaks?

A: The morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Oaks is Zany; though she was caught by Percy’s Bar in the Ashland, she won preps at Aqueduct and Tampa Bay Downs impressively enough to still take a lot of interest at the windows for Todd Pletcher, a frequent winner of the Kentucky Oaks. Watch for action on Meaning (5-1), the best of the West; Percy’s Bar (6-1), the horse who toppled Zany; and Explora (6-1), the consistent representative from the Bob Baffert barn.

Q: Who is the best Kentucky Oaks jockey?

A: Two jockeys are tied for the most-ever Kentucky Oaks wins with four: Eddie Arcaro and Manuel Ycaza. Among jockeys riding in the 2026 Kentucky Oaks, Luis Saez leads with two wins, with Secret Oath in 2022 and Good Cheer in 2025. He can win a third with Dazzling Dame.

Q: Who won the Kentucky Oaks in 2025?

A: Good Cheer won the 2025 Kentucky Oaks for trainer Brad Cox and jockey Luis Saez. Cox brings Prom Queen to the 2026 Kentucky Oaks; she will be ridden by Javier Castellano. Saez rides Dazzling Dame for Brittany Russell.

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