Ashland Stakes

The long run of preps for the GI Kentucky Oaks will come to a close this weekend as the last of the 3-year-old filly preps will be run. All eyes will be on Keeneland Friday as the track will host the only Grade I prep for the Oaks, the GI Ashland Stakes. The favorite will be Zany (American Pharoah), who hasn't been out since the Feb. 7 Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. Should she win, she will most likely be the favorite come May 1 at Churchill Downs. So,...

There was only one graded stakes race on the road to the GI Kentucky Oaks this weekend, but it was a big one. The GII Fasig-Tipton Rachel Alexandra Stakes has produced 12 winners of the Oaks. The list includes last year's Oaks champion Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) and 2023 winner Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief). So, it meant something when Bella Ballerina (Street Sense) scored a game victory to win the race by a half-length, especially when you consider that she is a half-sister to Pretty Mischievous. So, here goes, your...

Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services sold four broodmares--along with their foals--and a yearling colt as part of a major reduction of Merriebelle Stable during the Fasig-Tipton Digital April Sale which concluded Wednesday. Crimson Frost (Stormy Atlantic) (hip 12), who sold with her Forte colt, brought the group's top price when selling for $240,000 to Gracie Bloodstock. "A few weeks ago, I learned we needed to address our budget for the next year or two rather aggressively," Bluegrass Thoroughbred's Sandy Stuart said of the Merriebelle reduction. "My first call was to an appraiser...

Prep season is over, and now it's time to get down to business. A deep field will line up for the GI Kentucky Oaks, led by the undefeated Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro). In most years, she'd be 4-5 or lower, but there are enough quality fillies lining up for the race that you might see 2-1 on her. Since the last installment, La Cara (Street Sense) moved up the charts with a win in the GI Ashland S., Ballerina d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) nosed out Early On (Union Rags) to win...

Tracy Farmer's homebred La Cara (f, 3, Street Sense--Cara Caterina, by Bernardini) closed out the Road to the Kentucky Oaks the same way she started it: with a win. Victorious in the first GI Kentucky Oaks points race of the season--the GIII Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs last September--and the last, Monday's rescheduled GI Central Bank Ashland Stakes at Keeneland, La Cara heads to the Oaks with 151.75 points, second on the leaderboard behind Mar. 29 GII Fantasy Stakes winner Quietside (Malibu Moon). The Ashland awarded Oaks points on a...

With the season's signature GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes leading the way with an all-time high purse of $1.25 million, the stakes schedule for Keeneland's Spring Meet will be worth a record $9.4 million. The Blue Grass is one of 16 races on the 19-race stakes schedule to have purse increases for 2025. With an increase of $150,000, the GI Central Bank Ashland Stakes is now worth $750,000, and an increase of $200,000 will make the GIII Transylvania Stakes a $600,000 race. Contributing to the purses for the total of...

The GI Kentucky Derby picture may seem polarized by two more charismatic talents, but any neutral who ekes a living from bloodstock now has an alternative rooting interest. For among the colts entering those 20 coveted gates, the first Saturday in May, there will be no better symbol than Stronghold (Ghostzapper) of what it takes to last the course in the appallingly expensive, demoralizing, perplexing, maddening and addictive vocation of Thoroughbred breeding. The GI Santa Anita Derby winner carries the silks of Eric and Sharon Waller, who bred his third...

Prep season for the GI Kentucky Oaks is over and we have a pretty good idea of who is going to be in the race and which ones are the horses to beat. With three major preps--the GI Ashland S., the GII Santa Anita Oaks and the GIII Gazelle S.--all run over the weekend, there was plenty of movement in our Top 10. But the very solid Tarifa (Bernardini) maintains the top spot for Brad Cox. Here's a look at the latest installment of our Kentucky Oaks Top Ten: 1)...

It's come down to the last few preps. An outstanding field will meet Friday at Keeneland in the GI Ashland S. Four horses on our Top 10 list will take part in that race. At Aqueduct, they'll be vying for a spot in the field for the GI Kentucky Oaks in the GIII Gazelle S. At Santa Anita, fillies will contest the GII Santa Anita Oaks, but the horse expected to be he heavy favorite, Kinza (Carpe Diem), is trained by Bob Baffert and is therefore ineligible to run in...

It continues to be a strange year on the road to the GI Kentucky Oaks. It's been a division where no one seemed ready to step to the front and become a clear leader of the group. That, sort of, changed Sunday in the GIII Santa Ysabel S. Sunday at Santa Anita. Faiza (Girvin) stayed undefeated in four starts with a 2 1/4-length win and, under normal circumstances, would have gone to No. 1 on this list. But the filly, who is trained by Bob Baffert and owned by Michael...

After the busiest weekend of the year for 3-year-old fillies eyeing the GI Kentucky Oaks, the field is pretty much set for the race. There were four preps over the weekend, which was a problem. There are not enough top horses to go around to fill that many races, so the fields were six, six, six and four. It looks like the Oaks will be highly competitive. There is no one standout. Instead, you will have a number of horses in with a chance and a favorite who should be...

For Gail Rice, the way luck and judgement play out with Thoroughbreds is sooner a matter of faith than mere fate. "God tries to make you make the right decisions," she declares. But then she gives a delighted, self-deprecating laugh and adds: "Apparently for once I listened properly!" Yes she did. Because you would have had to strain your ears pretty hard to catch the hint, the time Rice saw a young New York-bred mare by Freud in the back ring at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton February Sale. Scribbling Sarah had...