Shedaresthedevil leads Fantasy fillies returning at Churchill Downs

Familiar faces, perhaps with aims of hopping back on the Kentucky Oaks trail, will meet again Friday at Churchill Downs in an allowance for 3-year-old fillies.

Four of the eight entries in the feature for non-winners of three races  exit perhaps the deepest Oaks prep yet, the May 1 Fantasy Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park -- among them the likely favorite Shedaresthedevil.

This time, the Daredevil filly won't have to tangle with the likes of Swiss Skydiver and Venetian Harbor, who are bound for Grade 1 spots next. In the seventh of nine races on the Churchill card, scheduled for 4:14 p.m. ET, Shedaresthedevil leads a field going the 1 1/16-mile distance again.

Brad Cox will have Florent Geroux aboard the 3-year-old for the first time. Owned by Qatar Racing, Flurry Racing Stables and Big Aut Farms, the Shedaresthedevil won Oaklawn’s Honeybee Stakes (G2) two back before a third in the Fantasy.

Alta’s Award finished 14 ¾ lengths back when she finished fourth in the Fantasy last out. Trained by Steve Asmussen, the Tonalist filly will have regular rider Ricardo Santana Jr. up on Friday. She has won twice in four tries at the distance with this her first Churchill start.

Another out of the Fantasy, sixth-place finisher Lazy Daisy will try to replicate her only previous start at Churchill Downs, where she captured the Pocahantas (G2) on the same surface and distance last September. The Doug O'Neill trainee will have jockey David Cohen aboard.