Golden Rod: Breeders' Cup runner-up Explora leads 13

Talented 2-year-old filly Explora is set to invade Churchill Downs from Southern California where she’ll face 12 rivals entered in next Saturday’s 82nd running of the Grade 2, $400,000 Golden Rod, a points race event on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks.

The Golden Rod, run at 1 1/16 miles, will award the top five finishers qualifying points based on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale for the $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) on May 1. The Golden Rod will share the Saturday spotlight with the $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club (G2), $225,000 Ed Brown and $225,000 Fern Creek.

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Explora, trained by Bob Baffert for Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, enters the Golden Rod fresh off a runner-up effort to Super Corredora in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Prior to that race, the daughter of Blame was a dominant 4 1/4-length victor of the Oak Leaf (G2) at Santa Anita and was second to Bottle of Rouge in the Del Mar Debutante (G1). Jockey Flavien Prat has the mount for the Golden Rod and will exit post 12.

One of her major rivals in the race is Rags to Riches winner Life of Joy. Owned by Will Stroud, Andrew Farm, Mountmellick Farm and For The People Racing Stable, the undefeated Life of Joy jumped on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks when she won last month’s Rags to Riches by 2 1/4 lengths over The Grumpy Rabbit. Trained by Brad Cox, who won this race last year with eventual Kentucky Oaks winner Good Cheer, Life of Joy will be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. from post 6.