Kentucky Oaks: Here are the top contenders with 2 months to go

Churchill Downs’s only future wager pool for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks starts Friday, so it might be a good time to get familiar with the top 3-year-old fillies.

The May 5 race at Churchill Downs will have as many as 14 fillies in the starting gate.

So far, six races have offered 50 points to the winners, and five of those fillies are at the top of the leaderboard. Faiza, winner of Sunday’s Santa Ysabel, is trained by Bob Baffert and is ineligible to earn points because of his suspension by Churchill Downs Inc.

Two races remain that offer 50 points to the winning filly, and six will give 100 points to the winner, so the leaderboard during the first week in May will look a lot different from now.

But for now, here’s a quick look at the top 10 in the standings.

1. Wet Paint (70 points). Trained by Brad Cox, this Godolphin homebred has won two straight and three of her last four. A daughter of Blame, she won the Honeybee (G3) going away at Oaklawn, picking up 50 qualifying points.

2. Pretty Mischievous (63). Another Godolphin homebred, she won her first two and her last two for trainer Brendan Walsh, with a third-place finish in the Golden Rod (G2) in November in between. She picked up her 50 points by moving ahead in the stretch to win the Rachel Alexandra (G2) last out.

3. Dorth Vader (50). The Michael Yates trainee upset the Davona Dale (G2) Saturday at odds of 46-1, winning by 4 1/2 lengths. She closed out 2022 with two wins in black-type stakes and was sixth in the Gasparilla in January. Overall, she has a record of 7: 4-0-1, with all of her races in Florida.

4. Mimi Kakushi (50). Dubai’s top filly dueled in the stretch of the UAE Oaks (G3) with Doug O’Neill’s Ami Please and won by 1 1/4 lengths. Her connections were considering the UAE Derby (G2) against males as well as the Kentucky Oaks.

5. Shidabhuti (50). Undefeated in three starts, the Chad Brown trainee rallied to beat odds-on favorite and stablemate Asset Purchase in Saturday’s Busher Invitational. She broke her maiden with a 6 1/2-length win in September and then won an optional-claiming allowance at Aqueduct in January.

6. Wonder Wheel (48). Trained by Mark Casse, she was named ast year’s champion 2-year-old filly after wins in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and the Alcibiades (G1). In her only start this year, she was second by a neck in the Suncoast Stakes on Feb. 11.

7. Red Carpet Ready (35). She was 3-for-3 for trainer George Arnold II heading into the Davona Dale, where she finished third by seven lengths. She also picked up points by winning the Forward Gal (G3) in February.

8. And Tell Me Nolies (30). Trained by Peter Miller, she earned her points with a win in the Chandelier (G2) and a runner-up effort in the Santa Ysabel. In between, she was eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

9. Hoosier Philly (25). She generated buzz when starting 3-for-3 for Tom Amoss, including a 5-length win in the Golden Rod (G2) in November, which earned her 10 qualifying points. In her only start this year, she was third as the odds-on favorite in the Rachel Alexandra (G2).

10. The Alys Look (24). Brad Cox’s second filly in the top 10, she earned 20 points for her win in the Silverbulletday, where she beat stablemate and odds-on favorite Chop Chop. She was second in the Untapable before that and has an overall record of 5: 2-1-1.

Kentucky Oaks 2023 leaderboard