Kentucky Oaks prep: Wet Paint splashes to win in Honeybee

Racing over a wet track, Godolphin’s Wet Paint unveiled a masterpiece by storming from last to first in Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Grade 3, $300,000 Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn.

The winner of the Martha Washington Stakes in her last Hot Springs start is now 3-for-3 on wet tracks and now moves to the top of the leaderboard among 3-year-old filly contenders for the Kentucky Oaks (G1) for trainer Brad Cox with 70 total points.

The daughter of Blame fell behind in the 1 1/16th-mile race over a track labeled sloppy, but navigated through the field under Flavian Prat to nab front-runner Condensation before pulling away to a popular 3-length victory as the 8-5 favorite. Her winning time was 1:45 1/5.

“Going into the first turn I was little concerned,” said Cox. “She was pretty far back and taking a lot of dirt. She showed a lot of heart to be able to handle these conditions today.”

Wet Paint paid $5.40, $3.80 and $3.00 and is now has three wins from five starts. Condensation ($14.00 and $8.60) held second after prompting a fast pace with Grand Love ($4.80) running evenly to finish third. Condensation secured 20 points towards eligibility and Grand Love received 15 points. In addition fourth-place finisher Gambling Girl received 10 and fifth-place finisher Towhead got five points.