Oaks News

It’s been a quiet week for the Power Rankings. With just one race containing Derby points – and none in North America – there is very little change to the list.

Thirty-nine horses were individually-named options in this week’s Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 3, but the winner of the only Derby points-scoring race wasn’t one of them.

Campaigned by a partnership including NFL Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw, Taken by the Wind advanced on the Kentucky Oaks (G1) trail in Saturday’s Silverbulletday S. at Fair Grounds.

From now until mid-April, there is a race where points are available on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, so we will have Derby-relevant horses running for the next 13 weeks.

Explora rallied and won as she pleased in the $98,000 Santa Ynez S. at Santa Anita on Saturday.

Postponed one week by a deluge of rain in Southern California, the $100,000 Santa Ynez S. is now on tap for this Saturday at Santa Anita.

So, if anything, the picture is a little murkier this week. However, we do see some notable changes among Derby contenders.

Maryland shipper Dazzling Dame ran away with Saturday’s Busanda S. at Aqueduct, clocking a faster time than the boys did in the Jerome S., a Road to the Kentucky Derby event earlier on the card.

The Road to the Kentucky Oaks goes coast-to-coast on Saturday, with the Busanda S. at Aqueduct and the Santa Ynez S. at Santa Anita.

We’ve reached the end of 2025, and the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks contenders for 2026 are in their final days as juveniles.