Oaks News

A pair of Kentucky Oaks (G1) qualifiers at opposite ends of the country on Saturday yielded eye-catching winners.

In a battle of unbeatens in the $557,450 Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland on Friday, Emphatic pulled off a minor surprise over odds-on favorite Summer Starlet.

Alcibiades, the 1930 Kentucky Oaks winner and Derby competitor, is commemorated with a Grade 1 race in her honor on the opening Friday of Keeneland’s fall meet.

Exciting prospects for next spring's Kentucky Derby (G1) and Oaks (G1) are in action this weekend, with six graded stakes for two-year-olds carrying major implications.

Kentucky Oaks qualifying points will be awarded in a trio of high-profile races this weekend, the Alcibiades (G1) will be offered Friday and the Frizette (G1) and Oak Leaf (G2) Saturday.

In the 1966 Kentucky Oaks, the ancestress of Splendora and Auguste Rodin (Native Street) beat the ancestress of Flightline and Golden Tempo (Lady Pitt).

Manuka Honey is the early points-leader on the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” after collecting 10 points.

Just as the Road to the Kentucky Derby kicks off with Saturday’s Iroquois (G3) at Churchill Downs, so does its sister race, the Pocahontas (G3), open the Road to the Kentucky Oaks for fillies.

The Road to Kentucky Derby 153 will get underway Saturday with a field of nine 2-year-olds entered in the Iroquois Stakes (Grade III) at Churchill Downs.

To kick off our series celebrating Oaks winners as influential producers, we’ll commemorate the ancestress of reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty.