Explora headlines Fantasy Friday; She Be Smooth tops Gulfstream Park Oaks

Mar 23, 2026 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Explora holds off Counting Stars in the Honeybee (G3) (Photo by Coady Media)

This week’s marquee Kentucky Oaks (G1) preps are split across Friday and Saturday. Oaklawn Park stages the $1 million Fantasy (G2) on Friday, one day before the Arkansas Derby (G1), while the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) is part of the blockbuster Florida Derby (G1) card at Gulfstream on Saturday.

Each race is worth points on the 100-50-25-15-10 scale to the top five finishers. Both the Fantasy and Gulfstream Park Oaks drew small fields of six and seven, respectively. If scratches reduce the runners to five or fewer, the number of Oaks points on offer would also be reduced.

The headline act in the Fantasy is even-money favorite Explora, who currently ranks third on the Oaks leaderboard with 95 points. In the Gulfstream Park Oaks, unbeaten She Be Smooth looms large as she enters with 50 points to her credit.

Fantasy (G2) – Friday’s 11th race (6:54 p.m. ET)

The Bob Baffert-trained Explora is a longtime veteran of the Oaks trail. She has won three scoring races – last fall’s Oak Leaf (G2), the Santa Ynez S., and the March 1 Honeybee (G3) over the same track and 1 1/16-mile trip as the Fantasy. Explora has also finished runner-up in major races, most notably the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).

Three others are also coming off the Honeybee, the stepping stone to the Fantasy. Honeybee runner-up Counting Stars and fourth-placer Search Party are Mark Casse stablemates who had won stakes at Oaklawn earlier in the meet.

EXPLORA is a picture of consistency and holds off COUNTING STARS to win the G3 Honeybee! ✨

The 3YO filly picked up 50 Kentucky Oaks points. 🌷

Bob Baffert trains and Flavien Prat was in the saddle.

🎥 #TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/FGN0hnk5Qy

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) March 1, 2026

Search Party’s victory came in a Road to the Kentucky Oaks event, the Martha Washington S., where Counting Stars was a surprising last as the odds-on favorite. But Counting Stars had romped previously in the Astral Spa S. and Year’s End S., and she rebounded with a more characteristic performance in the Honeybee.

Taken by the Wind lost her perfect record when trailing in the Honeybee, and the Kenny McPeek filly hopes for a similar turning of the page here. An impressive winner of the Pocahontas (G3) to kick off the Road to the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in September, Taken by the Wind returned triumphant in the Jan. 17 Silverbulletday S. at Fair Grounds.

A pair of stakes debutantes will test their Oaks mettle in the Fantasy. Sticker Shock has won two straight for Brad Cox, including a course-and-distance allowance, while Casse sends out recent sprint maiden winner Empath. With Empath joining Counting Stars and Search Party in the line-up, Casse has half of the Fantasy field.

Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) – Saturday’s 9th race (3:31 p.m. ET)

She Be Smooth jumped into the Oaks picture with a last-to-first conquest of the Feb. 28 Davona Dale (G2). Trained by Todd Pletcher for historic Calumet Farm, the homebred was stepping up from a convincing debut around the same one-turn mile at Gulfstream. She Be Smooth will try to remain perfect as she stretches out to 1 1/16 miles for the first time on Saturday.

SHE BE SMOOTH (Lexitonian) is just that en route to victory in the GII Davona Dale Stakes at @GulfstreamPark, earning 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks! 🌸 pic.twitter.com/K4d33yCX4F

— TDN (@theTDN) February 28, 2026

Davona Dale runner-up My Miss Mo and fifth-placer Haute Diva renew rivalry with She Be Smooth here. Another familiar foe, Prom Queen, was second in She Be Smooth’s debut before crushing a Gulfstream maiden at this distance by eight lengths. That effort suggests that Prom Queen, a well-bred filly from the Cox barn, could pose a greater threat in the rematch.

Just Singing warrants respect after placing in a pair of Oaks scoring races for trainer Kent Sweezey. Third to Bella Ballerina in both the Golden Rod (G2) at Churchill Downs and the Rachel Alexandra (G2) at Fair Grounds, the daughter of Triple Crown champion Justify adds blinkers at Gulfstream.

Recent sprint maiden winners Betty’s Pearl and Nasti Z round out the field. Betty’s Pearl is intriguing because two starts back, she was runner-up to Paradise, who went on to capture the Busanda S. Nasti Z, a stablemate of My Miss Mo from the Saffie Joseph Jr. barn, has more to prove as she ventures outside of maiden claiming company.