Summer Starlet, Forever Carina highlight Alcibiades; Frizette, Oak Leaf attract Oaks hopefuls

Sep 30, 2026 James Scully

Summer Starlet wins the Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga. (Photo by Coglianese Photo)

Qualifying points for the 2027 Kentucky Oaks will be awarded in a trio of high-profile races this weekend. The $650,000 Alcibiades (G1) will be offered at Keeneland on Friday, and the $500,000 Frizette (G1) at Belmont Park and $200,000 Oak Leaf (G2) at Santa Anita on Saturday.

As part of the 2026-27 Road to the Kentucky Oaks series, all three races will award the top five finishers points on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale.

The Alcibiades and Oak Leaf also serve as “Win & You’re In” events for the Oct. 30 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Keeneland.

Summer Starlet, who rolled to a 4 3/4-length win in the Spinaway (G1) at Saratoga in early September, will bring a 2-for-2 record to the 1 1/16-mile Alcibiades. She’s been pegged as the 4-5 favorite among eight fillies on oddsmaker Nick Tammaro’s morning line, and two-time Kentucky Oaks winner Steve Asmussen trains the fast-closing daughter of City of Light. Flavien Prat picks up the mount.

👑𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗘𝗧 gets the job done in the Spinaway S. at Saratoga and punches her ticket to the Breeders Cup.

The 2y/o filly was ridden to victory by jockey @RSantana_Jr and trained by Steve Asmussen. pic.twitter.com/FWg9q5lIJu

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) September 5, 2026

A full sister to this year’s Kentucky Oaks winner Always a Runner, Forever Carina will make her anticipated stakes debut following a convincing debut maiden win at Saratoga in late August. Trainer Chad Brown and jockey Jose Ortiz, who earned their first Oaks victory with Always a Runner, are also associated with Forever Carina.

Seven fillies will contest the Frizette over a one-turn mile, and Libby Lloyd will make her first stakes attempt for Brown after rolling to an eye-catching maiden win in her career debut at Saratoga in mid-August. The Into Mischief filly led gate to wire, extending her margin to 10 lengths at the finish, and Libby Lloyd retains the services of Prat.

Unbeaten from two starts, Velora will face open competition after recording a convincing tally in the restricted Seeking the Ante S. at Saratoga in early September. Linda Rice trains the daughter of Yaupon, the leading first-crop sire in 2025, and Velora will add a new rider in Manny Franco.

Deluge, a debut winner sprinting on Del Mar’s turf in late August, has been installed as the slight 8-5 favorite for the 1 1/16-mile Oak Leaf. She will switch to dirt and stretch to two turns for the three-time Kentucky Oaks winner Bob Baffert, who has three of the six runners in the Oak Leaf, and Juan Hernandez rides.

Grade 3 winner Holmby, most recently third in the Del Mar Debutante (G1), comes next on the morning line at 9-5. Ricardo Gonzalez will be up for Baffert, who is also responsible for last-out maiden winner and 5-2 third choice Quattro Passi.