Kentucky Oaks | Prep Races | Race Profile

Race Events > Kentucky Oaks > Prep Races

| Betting | Odds | Handicapping | Prep Races | Winners | History | Results | Contenders | Tickets

Kentucky Oaks Prep Races

As the premiere event for three-year-old fillies in the spring, the Kentucky Oaks carries plenty of prestige and a lucrative payday (at least $600,000 to the winner) for connections. The 1 1/8-mile race can be oversubscribed as a result, with only 14 runners allowed in the starting gate. Churchill Downs instituted a new format in 2013 to determine eligibility with a Road to the Kentucky Oaks points system and schedule.

Called the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” series, points are awarded on a sliding scale to the top 4 finishers in designated prep races. The Oaks Road typicaly kicks off with the Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs and will be run on September 16, 2018 and will continue through the Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland on April 19, 2018.

These prep races are divided into two categories – the Kentucky Oaks Prep Season and Kentucky Oaks Championship Series. The Prep Season runs through February 10, awarding points on a 10-4-2-1 basis to the top four respective finishers. The only exception is the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies which prsents 20-8-4-2.

The Championship Series begins in February and holds seven races on the Championship Series schedule offering 50-20-10-5 points; six other races, which are known as the final round of major prep races, award 100-40-20-10; and two outliers are the Bourbonette Oaks at 20-8-4-2 and Beaumont 10-4-2-1.

Thus, like it’s more celebrated brother, the Kentucky Derby (G1), the Kentucky Oaks (G1) prep race series consisted of 30 races at Churchill Downs on September 16, 2018, and concludes with the Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland on April 19, 2018.

List of 2018 Kentucky Oaks Prep Races

2017 Kentucky Oaks Leaderboard

Each race was one by a different filly, and earned each a starting spot in the Kentucky Oaks’ starting gate:

• Salty (Gulfstream Park Oaks)
• Farrell (Fair Grounds Oaks)
• Sailor’s Valentine (Ashland)
• Paradise Woods (Santa Anita Oaks)
• Miss Sky Warrior (Gazelle)
• Ever So Clear (Fantasy)