With 13 entries, Honeybee has the look of a key Kentucky Oaks prep

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Grade 3, $500,000 Honeybee on Sunday at Oaklawn Park appears to have the makings of a key prep for the Kentucky Oaks, as the field of 13 includes such leading prospects as Muhimma, Quickick, Look Forward, Take Charge Milady, and Quietside.

The first five finishers in the 1 1/16-mile race will earn Kentucky Oaks qualifying points on a scale of 50-25-15-10-5. The Honeybee, which received a purse boost of $100,000 for 2025, is part of a card that includes the Rebel.

Muhimma is unbeaten in three starts. She wired the field in the Grade 2 Demoiselle at Aqueduct on Dec. 7 and has since been working at Florida’s Payson Park.

“The plan since the Demoiselle was to bring her to Florida and get her ready for this,” trainer Brad Cox said. “She’s very talented and we’re looking forward to getting her 3-year-old season kicked off.”

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Muhimma will break from the rail under regular rider Florent Geroux.

“The Demoiselle was a similar situation – she broke from the one hole.” Cox said. “So, she handled that. She can handle that. She also shipped in on top of the race and was able to win. She’d never been to Aqueduct. So, she’s got that going for her. She’s able to ship and win.”

Muhimma also brings versatility into the Honeybee.

“I don’t think she has to be on the lead,” Cox said. “Just based on what we saw going into the Demoiselle, we thought we could just take control of the race and she did and it worked for her going the mile and an eighth. We’ll see how things unfold.”

Quickick also is launching her 3-year-old season. She faced eventual champion Immersive in her last two starts, running second to that one in the Grade 1 Alcibiades and third to her in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies to wrap up her season on Nov. 1.

“She’s come back well,” trainer Tom Amoss said of Quickick. “The time off after the Breeders’ Cup was by design. A lot of horses do just that after the Breeders’ Cup. It’s a tough race at the end of a 2-year-old campaign, so we purposely gave her some time off. She’s worked well for us leading into the race. It’s a remarkably big field of horses. It’s a starting point for us.”

Quickick will break from post 5 under regular rider Dylan Davis.

“With a field that big, you’re obviously always concerned about traffic, and with her positioning is going to be important in this initial race,” Amoss said. “We’ve had instances – not always – but we’ve had instances where she doesn’t break all that sharp, and certainly that was true in the Breeders’ Cup. We’d like to establish enough position from the gate where we’re not playing catch-up the entire race.”

Look Forward is moving back to two turns after winning the Santa Ynez on Jan. 5 at Santa Anita.

“That was a very gritty performance on a racetrack she wasn’t in love with the other day,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “She was able to kind of gut it out, see out the seven-eighths on a demanding racetrack. Stretching back out to two turns, she should be able to find herself forwardly placed, kind of not under as much pressure as she was going the seven-eighths in her last start.”

Mario Gutierrez has the mount from post 9. He was aboard last out and in the Grade 2 Starlet at Los Alamitos, a 1 1/16-mile race in which Look Forward ran second to Grade 1 winner Tenma and finished in front of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Vodka With a Twist.

Take Charge Milady will be defending her home track off a 5 3/4-length victory in the Martha Washington.

“She’s doing great, got a couple wins over the track,” trainer Kenny McPeek said. “This race is a little tougher, as it should be. It’s a pretty good-sized field, too. We’ve got her locked and loaded and ready to go.”

Quietside was second in the Martha Washington after placing in a pair of Grade 1 races last year at 2. She’s since worked five furlongs in a bullet 58.40 seconds at Fair Grounds. Jose Ortiz has the mount from post 12 for trainer John Ortiz.

Five G won the Cash Run last out at Gulfstream Park. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount for trainer George Weaver.

Jenkin won the Year’s End at Oaklawn on Dec. 29.

◗ Peignoir looks like a chief contender in the $145,000 Trivista, a new overnight stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles that drew 11. She enters off a runner-up finish in the Wayward Lass at Tampa Bay Downs. Flavien Prat has the mount for trainer Rodolphe Brisset.

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