For a race that serves as one of the final major preps for the May 3 Kentucky Oaks, Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland is surprisingly about new beginnings. The champion Jaywalk is starting over following a fourth-place finish in the March 2 Davona Dale at Gulfstream in her seasonal debut. Feedback, unbeaten in two starts, could be starting for the first time around two turns in the 1 1/16-mile race. And Restless Rider is simply getting her 3-year-old campaign started after being unraced since a runner-up finish in the Nov. 24 Golden Rod at Churchill Downs. These dynamics make for a tricky handicapping exercise for horseplayers, circumstances perhaps made even more challenging by the fact that Feedback is not certain to run. She has also been entered in Sunday’s Grade 3 Beaumont at Keeneland, going a shorter distance of seven furlongs and 184 feet. Trainer Chad Brown said a decision would be made Friday on where she runs, after he has an opportunity to discuss options with owner Seth Klarman of Klaravich Stables. “We’ve always had the approach of stretching her out gradually,” Brown said. “We’re realistic that she will hit a wall at some distance. Where that is, I’m not certain.” Regardless of whether Feedback goes in the Ashland or the Beaumont, the Ashland goes through Jaywalk, the 8-5 morning-line favorite who won three stakes last year as a 2-year-old, capped by the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs. That victory, as well as another Grade 1 score in the Frizette, came after she sped to the early lead. In celebration of DRF's 125th anniversary, you can pick up a copy of the print edition for just $5 at Keeneland and Lexington-area locations Jaywalk was unable to secure that same front-running position as the 1-5 favorite in the Davona Dale, chasing the pace in second before fading to lose by 5 1/2 lengths to Jeltrin. Her trainer, Jason Servis, feels the loss was related to a shortness of fitness. “The last thing we wanted to do is have her worn out the first Friday in May,” he said, referring to the Kentucky Oaks. “So, we kind of went real slow with her.” Jaywalk, a daughter of Cross Traffic owned by D J Stable and Cash Is King, will have a new rider for the Ashland, Hall of Famer Javier Castellano. Castellano and Servis have a winning history together. He rode the Servis-trained Cathryn Sophia to victory in the 2016 Kentucky Oaks. Restless Rider, a stalker who ran second to Jaywalk in the Breeders’ Cup, stands to benefit if the speedy Feedback remains in the Ashland and potentially provides pace pressure on Jaywalk. The winner of last year’s Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland, Restless Rider seeks to bounce back from a narrow defeat in the Golden Rod, the sixth start of a juvenile campaign. “In hindsight, I wish I hadn’t run her,” trainer Kenny McPeek said. “It didn’t set up well for her, and she might have been a little over the top.” Bizwhacks, Chocolate Kisses, Lady Kate, Bell’s the One, and Out for a Spin complete the eight-horse lineup for the Ashland, which provides Kentucky Oaks qualifying points on a 100-40-20-10 scale for the race’s top four finishers. Post time is 5:45 p.m. Eastern.