British Idiom tops 116 nominees for 2020 Kentucky Oaks

Champion filly British Idiom tops the list of 116 early nominations for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks, to be contested May 1 at Churchill Downs. That number is virtually identical to the 115 nominees for the filly classic whom Churchill Downs announced as eligible at this time last year.

The early nominees to the Oaks were made eligible by a $200 payment, which was due Feb. 15. Fillies can still be made eligible through a $1,500 late nomination fee by April 11, or a $25,000 supplemental nomination due at entry time. The Oaks field is limited to 14 starters, with preference determined by points earned in designated races. As many as four fillies can be designated as also-eligibles on the program at entry time.

British Idiom won all three of her starts last year, including Grade 1 triumphs in the Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita, to earn divisional Eclipse Award honors. She began her 3-year-old campaign with a runner-up effort to fellow Oaks nominee Finite in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes on Feb. 15 at Fair Grounds.

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British Idiom is one of four nominees trained by Brad Cox, who saddled Eclipse Award champion 3-year-old filly Monomoy Girl to win the Oaks two years ago. Despite the defection of multiple Grade 1 winner Bast, retired last week with a soft-tissue injury, Bob Baffert leads all trainers with 13 fillies nominated. The Hall of Famer has won the Kentucky Oaks with champion and Hall of Famer Silverbulletday (1999), Plum Pretty (2011), and champion Abel Tasman (2017).

Churchill Downs also announced the early nominees for the Grade 1, $1 million Old Forester Turf Classic, one of the main events on the Kentucky Derby undercard May 2. The 57 older horses nominated are led by Zulu Alpha, who won the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf in January.

The Turf Classic was won last year by Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar; was won twice by two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan; and also was captured by Eclipse Award champions Manila, English Channel, Sky Classic, and Paradise Creek. This year, the race, which has been a launching point toward other major successes, is tied to prominent stakes at other tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc. The winner of the Grade 2 Mervin Muniz Memorial on March 21 at Fair Grounds will earn an automatic berth into the Turf Classic, as well as to the Grade 1 Arlington Million in August at the eponymous track. The Turf Classic winner also will earn an automatic berth into the Arlington Million.