LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If their most recent starts had turned out a little better, Paradise and On Time Girl might have found themselves competing in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on Friday at Churchill Downs. Instead, the Brad Cox-trained stablemates will turn back to seven furlongs and square off against one another and seven other 3-year-old fillies in the $700,000 Eight Belles Stakes. Paradise appeared on a direct path to the Oaks following her popular 3 3/4-length victory in the one-mile Busher on Feb. 28 at Aqueduct. But despite finishing third in the Grade 3 Gazelle when stretching to nine furlongs over the same track five weeks later, Cox opted to bypass the Oaks in lieu of a decidedly softer spot in the Grade 2 Eight Belles. “She ran okay in the Gazelle and got a graded stakes placing, but we were looking and hoping for a little better result as the favorite,” Cox explained. “She shipped [to Churchill Downs] and has trained well, and ultimately we decided trying to get a graded stakes win for her. And running her in this race rather than the Oaks just made more sense.” Paradise will be trying seven furlongs for the first time in five career starts, and Cox feels the cutback in distance off a series of longer races could prove to her advantage, especially in a field featuring a lot of early pace. :: Get DRF Kentucky Oaks & Derby Clocker Reports by Mike Welsch and the DRF Clocker Team “I definitely feel shortening her up to seven furlongs after going a mile and one-eighth should prove to be a positive move for her,” Cox said. On Time Girl won four of her first five starts, including the Grade 3 Forward Gal going seven furlongs on Jan. 31 at Gulfstream Park. But she failed to fire quite the same effort when stretched to a mile, finishing a distant third behind She Be Smooth as the prohibitive 4-5 favorite in the Grade 2 Davona Dale on Feb. 28. “I didn’t think we saw enough in the Davona Dale to try the two turns down there in the Gulfstream Oaks,” Cox said. “That was her sixth run, so we gave her a little break and decided after that to just pursue these one-turn races with her going forward.” Cox said both fillies, who have worked in company since shipping locally earlier this month, are training well coming into the Eight Belles. Irad Ortiz Jr. will keep his regular seat aboard On Time Girl, and John Velazquez picks up the assignment on Paradise. The Cox runners figure to receive their sternest test from Goodall, a lightly raced but steadily improving filly who did not launch her career until January. She comes into the race off two straight victories, including the six-furlong Purple Martin Stakes on March 14 at Oaklawn Park for which she earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure. That is easily the best number turned in by any member of the Eight Belles lineup. “She’s a very fast and very talented filly who we had expected to run the first and second times as she did the third” in the Purple Martin, said Steve Asmussen, who trains Goodall for Spendthrift Farm. Perhaps the biggest question mark facing Goodall is her ability to handle the stretch to seven furlongs for the first time. Asmussen is quite confident the added ground will prove little obstacle. “The way she handled six furlongs last time, and with having great faith in Flavien [Prat] to use her abilities accordingly, I love her chances going in,” Asmussen said. :: DRF Kentucky Derby Package: Save on Past Performances, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. French Fiction will get some class and distance relief coming off a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Ashland going 1 1/16 miles earlier this month at Keeneland. French Friction opened her career with a pair of one-sided six-furlong victories at Oaklawn that featured a 5 3/4-length triumph in the Dixie Belle Stakes. Paradise and French Fiction are not the only members of the field turning back in distance for the Eight Belles. Luv Your Neighbor has competed around two turns in her last four starts. She was graded stakes-placed in each of her last two tries, both at a 1 1/16 miles, finishing a narrowly beaten second in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra and a tiring third five weeks later in the Fair Grounds Oaks. Luv Your Neighbor has already proved her effectiveness going seven furlongs, having captured her career debut at that distance over a sloppy track late last summer at Colonial Downs. River Wind, who proved no match for Goodall when finishing a distant second as the 3-5 favorite in the Purple Martin, will get a second chance at that nemesis Friday. Solemn Vow, Sippin Pretty, and Front Runnin round out the field. :: Get DRF Kentucky Oaks & Derby Betting Strategies by Marcus Hersh and David Aragona. Full analysis and wager recommendations!