LEXINGTON, Ky. – On this first Friday in April, Zany will try to solidify her status as the favorite for the first Friday in May – and will have to get past a formidable foe in the comebacking Percy’s Bar to do so. The Grade 1, $750,000 Ashland Stakes for 3-year-old fillies is the featured event among Keeneland’s four opening-day stakes. The 1 1/16-mile race is one of the final major preps toward the May 1 Kentucky Oaks, awarding points for the filly classic on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale to the first five finishers. Seven have been entered for the Ashland, but the field is expected to decrease by at least one, as trainer Whit Beckman said Wednesday that cross-entered Nycon will run in the Grade 3 Gazelle on Saturday at Aqueduct. Zany was the favorite when the lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager pool closed on March 15, and she’s better than even money on the Ashland morning line to remain undefeated in four starts. The filly has already covered the Oaks distance, winning the Grade 2 Demoiselle at 1 1/8 miles last December. :: Keeneland Spring Meet! Get DRF Past Performances, picks, news, and more. In her lone start this year, Zany won the Suncoast on Feb. 7 at Tampa, drawing clear by 2 3/4 lengths over Life of Joy, who flattered her by subsequently winning the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks imprerssively over some well-regarded fillies. Zany turned in that effort despite some greenness, as she ran with her ears up through the stretch and appeared to look at the stands while shifting in as she drew clear under Irad Ortiz Jr. “She’s a very curious filly who tends to look around a lot,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “Irad was focused on trying to get her to switch leads, and she just kind of got away from him for a second. She’s a very gifted horse who still has to learn to polish things off.” Just inside Zany and Ortiz in post 3 will be Percy’s Bar and regular rider Luan Machado, and the filly may be pumped up leaving post 2. Trainer Ben Colebrook considered earlier races in New York or Arkansas for Percy’s Bar, but with a harsh winter in Kentucky impacting training schedules, he elected to train her up to this season debut at her Keeneland base. Unraced for five months, Percy’s Bar has fired four consecutive bullet works locally. “In the morning, she’s been doing everything right,” Colebrook said. “Seems to be coming into this race as good as we could hope for. Obviously, running in a Grade 1 without a prep race is always a big ask, but, you know, she had a long year last year. She’s fairly well seasoned – she’s run five times. It’s not like she only had two runs as a 2-year-old, and she ran two turns twice last year. So there is some depth of fitness there. “Obviously, in a perfect world, it would have been nice to get a prep into her, but we had some bad weather here this winter, and it just didn’t feel right leading up to [earlier] races. It seemed like it was a better option to just train her up to this race, run her from her stall. The [workout] times have been fast, but she’s been well within herself. The gallops-out have been big. So maybe in hindsight, the weather might have been a blessing in disguise. You just never know, right?” :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  Percy’s Bar’s two-turn efforts were legitimate. The filly led in the Grade 1 Alcibiades, going the Ashland’s 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland, last October, with Tommy Jo tracking. Percy’s Bar lugged out near the eighth pole and crossed the line 2 3/4 lengths in front of Tommy Jo, but she was disqualified to second for interference. In the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, Percy’s Bar sat farther back and was advancing inside when she was bumped near the three-sixteenths pole, sending her into the rail. She continued on well to be third behind Super Corredora and Explora. “She hit the rail pretty hard,” Colebrook said. “If she’d just stopped and backed out of there, I wouldn’t have blamed her for it, but to show her guts, still to salvage a piece of it, was pretty impressive.” French Friction, winner of the Dixie Belle sprinting at Oaklawn, and Omaha Bay, fourth after setting the pace in the Grade 2 Davona Dale, should ensure an honest tempo. That’s something Zany, who raced in the vanguard and looped four-wide at Tampa, would relish. Completing the expected starters are two-turn maiden winner Star Actress, a full sister to champion Just F Y I; and stakes-placed Hollybygolly, coming off a one-mile allowance win on Tapeta. – additional reporting by Marcus Hersh :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.