LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Dayoutoftheoffice came within a couple of lengths of being named 2-year-old filly champion in 2020, so it comes as no surprise she finds herself running at Churchill Downs on Friday’s Kentucky Oaks program. But instead of participating in the main event, Dayoutoftheoffice will launch her 3-year-old campaign in the Grade 2 Eight Belles, a seven-furlong dash that drew a full field of 12 and looks as equally challenging and competitive as the Oaks itself. Dayoutoftheoffice began her juvenile campaign with three consecutive victories that included relatively easy wins in the Grade 1 Frizette and Grade 3 Schuylerville. But Dayoutoftheoffice tired late and finished second by two lengths in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies to eventual champ Vequist while stretching out around two turns for the first time. Dayoutoftheoffice wintered at Tampa Bay Downs with the original intention of pointing to the Oaks. But after disappearing from the work tab for nearly six weeks from mid-January to early March, those plans changed. :: Get Kentucky Derby Betting Strategies for exclusive wager recommendations, contender profiles, pedigree analysis, and more “We started her back a little early and then decided it was going to be a long season and we wanted to have horse left for the end of the year,” trainer Tim Hamm said. “We ultimately circled the Acorn on our calendar as the first main goal and worked back from there. I would have loved to made the Oaks, and we could have tried it, but going a mile and one-eighth the first time back was too tall a task. The Eight Belles made more sense.” Dayoutoftheoffice has not missed a beat in the morning since returning to the tab on March 5 at Tampa, culminating preparations for her 3-year-old bow with a bullet five-eighths in 58 seconds last Friday at Keeneland. “Her last work was great, I feel she’s coming into this race 100 percent, although there are some nice fillies in there who have been running, so it’s going to be a tough task,” Hamm said. Gerardo Corrales will replace regular rider Junior Alvarado, who is on the sidelines after suffering a concussion in a spill last week at Belmont Park. As Hamm correctly noted, the field for the Eight Belles is a very good one and includes the graded stakes-placed trio of Souper Sensational, Kalypso, and Slumber Party along with recent stakes winner Abrogate. The pace figures to be honest, with Windmill, Abrogate, and Euphoric among the quickest of the lot. Souper Sensational is one of two horses trainer Mark Casse entered in the Eight Belles along with Make Mischief. Souper Sensational is coming off a third-place finish after setting the pace to early stretch in the Fair Grounds Oaks, beaten only by Travel Column and Clairiere, who are among the favorites in the Kentucky Oaks. Casse admitted he was briefly tempted to run Souper Sensational in the Oaks before choosing to take a more conservative route. :: Get DRF Clocker Reports for the Kentucky Derby and Oaks cards to access exclusive insights from morning training “I considered the Oaks for a couple of weeks after the Fair Grounds race,” Casse said. “But I’ve been impressed by a lot of the fillies going into the Oaks, so I decided on the Eight Belles instead, although this race is no walk in the park either. “Make Mischief is a filly I’ve always loved who took a little more time than I expected to come around. But I might not run her, since she was a little unlucky to draw the inside post.” Kalypso ships in from California having won the Grade 2 Santa Ynez at seven furlongs in her 3-year-old debut before finishing second and third, respectively, while stretching out in distance for the Las Virgenes and Santa Ysabel stakes, both Grade 3s over her home track of Santa Anita. Kalypso also figures to be among the early leaders under regular rider Joel Rosario. The lightly raced Slumber Party was an eye-catching winner of her career debut at Gulfstream Park before returning to finish second as the even-money favorite earlier this month in the Grade 3 Beaumont at Keeneland, both races decided at seven furlongs. She loses the services of Rosario, but picks up Irad Ortiz Jr. as her new rider.