HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Mark Casse will attack North America’s richest Kentucky Oaks prep, the Grade 2, $1 million Fantasy, with a trio of fillies Friday at Oaklawn. Each will bring a different running style to the table, with Empath a candidate to set the pace. Search Party could get a stalking trip, while Counting Stars figures to be making her case in the lane. Counting Stars could go favored with the defection of Explora, the millionaire who she finished second to in the Grade 3 Honeybee on March 1 at Oaklawn. Explora was making her first start outside of her base of Southern California, and upon her return to Oaklawn for the Fantasy, was found to have an elevated temperature, according to her trainer, Bob Baffert. Baffert said bloodwork was done on Explora in Arkansas and the decision was made to place her on antibiotics. :: Live racing action at Oaklawn Park! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “They came back and said she’s got something brewing, and we had to treat her,” Baffert said. “You know, that’s part of the game. She’s going to be fine. It takes about a week to knock this out completely.”     Baffert said Explora will remain at Oaklawn to regroup, and when appropriate will ship to Churchill Downs. She is a leading contender for the Kentucky Oaks and with 95 points for the race ranks third on the leaderboard maintained by Churchill. The defection from the Fantasy was first reported by Horse Racing Nation. The Fantasy will now go with a field of five. The 1 1/16-mile race will have a new points distribution schedule because of the size of the field. The winner will earn 75 points instead of 100. The valuation for second through fifth will be 37.5, 18.75, 11.25, and 7.5, according to information provided by Churchill Downs. The field will be completed by Grade 3 winner Taken by the Wind and recent allowance winner Sticker Shock. Counting Stars is looking for her third win at the meet after taking an overnight sprint stakes and the Year’s End at a mile Dec. 27. She closed through the stretch in the Honeybee and was beaten just three-quarters of a length for a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 87. “She’s coming up to this race probably better than ever,” Casse said. “Just her attitude, the way she’s training, and we again haven’t missed anything with her with the weather. So, it’s going well.” Counting Stars, a Triple Crown nominee who races for West Point Thoroughbreds, long has been well regarded. “She kind of always trained as good, if not better, than anything else we had,” Casse said of the stable’s young prospects. Search Party has developed over the course of this meet. The Tracy Farmer homebred won a maiden special weight route Dec. 27, then returned to take the Martha Washington on Feb. 6. Search Party exits a fourth-place finish in the Honeybee. “She needs to break a little better,” Casse said. “She gets herself in a tangle. Hopefully, she breaks a little better, they give her some pace. That will help.” Empath enters off a maiden special weight sprint win for Quintessential Racing Florida. “Empath, that’s my wife’s filly,” Casse said. “I thought her last race was good. Obviously, this is a different kettle of fish. She’s kind of going to be in there to make sure we have plenty of pace.” Taken by the Wind is 3 for 4, including wins in the Grade 3 Pocahontas in September at Churchill Downs and the Silverbulletday in January at Fair Grounds. She enters off an eighth-place finish in the Honeybee. Trainer Kenny McPeek said following the race that Taken by the Wind was found to have a case of the thumps, or “horse hiccups.” She will break from post 4 under Manny Esquivel. Sticker Shock was a sharp allowance winner at this distance Feb. 26. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount for trainer Brad Cox. The Fantasy continues the annual Racing Festival of the South, a collection of major stakes held over the final stretch of the meet that ends May 2. Oaklawn gave the Fantasy a makeover this season. It boosted its purse from $750,000 and moved it back to a Friday card instead of running it alongside the Arkansas Derby. The Friday forecast calls for cloudy skies with a high of 79 degrees. Officials said they plan to open the infield. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.