Kentucky Oaks won't feature Santa Anita Oaks runners

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks on Saturday did not produce any expected starters for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 3.

Race winner Nothing Like You, who paid $16.40, and runner-up Kinza, the 1-2 favorite, are trained by Bob Baffert, who is currently banned from having runners at Churchill Downs by that track’s management.

Corposo, who finished third by eight lengths in her stakes debut, earned 25 qualifying points, and ranks 26th on the list of eligible fillies for the Kentucky Oaks. Only 14 will start in the Kentucky Oaks.

Kopion, fourth by 16 lengths in the Santa Anita Oaks as the 2-1 second choice, was raced on Saturday with the hope she could earn a place in the Kentucky Oaks. Trainer Richard Mandella was left perplexed by Kopion’s comprehensive loss and said the filly will undergo a battery of health tests soon. He noted that she appeared to have muscle cramps immediately after the $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks.

“I’ll do a good workup on her and make sure she’s okay,” he said. “At no point in the race did she seem like herself.”

Kopion was second to Kinza in the Grade 3 Las Virgenes Stakes at a mile in February.

There will be one California-based filly in the Kentucky Oaks in Where’s My Ring, the winner of the Grade 3 Gazelle Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday. Where’s My Ring, who won for the first time in the Gazelle in her eighth start, is trained by Val Brinkerhoff, who is based at Santa Anita.

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