NEW ORLEANS – Three-year-old filly. Won her career debut at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Won the Fair Grounds Oaks in March. Went on to win the Kentucky Oaks. This already has happened twice for trainer Brad Cox, with Monomoy Girl in 2018 and with Good Cheer in 2025 – and it could be happening again. Life of Joy, running easily the race of her life, blasted between horses at the five-sixteenths pole, drifted out to the center of the track through the stretch run, but overpowered favored Bella Ballerina before the furlong grounds and went on to a 3 3/4-length victory in the Grade 3, $350,000 Fair Grounds Oaks. Bella Ballerina, who took the lead from early pacesetter Maximum Promise early on the far turn, responded when she belatedly saw Life of Joy several paths outside her, but couldn’t match the winner’s finish while clearly second-best, 5 1/2 lengths clear of third-place Luv Your Neighbor. Luv Your Neighbor, who appeared to be out of gas, held third by a half-length over Newtown Pike, who ran on decently for fourth. Maximum Offer finished a distant fifth, beating only Love and Trust and Miss Metoyer, but rounded out the Road to the Kentucky Oaks points scoring. She earned 10 points, while the first four home got 100, 50, 25, 15. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Life of Joy obviously will make the Oaks, as will Bella Ballerina, but while Luv Your Neighbor will have sufficient points to get into the 14-horse Oaks field, she’s far from a sure thing to be aimed at that race. Life of Joy, off splits of 22.34, 46.83, 1:11.10, and 1:35.85, ran 1 1/16-miles in 1:42.27, a stakes record (86 Beyer Speed Figure). Blushing K.D. had run the fastest Fair Grounds Oaks, 1:42.38, in 1997 before going on to win the Kentucky Oaks. The Fair Grounds surface obviously played very fast Saturday, when Touchuponastar set a track record for 1 1/8 miles winning the New Orleans Classic. Life of Joy won by almost 15 lengths in her Indiana debut on Oct. 2, returning 24 days later to capture the Rags to Riches at Churchill by 2 1/4 lengths. Her progression appeared to stall in her last start at age 2, a modest fourth in the Golden Rod at Churchill, and she finished a well-beaten second behind Zany, who probably rates as the early Oaks favorite, making her 3-year-old bow Feb. 7 in the Suncoast at Tampa Bay. Flavien Prat rode Life of Joy for the first time at Tampa and was back aboard at Fair Grounds, and Prat said the slow-paced Suncoast did not at all suit his filly. “They went a lot faster today – they weren’t flying – and that really helped my filly,” Prat said. The setup helped, but Life of Joy just has turned a corner. Cox especially noticed that in a March 7 breeze at Payson Park. “Her work two weeks ago was phenomenal,” Cox said. Life of Joy traveled well throughout the race and went to the half-mile pole and into the far turn with only Newtown Pike behind her. She began gaining ground at the seven-sixteenths pole and had really revved up by the five-sixteenths and, after cornering for home at the quarter pole, Life of Joy looked like the sure winner she proved to be. Bella Ballerina took her first defeat in her fourth start after landing the Golden Rod and the Rachel Alexandra here last month. She broke decently enough under Tyler Gaffalione, but raced keenly around the clubhouse turn and onto the backstretch. “Tyler said she wanted to do a little bit too much,” trainer Brendan Walsh said. “She decelerated a little bit when she turned for home, and then she saw the other filly and kind of picked it up again, but it was too late. Look, she ran a good race.” Bella Ballerina switched to her wrong lead past the eighth pole, but Walsh said that was nothing new for the filly. She did, for what it’s worth, rapidly gallop out past Life of Joy going around the clubhouse turn. Walsh also noted that Bella Ballerina’s sister, Pretty Mischievous, won the Oaks after finishing second in this race. Life of Joy campaigns for Will Stroud, Andrew Farm, Mountmellick Farm, and For the People Racing Stable. She’s by Gun Runner out the Malibu Moon mare Jordan’s Leo and was bred in Kentucky by Springhouse Farm. No trips to Indiana in her near future. Life of Joy ships to Kentucky in coming days. Cox has won the Oaks three times in all, and this filly appears to be getting good at just the right time. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.