Sticker Shock's likely next start is Fantasy as Kentucky Oaks prep

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Sticker Shock is likely to make her next start in a major Kentucky Oaks prep after a recent allowance win at Oaklawn Park.

Trainer Brad Cox said she is now a candidate for the Grade 2, $1 million Fantasy. The 1 1/16-mile race will be run March 27 at Oaklawn.

Sticker Shock won at the distance Feb. 26 to remain unbeaten at two turns. The start was her first against winners after she accounted for a maiden special weight at 1 1/16 miles on Nov. 29 at Churchill Downs.

In her only other start, Sticker Shock was third in a maiden special weight sprint at Keeneland. In the first-level allowance win at Oaklawn, she defeated a quality field and earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 87.

“She ran really well,” Cox said. “I freshened her up a little bit in December. I didn’t get in a hurry with her. I thought she ran hard at Churchill. I thought she ran really well the other day, had to fend off a filly, hadn’t run since late November. Big effort, and I’d say the Fantasy is probably the next spot for her.”

The purse of the Fantasy has been boosted to seven figures this meet after being worth $750,000. The race offers Kentucky Oaks points to its first five finishers on a scale of 100-50-25-15-10.

Sticker Shock is a daughter of Uncle Mo who races for her breeders, Gary and Mary West. She is a half-sister to Fighting Mad, whose most notable career win came in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch in 2020 at Del Mar.

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