A strong field of 11 fillies will contest the Grade 1, $1 million Kentucky Oaks Friday at Churchill Downs.
“It’s all pretty darn scary from where I’m standing,” trainer Sal Santoro, who will send out multiple graded stakes winner Rose to Gold, said of the depth of the field, which is headed by morning-line favorite Dreaming of Julia.
Below is a closer look at the individual pedigrees and backgrounds of this year's Kentucky Oaks entrants, in post position order.
Alhaarth, a champion racehorse who went on to sire such Group 1 winners as Haafhd and Phoenix Reach, has been pensioned from stud duty due to what Derrinstown Stud in Co. Kildare, Ireland, described as “an ongoing cardiac condition.”
Derrinstown announced Alhaarth’s pensioning Tuesday, just days after his son Mourayan won Australia’s Group 1 Sydney Cup.
As the racing world’s spotlight shifted to Louisville, Ky., in anticipation of the Kentucky Derby, two members of the handicap division scored triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in standout performances.
Group 1 winner and Grade 1-placed Crowded House has been retired and will stand at Wattle Grove Stud in Berrima, New South Wales, Australia, for the Southern Hemisphere season.
The 7-year-old Rainbow Quest horse was added to the Wattle Grove roster to replace sires Hellenus, who died earlier this month, and Shellscape, who was withdrawn from stud duty after his foals were both without tails, according to a Racing Post report.
Passion for Gold, a Group 1 winner in France for Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum’s Godolphin operation, has been sold to begin his stallion career at Jose Luis Gatica’s Haras Puerta de Hierro in Chile, Racing Post reports.
The 6-year-old son of Medaglia d’Oro retired from racing at the end of his 2011 campaign, following a career where he won three of seven races for earnings of $268,125.
The Old Friends equine retirement facility in Georgetown, Ky., will host its ninth annual Old Friends Homecoming event and fundraiser at its Dream Chase Farm on May 5.
The party will start at 3 p.m. and will feature a barbecue dinner by Furlongs Catering, live bluegrass music by Shades of Grass, farm tours, and live and silent auctions including racing memorabilia, stallion halters, jewelry, fine art, and more.
Courtesy Gainesway FarmTapit
Wood Memorial runner-up Normandy Invasion is looking to give Rick Porter his first Kentucky Derby victory after the owner came close twice before, and could give trainer Chad Brown his first win in the classic in his first attempt.
Richard Bremer and Cheryl Sprick swept the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and Charles Bellingham awards for breeders of the year during the Minnesota Thoroughbred Association’s annual awards dinner Saturday night to honor the champions of 2012.
Bremer and Sprick’s homebreds Bet Your Life and Badge of Glory were also voted top 2-year old male and female, respectively.
It took Darby Dan homebred Chateaugay 2:01 4/5 to complete the 1963 Kentucky Derby and give John Galbreath his first classic victory. But Galbreath’s trip to Churchill Downs had started in earnest back in 1957, when he gradually convinced Rex Ellsworth to sell him Swaps, a half-interest at a time over the course of a year, for a total of $2 million.
