The Kentucky Derby is just one of two major races Churchill Downs will host next weekend. On Friday, May 3, the Louisville track will welcome the nation’s best 3-year-old fillies, young female horses for the annual running of the Kentucky Oaks.
Post positions for the field of up to 14 will be drawn Saturday night, and just like the Derby, the Oaks, nicknamed the Lillies for the Fillies for the garland of flowers draped across the winner, uses a series of prep races with points going to the top horses in each race.
Over the years, Oaks Day has become a major event for Churchill and Kentucky sports betting. More than 100,000 racing fans will gather at the track to watch and wager on the horses and maybe check out some of the fashions worn by others in the crowd.
BetKentucky.com, home to all Kentucky Derby odds, wanted to know what other states were excited about this year’s edition of the Oaks. Then, based on the projected field, we identified which horse was generating the most buzz.
States Most Excited For The Kentucky Oaks
The search interest score is generated by comparing the phrase or name to other topics. The search period was from March 24 to April 23. The horses listed below may still be withdrawn from the race.
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Most Anticipated Racehorse
Brad Cox Fillies Popular
Tarifa may very well be the horse to beat next Friday evening. The Brad Cox-trained filly has won all three of her races this year and 4 of 5 over her career. In her last race, the March 23 Fair Grounds Oaks at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, she took the lead at the top of the stretch and beat Our Pretty Woman by three-quarters of a length.
In futures wagering offered by Churchill Downs from March 15-17, Tarifa finished as the bettors’ third choice with odds of 11-1. Her odds in the Oaks will likely be shorter than that.
Another Cox horse drawing interest is Gin Gin. She has two wins in seven starts and finished third in her last race, the Gazelle Stakes at New York’s Aqueduct on April 6, 10 lengths behind winner Where’s My Ring. She ran wide throughout the race but still rallied to show. Gin Gin could make some futures bettors very happy if she wins the Oaks. She finished last month’s futures pool with odds of 79-1.
New Contenders Drawing Interest
The Gazelle was the first win for Where’s My Ring, as her previous eight starts took place in California. She stalked the leaders until the final turn and ran away from Regulatory Risk and Gin Gin in the final furlong.
Where’s My Ring was not listed in last month’s futures pool, so those bettors who played the field, which gives you all the unnamed fillies, could come away with a nice payday should the Val Brinkerhoff make it two wins in a row. The field’s odds were 12-1.
Regulatory Risk made her graded stakes debut in the Gazelle and earned enough points to finish ninth on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard. The Chad Brown-trained filly has just one career win, coming on Dec. 30 in a maiden race. Like Where’s My Ring, Regulatory Risk was not among the horses on the last Oaks futures board, meaning field bettors would cash in if she won, too.
Leslie’s Rose Seeks The Lillies
In her last race, the Ashland at Keeneland on April 5, Leslie’s Rose earned her third victory in four starts and her first in a graded stakes. She tailed the lead pack for the first half of the race and managed to drive between horses down the stretch to claim a three-length victory. Futures bettors got 31-1 odds on the Todd Pletcher-trained filly last month.
Wagering for next Friday’s Oaks will begin on Tuesday. Bets can be placed at Churchill Downs, other participating tracks or online through an advance-deposit wagering platform like TwinSpires or FanDuel Racing.
Keep visiting BetKentucky.com for more analysis and insight leading up to the big races next weekend, including our updated Top 4 Best Horse Betting Apps April 2024 page.
USA Today photo by Grace Hollars.
