The $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) May 2 at Churchill Downs is the premier dirt race for 3-year-old fillies in North America, a 1 1/8-mile test that goes a long way toward determining the Eclipse Award in the division and often serves as a springboard to stardom.
The 151st Kentucky Oaks will be broadcast live by NBC Sports on USA Network and will also air on FanDuel TV.
Read on for more information on the contenders for the 2025 Kentucky Oaks. Whether you just want to learn a little more about the fillies or bet a few dollars on the race, the Kentucky Oaks Cheat Sheet is a valuable resource for this marquee race.
1. Early On (30-1 morning-line odds)
Jockey: Edgard Zayas
Trainer: Saffie Joseph Jr.
Owners: C2 Racing Stable, Ken Reimer, Paul Braverman, Timothy Pinch, and Bradley Kent
Career record: 6 starts - 1 win - 3 seconds - 1 third
Career earnings: $162,200
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 88
Kentucky Oaks points: 75
Pedigree: Union Rags —Sally O'Brien, by Distorted Humor
Color: Bay
Running style: Stalker
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Extra distance seemed to bring out the best in Early On, who earned her first victory in her fourth race when stretching out from sprints to 1 1/16 miles Feb. 5 at Gulfstream Park. She stalked an easy pace in that maiden race and then powered away to win by 5 1/4 lengths. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. was encouraged enough by the win to test the Union Rags filly against stakes competition and she finished second by a half-length to Fondly in the $250,000 Virginia Oaks and then second by a nose to Ballerina d'Oro in the 1 1/8-mile Gazelle Stakes (G3) April 5. Early On is versatile in terms of running style as she is comfortable pressing the pace, stalking, and closing. Her speed figures are a cut below the top Kentucky Oaks win contenders, however, meaning she will need to take a significant step forward to have a chance at a victory in the Churchill Downs stretch.
2. Simply Joking (10-1)
Jockey: Florent Geroux
Trainer: Whit Beckman
Owners: Grantley Acres, Ryan Conner, and Berkels0813
Career record: 3 starts - 2 wins - 1 second - 0 thirds
Career earnings: $288,000
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 98
Kentucky Oaks points: 70
Pedigree: Practical Joke —Imply, by E Dubai
Color: Bay
Running style: Pacesetter
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Trainer Whit Beckman no doubt thought highly of Simply Joking as she made her career debut in the Letellier Memorial Stakes and overcame a troubled start to reward his confidence with a victory by a neck Dec. 21 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. Next up was a start on the Kentucky Oaks trail, stretching out to two turns, and racing on an "off" track in the $150,000 Silverbulletday Stakes and she aced all three tests with a front-running 2 1/2-length win on a sloppy track Jan. 18. The Practical Joke filly met her match when facing fellow Kentucky Oaks contender Quietside in the grade 2, $750,000 Fantasy Stakes March 29, giving way grudgingly late when second by three-quarters of a length. The half sister to 2024 Jerome Stakes winner Drum Roll Please from the family of Hall of Famer Holy Bull might be light on experience, but she has no shortage of talent and has increased her Equibase Speed Figure in all three starts. This is a serious filly and a bona-fide win candidate who could be an appealing price in the Kentucky Oaks under two-time winner Florent Geroux.
3. Fondly (30-1)
Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.
Trainer: Graham Motion
Owner: Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners
Career record: 2 starts - 2 wins - 0 seconds - 0 thirds
Career earnings: $169,200
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 87
Kentucky Oaks points: 50
Pedigree: Upstart —Lifetime Memory, by Istan
Color: Bay
Running style: Stalker/press the pace
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Fondly is the most lightly raced filly in the 2025 Kentucky Oaks field with only two starts to her credit, but she has won both of them and could be a prospect for this year's race with significant upside. She won her debut from off the pace by four lengths Feb. 14 at Tampa Bay Downs in a seven-eighths of a mile sprint and then pressed the pace in the 1 1/16-mile Virginia Oaks in her stakes debut and held off Early On to prevail by a half-length. The Virginia Oaks victory was flattered when fellow Oaks contender Early On returned and finished second by a nose to Ballerina d'Oro in the Gazelle Stakes April 5 at Aqueduct. A half sister to 2024 Peter Pan Stakes (G3) winner Antiquarian, Fondly is eligible to improve in her third start of the year after taking a small step forward in terms of speed figures in the Virginia Oaks ... and she will need to in order to be a win candidate in the Kentucky Oaks. Fondly would need to boost her top Equibase Speed Figure by about 15-20 points to be a serious threat to win the Kentucky Oaks. It's possible for a lightly raced filly to take a big jump in her third race but this is a tough cast of fillies Fondly is facing on the biggest of stages.
4. Drexel Hill (30-1)
Jockey: Ben Curtis
Trainer: Whit Beckman
Owner: Legion Racing
Career record: 7 starts - 2 wins - 2 seconds - 1 third
Career earnings: $180,520
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 90
Kentucky Oaks points: 57
Pedigree: Bolt d'Oro —Ascot Walk, by Daaher
Color: Dark bay or brown
Running style: Closer/stalker
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Drexel Hill is named for a suburb of Philadelphia in Upper Darby Township, Pa., where one of her co-owners, Ed Stefanski, a retired NBA player and longtime NBA executive, was born. She earned a spot in the Kentucky Oaks with a third-place finish in the $150,000 Silverbulletday followed by a three-quarter-length win in the one-mile Busher Stakes March 1 at Aqueduct. Drexel Hill is another whose off-the-pace running style could be beneficial given the number of speed horses entered in the race, but she has yet to win a race longer than a mile or post an Equibase Speed Figure higher than 90. She earned her top speed figure when 2 3/4 lengths behind fellow Kentucky Oaks contender Simply Joking in the Silverbulletday, and would need to take a 10-15-point jump in the Kentucky Oaks to win the race. There should be plenty of value if you like Drexel Hill's chances or perhaps are a fan of Stefanski's current employer, the Detroit Pistons, as she profiles as a longshot with a chance to improve in her third start of the year.
5. Quickick (30-1)
Jockey: Umberto Rispoli
Trainer: Tom Amoss
Owner: Greenwell Thoroughbreds
Career record: 6 starts - 1 win - 1 second - 2 thirds
Career earnings: $396,000
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 91
Kentucky Oaks points: 34
Pedigree: McKinzie —Graeme Six, by Graeme Hall
Color: Bay
Running style: Closer
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Last year's Alcibiades Stakes (G1) runner-up and the third-place finisher in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), Quickick has not progressed so far in 2025 as a 3-year-old. After placing in those two important grade 1 races at 2, she finished fifth and beaten by eight lengths in the Honeybee Stakes (G3) Feb. 23 at Oaklawn Park in her season debut for trainer Tom Amoss. That was her first start after more than 3 1/2 months off, so there was a built-in explanation for a flat effort, but she subsequently ran fourth, seven lengths behind winner Good Cheer, in the $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) March 22. Quickick did earn a career-top 91 Equibase Speed Figure in the Fair Grounds Oaks, bettering by a point the figure she earned in the 2024 Breeders' Cup, but that still is about 15 points less than what she would realistically need to win the Kentucky Oaks. She is eligible to take a step forward in her third race of the year after the long layoff, but that is significant real estate to make up on probable Oaks favorite Good Cheer. The reality is Quickick has thus far lacked the late punch she showed in the stretch as a 2-year-old for Amoss, who won this race in 2019 with Serengeti Empress.
6. Ballerina d'Oro (10-1)
Jockey: Flavien Prat
Trainer: Chad Brown
Owner: Rodeo Creek Racing
Career record: 6 starts - 2 wins - 1 second - 1 third
Career earnings: $286,975
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 95
Kentucky Oaks points: 116.25
Pedigree: Medaglia d'Oro —In the Moonlight, by Tapit
Color: Gray or roan
Running style: Stalker/closer
Notable achievements and interesting facts: While Ballerina d'Oro's résumé looks a little up-and-down compared with some of the other leading Kentucky Oaks contenders, that can be explained by the fact that she made her first three starts on the grass. In three dirt races since December, Ballerina d'Oro has finished second in the 1 1/8-mile Demoiselle Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct, third in the Davona Dale Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream, and won the 1 1/8-mile Gazelle at Aqueduct in her final prep for the Kentucky Oaks held at the same distance. The Gazelle gave Ballerina d'Oro a pair of quality starts at 1 1/8 miles complemented by a stamina-laden pedigree, and she should benefit from a solid pace to set up her off-the-pace running style. However, Ballerina d'Oro's speed figures indicate she would need to take a step forward to win the Kentucky Oaks—her career top of 95 was earned in the Demoiselle and she would need to boost the 89 she earned most recently in the Gazelle by about 10-15 points to win.
7. La Cara (6-1)
Jockey: Dylan Davis
Trainer: Mark Casse
Owner: Tracy Farmer
Career record: 9 starts - 4 wins - 2 seconds - 0 thirds
Career earnings: $866,083
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 105
Kentucky Oaks points: 151.75
Pedigree: Street Sense —Cara Caterina, by Bernardini
Color: Bay
Running style: Press the pace
Notable achievements and interesting facts: La Cara was a bit inconsistent as a 2-year-old while showing signs of ability, including back-to-back wins capped by a three-quarter-length victory in the $300,000 Pocahontas Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs. She also showed some versatility at 2, winning while setting the pace and also rallying from seventh in the Pocahontas. La Cara looks like an improved filly this year with stakes wins in the Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and the grade 1 Ashland Stakes April 7 at Keeneland sandwiched around a second-place finish in the Davona Dale at Gulfstream. La Cara led every step of the way in winning the Ashland by 1 1/4 lengths to earn a career-best 105 Equibase Speed Figure. This filly by 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense out of a full sister to multiple grade 1 winner To Honor and Serve, by Bernardini, is bred to excel at longer distances and profiles as a major win candidate with even a small improvement May 2 at Churchill.
8. Five G (12-1)
Jockey: Manny Franco
Trainer: George Weaver
Owner: Gatsas Stables
Career record: 6 starts - 3 wins - 2 seconds - 0 thirds
Career earnings: $393,740
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 97
Kentucky Oaks points: 125
Pedigree: Vekoma —Triumphant, by Quality Road
Color: Bay
Running style: Pacesetter
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Five G started her career unplaced in a sprint and then ran well with a win and a second on the grass, but she has emerged as a 3-year-old when finding a home on the dirt in races at a mile or longer. The bay filly stormed to a nine-length romp on New Year's Day in the Cash Run Stakes at Gulfstream. She subsequently finished second by a length to one of the leading Kentucky Oaks contenders, Quietside, in the Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn before dominating the $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks by 2 1/4 lengths while leading from start to finish March 29. The Vekoma filly has shown a preference for setting the pace, which figures to be a challenge in a Kentucky Oaks that looks like it will have plenty of speed. Five G very likely will need to boost her Equibase Speed Figure by 5-8 points to be a viable win threat, but she'll be making her fourth start of the year on five weeks rest and could be a 3-year-old filly poised for a peak effort.
9. Tenma (12-1)
Jockey: Juan Hernandez
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Owner: Baoma Corp.
Career record: 6 starts - 5 wins - 0 seconds - 1 third
Career earnings: $549,000
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 101
Kentucky Oaks points: 108
Pedigree: Nyquist —Amagansett, by Tapit
Color: Dark bay or brown
Running style: Press the pace
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Tenma is the top West Coast Kentucky Oaks contender as she enters off of three straight graded stakes wins by margins ranging from 1 3/4 lengths to 6 1/2 lengths for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who won this race with Silverbulletday (1999), Plum Pretty (2011), and Abel Tasman (2017). Tenma has won on the lead, pressing the pace, stalking, and closing (early in her career in sprints), so versatility is an asset for the talented Nyquist filly. She posted a scintillating 6 1/2-length romp in the one-mile Las Virgenes Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park that earned her a career-best 101 Equibase Speed Figure, but took a step back in terms of speed figures with an 85 for winning the Santa Anita Oaks (G1) April 5 in her final prep for the Kentucky Oaks. Her final eighth of a mile in :14.38 in the Santa Anita Oaks is most concerning as she attempts to stretch out in distance from 1 1/16 miles to 1 1/8 miles for the first time. Tenma's Santa Anita Oaks left me wanting a bit more but it's risky to discount a Baffert entrant in a marquee dirt race for 3-year-olds.
10. Take Charge Milady (12-1)
Jockey: Brian J. Hernandez Jr.
Trainer: Ken McPeek
Owners: James Ball, Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek), and Kenneth Rhodes
Career record: 6 starts - 2 wins - 2 seconds - 0 thirds
Career earnings: $416,469
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 103
Kentucky Oaks points: 70
Pedigree: Take Charge Indy —Price too High, by Scat Daddy
Color: Dark bay or brown
Running style: Closer/stalker
Notable achievements and interesting facts: The jockey-trainer tandem of Brian Hernandez Jr. and Kenny McPeek celebrated a win in the Kentucky Oaks a year ago with eventual Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna. They will try for a repeat in this race in 2025 with Take Charge Milady, who doesn't have as strong of a résumé as Thorpedo Anna had but is a quality filly in her own right. She opened her 3-year-old season with back-to-back wins at Oaklawn, the second of which was a 5 3/4-length romp in the $300,000 Martha Washington Stakes. Take Charge Milady endured a brutal trip in the Honeybee Stakes in her next start, getting pinched back at the start and finding traffic on the first turn while dropping back to trail the 13-horse field. She bounced back with a runner-up finish in the Ashland Stakes April 7, so I'm inclined to draw a line through the Honeybee and attribute that poor effort to adverse circumstances. Outside of that race, she has two wins and a second in a grade 1 as a 3-year-old with competitive speed figures. Given there is plenty of speed in the race, Take Charge Milady offers value as a filly who should be passing horses late at a solid price.
11. Good Cheer (6-5)
Jockey: Luis Saez
Trainer: Brad Cox
Owner: Godolphin
Career record: 6 starts - 6 wins - 0 seconds - 0 thirds
Career earnings: $877,630
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 102
Kentucky Oaks points: 145
Pedigree: Medaglia d'Oro—Wedding Toast, by Street Sense
Color: Bay
Running style: Stalker
Notable achievements and interesting facts: A superstar in the making? So far, Good Cheer sure has looked the part, winning all six of her races by margins ranging from 2 1/2 lengths to 17 lengths. In total, this Godolphin homebred by Medaglia d'Oro out of multiple grade 1 winner Wedding Toast, by Street Sense, has defeated her opposition by 42 1/2 lengths and has yet to be challenged, including a 3-for-3 record at Churchill. There is plenty of speed in this year's Kentucky Oaks, which should set up well for Good Cheer's stalking running style under jockey Luis Saez, who won the Kentucky Oaks in 2022 with Secret Oath. Likewise, Godolphin owns a Kentucky Oaks win with Pretty Mischievous in 2023 and trainer Brad Cox is seeking his third win after victories in 2018 with Monomoy Girl and 2020 with Shedaresthedevil. If there is one area of concern, Good Cheer's speed figures to date have been good but not great. She certainly does stand out on paper like you might expect from a filly who has overwhelmed her opposition to date on the racetrack, but that could change if she is finally tested in the Kentucky Oaks stretch and it sure looks like a quality field.
12. Anna's Promise (30-1)
Jockey: Junior Alvarado
Trainer: Carlos David
Owner: Bell Racing
Career record: 8 starts - 2 wins - 3 seconds - 0 thirds
Career earnings: $150,854
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 90
Kentucky Oaks points: 50
Pedigree: Promises Fulfilled —Caroline Lois, by Paynter
Color: Chestnut
Running style: Press the pace
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Anna's Promise needed six starts to earn her first victory, winning a maiden-optional claiming race at seven-eighths of a mile by 1 1/4 lengths Feb. 5 at Gulfstream. The Promises Fulfilled filly was claimed out of that race by trainer Carlos David on behalf of William J. Belford's Bell Racing and since then has gone on to win a 1 1/16-mile race at Gulfstream and finish second in the Gulfstream Park Oaks. Anna's Promise finished 2 1/4 lengths behind winner and fellow Kentucky Oaks entrant Five G in the Gulfstream Park Oaks while earning a career-best 90 Equibase Speed Figure. Tactical speed is an asset for Anna's Promise, so she should be up close to the pace in the early stages of the Kentucky Oaks. She would, however, need to improve significantly in her ninth career start to have a chance to factor in the outcome and profiles as a longshot in the race.
13. Bless the Broken (30-1)
Jockey: John Velazquez
Trainer: William Walden
Owners: Cypress Creek Equine and Madaket Stables
Career record: 7 starts - 2 wins - 2 seconds - 1 third
Career earnings: $282,835
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 101
Kentucky Oaks points: 67.5
Pedigree: Laoban—The Nightingale, by Tapit
Color: Dark bay or brown
Running style: Closer/stalker
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Trainer Will Walden was one of the first graduates of the Stable Recovery program, co-founded by Christian Countzler and Frank Taylor of Taylor Made Farm to help those fighting addiction, and several members of his team also participated in the program. Bless the Broken enters the Kentucky Oaks off a career-best effort, rallying from off the pace to win by 2 3/4 lengths March 22 in the Bourbonette Oaks on the all-weather Tapeta Footings surface at Turfway Park. That win earned the Laoban filly a starting spot in the Kentucky Oaks and a career-top 101 Equibase Speed Figure. Bless the Broken had been a bit inconsistent before the Bourbonette Oaks, finishing seventh in the Demoiselle Stakes in December and a distant third in the $300,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2) but also running second to Simply Joking in the Silverbulletday Stakes on a sloppy track in January. With plenty of speed entered in the Kentucky Oaks, the race could set up ideally for an off-the pace runner like Bless the Broken, and this filly produced by a half sister to 2013 Oaks winner Princess of Sylmar has the services of two-time Oaks-winning jockey and Hall of Famer John Velazquez. Bless the Broken should be passing horses late and could finish in the top three with an incremental improvement May 2 at Churchill.
14. Quietside (8-1)
Jockey: Jose Ortiz
Trainer: John Ortiz
Owner: Shortleaf Stable
Career record: 7 starts - 3 wins - 3 seconds - 1 third
Career earnings: $957,200
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 100
Kentucky Oaks points: 168
Pedigree: Malibu Moon—Benner Island, by Speightstown
Color: Dark bay or brown
Running style: Press the pace
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Quietside was very good in the first five starts of her career, debuting with a runaway win and then posting three runner-up finishes and a third, all in important stakes races in her division. She placed in a pair of grade 1 races during that stretch so her class was pretty firmly established entering the grade 3 Honeybee Feb. 23 at Oaklawn. The filly from the final crop of Malibu Moon pressed the pace in the Honeybee and beat a quality field by a length to earn a career-best 98 Equibase Speed Figure. She followed that breakout stakes win with another stakes score using the same pace-pressing tactics in the $750,000 Fantasy (G2), winning by three-quarters of a length March 29 at Oaklawn while improving her speed figure by two points. Produced by grade 2 winner Benner Island, by Speightstown, Quietside enters the Kentucky Oaks in peak form with a big chance to win the race under jockey Jose Ortiz, who guided Serengeti Empress to victory in the 2019 Kentucky Oaks. Quietside finished second to Good Cheer in the Golden Rod Stakes (G2) in November in her lone start at Churchill Downs. She was beaten by 2 1/2 lengths in that race, but Quietside is an improved racehorse approaching a Kentucky Oaks rematch.
