Its Oaks Day and the running of the 145th Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs, which for non Racing Fans is the female version of the Kentucky Derby. A complete field of 14 will take their place in the barriers to run in this year’s running of the race, which has a local post time of 6:12 PM ET. This year’s race on paper looks to be a lot easier than past editions, the 145th Kentucky Oaks features a heavy favorite, with California star Bellafina set as the 2/1 dominant betting selection. See our top pick and Best Bet from our Top Rated Horse Racing Handicapper below.
Kentucky Oaks Final Field Odds & Betting
| PP # | HORSE | JOCKEY | TRAINER | ML ODDS | RD RANK |
| 1 | Out for a Spin (Hard Spun) | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | Dallas Stewart | 15-1 | 8 |
| 2 | Chocolate Kisses (Candy Ride) | Julien Leparoux | Mark Casse | 20-1 | 14 |
| 3 | Lady Apple (Curlin) | Ricardo Santana, Jr. | Steve Asmussen | 20-1 | 3 |
| 4 | Bellafina (Quality Road) | Flavien Prat | Simon Callaghan | 2-1 | 1 |
| 5 | Flor de la Mar (Tiznow) | Joel Rosario | Bob Baffert | 20-1 | 11 |
| 6 | Positive Spirit (Pioneerof the Nile) | Manny Franco | Rodolophe Brisset | 30-1 | 12 |
| 7 | Jaywalk (Cross Traffic) | Javier Castellano | John Servis | 8-1 | 9 |
| 8 | Motion Emotion (Take Charge Indy) | Mike Smith | Tom Van Berg | 15-1 | NR |
| 9 | Liora (Candy Ride) | Channing Hill | Wayne M. Catalano | 20-1 | 4 |
| 10 | Champagne Anyone (Street Sense) | Chris Landeros | Ian Wilkes | 6-1 | 7 |
| 11 | Jeltrin (Tapizar) | Luis Saez | Alexis Delgado | 15-1 | 10 |
| 12 | Street Band (Istan) | Sophie Doyle | Larry Jones | 15-1 | 2 |
| 13 | Serengeti Empress (Alternation) | Jose Ortiz | Tom Amoss | 8-1 | 6 |
| 14 | Restless Rider (Distorted Humor) | Brian Hernandez, Jr. | Kenny McPeek | 6-1 | 5 |
Kentucky Oaks Winner & Best Bet
4 Bellafina +200 – No surprises here. She is easily the deserving favorite and top selection. We often try to make cases for other runners but to me this is very straight forward.
Bellafina comes into this race off of a blowout victory in the Santa Anita Oaks (G1), which was her third straight win. Overall she has six graded stakes wins on her resume, including three Grade 1 triumphs. She is undefeated this year, with all of her wins coming at Santa Anita. Flavien Prat has the mount once again for this race, breaking from post 4.
The only case you could make against her is her failure at the Churchill Downs in the Breeders Cup. I’ve drawn a line through her performance in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Stakes (G1), with her being “in heat” that day, so the poor performance at Churchill Downs shouldn’t be a worry. On talent alone, she is by far the winner and Best Bet of the 145th running of the Kentucky Oaks.
