Rags to Riches

This is the 133rd running of The $500,000 Grade I Kentucky Oaks.

#1 - DAWN AFTER DAWN: All of her success has come on the turf.

Well, Kentucky Oaks Day is finally here and I am excited to be going out to Churchill Downs to be part of a crowd in excess of 100,000 to see a great day of racing.

So to all 11 of you reading this – including those seven loyal members of the family – here will be my stabs for tomorrow’s Oaks. We’ll put it on the record and there either will be no complaints – or, perhaps, many.

To me, there’s no question that Rags to Riches is the most talented filly in the Oaks field and the most likely to win.

While the decision as to I'll be beting on in the Oaks has yet to be determined, a couple of horses that will be thrown out have been decided upon.

So we’ve got a baker’s dozen plus one in the 133rd Oaks, a most interesting race and the key, natch, to the Oaks – Derby double.

Rags to Riches drew the 11 post this morning in a full field of 14 fillies for the Kentucky Oaks.

Just a quickie, Oaks fans. Wrote a long-winded blog over on the Derby site -- and if you care at all, you can give it a read.

So, we know Rags To Riches will be favored.  Octave will also get support.  But I think another filly trained by Todd Pletcher has a chance to score at a big price.

Some little chestnuts (sounds better than acorns) en route to that big Oak(s):

While I have may have been guilty a few weeks ago in conceding the Kentucky Oaks to Rags to Riches, what has transpired since has given me cause to have a 're-think'.

There was that note out of Keeneland about the works Sunday morning.

So Rags to Riches you know about.

Magnificience is.  She is incredible.  The most impressive two-race start to a career that this observer can remember.

The saying goes , "you need to fight fire with fire". Translate that to horse terms and you need to beat Pletcher with Pletcher.

So for better or worse --- and obviously her people will take the better on that one – Rags to Riches will not be seen in her racing armor between now and May 4, when she will come out of the big paddock at Churchill Downs the likely favorite in the 133rd Kentucky Oaks.

I understand that Rags To Riches has already been crowned winner of the Kentucky Oaks (unless of course she runs in the Derby), but there's no reason we can't try to figure out who will complete the exacta on the first Friday in May, is there?

While the boys haven't shown much ability in Dubai this winter, three-year-old filly Folk has flashed serious talent in taking a pair of stakes events after shipping over from the U.S. 

With her third straight tally – this time in the Grade I Santa Anita Oaks on Sunday – Rags to Riches now has everyone’s attention on the Kentucky Oaks trail. If she’s not your favorite for the race right now, you’ve got hopes that far exceed expectations, or a pipeline to the Big Guy up above the stars.

As the second of the Oaks future pools is now underway with Rags To Riches a short priced favorite ,I 'm looking for a filly who may fly under the radar.

So the racing office staff is out shaking trees on the backstretch at Santa Anita hoping that a spare 3-year-old filly or two might fall out. They need a couple of extra for next Sunday’s Grade I Santa Anita Oaks at a mile and one sixteenth.

It is a scientific fact that girls develop at a much faster pace than boys. In elementary and middle school I could outrun and outjump any of the boys on our track team with ease.