Kentucky Oaks 2026 Entries, Horses, Odds, and Predictions

Kentucky Oaks 2026

Friday night’s main event during Kentucky Derby Weekend at Churchill Downs is the Kentucky Oaks, a battle of 3-year-old fillies running for a garland blanket of lilies and a whole lot of money. This 1 ⅛-mile run under the twin spires is set for a very late 8:40 p.m. ET post time as the final race of 13 on the Friday program.

It will be a crowded starting gate again this year with 14 horses in the field. Bottle of Rouge dropped out early in the week, creating a spot for long shot Lovely Grey, then My Miss Mo and Bella Ballerina followed, allowing Nycon and Resist into the field. Based on the highly competitive odds in this field, there are a lot of horses that have a chance to win, as we don’t have a huge standout just yet among this year’s 3-year-old fillies.

Kentucky Oaks 2026 Entries, Horses, Jockeys, and Trainers:

Favorite Good Cheer rolled to victory for trainer Brad Cox last year, as he picked up his third career Oaks win and all of them have come since he had Monomoy Girl in 2018. Cox has one runner in this year’s field with Prom Queen, who will have Javier Castellano in the mount. The daughter of Quality Road hasn’t run anywhere other than Gulfstream Park yet, where she won the Gulfstream Park Oaks in late March by nearly three lengths over My Miss Mo, who drew Post 6 in this field.

Like Cox, world-renowned trainer Todd Pletcher has one entry in the Oaks. Following the post draw, Zany was the tepid 4-1 favorite on the morning line after coming up short in the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland last month to fan favorite Percy’s Bar. Zany was the clear favorite in the Ashland and had an okay trip, but she suffered her first defeat in four races despite good speed numbers. The daughter of American Pharoah won the Grade 2 Demoiselle at Aqueduct before wintering in Florida, which is significant because that race is the same 1 ⅛-mile distance as this one.

Percy’s Bar is a fascinating horse in this race. Named after longtime Churchill Downs and Keeneland bartender Percy Pool, some sentimental money and bets in his family’s honor were likely to drive the price down on race day no matter what, but her win in the Ashland for trainer Ben Colebrook was the third of her career and a very impressive performance off the shelf following a show finish in the Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar last Halloween before shutting it down for the winter. She’s not just a good story; she’s a real factor.

Two of the other Juvenile Fillies runners are in this race with Explora on the rail and Meaning in the 5 slot. Explora, the favorite, ran second at Del Mar that day and Meaning ran fourth to hit the board while priced around 12-1. Explora has already run three times this year with two wins and a second, including Flavien Prat’s win in the Honeybee last time out in his first ride after Bob Baffert pivoted from normal California rider Juan Hernandez for the Oaklawn Park prep race. Ironically, Hernandez is riding Meaning for Michael McCarthy, as he was aboard for the Santa Anita Oaks win last month.

The buzz horse this year was Bella Ballerina for Brendan Walsh before she got scratched. The Godolphin-owned daughter of Street Sense and granddaughter of Tapit owns a win at Churchill in the Grade 2 Golden Rod and a Fair Grounds triumph in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes in her 3-year-old debut. She’ll be a horse to keep in mind the rest of the year when she heals.

The other primary contenders are Counting Stars, recently the easy winner of the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn, and Always a Runner, whose win over 1 ⅛ miles in the Gazelle Stakes and good bloodline and connections are likely to induce some wagers. Always a Runner was a very expensive yearling from Gun Runner and Always Carina and did not race as a 2-year-old. She only has two data points, but they’re both very good. She has also bumped a bit at the starting gate, which is not a bad thing given the traffic expected in this field.

Kentucky Oaks Predictions

Ultimately, I’ll be rooting hard for Percy’s Bar like so many others, but the mostly untapped potential of Always a Runner is hard to ignore in a field that seems to have minimal gaps between top contenders. The price should be good on Always a Runner as well, given the love for Bella Ballerina and with what fillies like Explora and Zany have already accomplished.

I originally had Bella Ballerina second, but with her scratch, I moved Zany into the top four.

Picks for the 2026 Kentucky Oaks

9 Always a Runner

11 Percy’s Bar

1 Explora

2 Zany

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