Kentucky Oaks Odds & Preview: Malahaat, Search Results & Travel Column Enter as Top Favorites

• Friday’s $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks is the biggest race of the year for fillies
• No big favorite has emerged allowing handicappers to get a decent price on whoever they like
• Trainer Brad Cox is looking to win the Oaks for a third time in four years

Last year’s Kentucky Oaks was both bizarre and shocking.

The 2020 Oaks was contested in September instead of May because of COVID-19, and Shedaresthedevil shocked heavy favorites Gamine and Swiss Skydiver using an Oaks record time to score the upset.

There will be nothing as eye-opening on Friday. This year’s Oaks has no huge favorite, though several contenders possess strong resumes.

Let’s look carefully at Friday’s field at Churchill Downs, briefly look at some of the other races on a massive card, and see where we can find betting value.

2021 Kentucky Oaks Odds

Odds as of April 30

The mile-and-an-eighth Lillies for the Fillies has been run since 1875. The weather in Louisville is slated to be in the 60’s with a chance of rain in the morning. Post time is scheduled for 5:51 pm EST. The race is being televised by NBC Sports Network.

Trainer Brad Cox and jockey Florent Geroux teamed up to win the Oaks last year with Shedaresthedevil. It was their second victory in the Oaks. They got to the finish line first with Monomoy Girl in 2018.

Recently longshots have done well in the Oaks. No favorite has won in the last six years and back-to-back winners have been 15/1 and 13/1. Over the past 10 runnings, the chalk has two victories, while four times the horse who prospered was 10/1 or more. Check out the best derby racebooks and see what prices are out there.

Favorites

Cox and Geroux send out Travel Column. He has three wins in five starts. Travel Column has won both of her races at Churchill Downs, and last time out won as the favorite in the Fair Grounds Oaks.

Travel Column was originally bred for $25,000 and then sold at auction for $850,000. The daughter of Whitney Handicap winner Frosted, she should sit a good trip just off the pace.

Malathaat is even pricier than Travel Column. Bred for $175,000, she was sold for $1.05 million at the September Keeneland auction. She is four-for-four, and back, where it all started in Lexington, got up in her 2021 debut four weeks ago.

Trained by three-time Oaks champion Todd Pletcher, Malathaat has never faced more than five rivals in an individual race. The daughter of Breeders Cup Classic winner Curlin, she has won on the lead, and off the pace.

Contenders

Crazy Beautiful tends to do her best running late. A three-time winner in seven tries, she had plenty left down the stretch last time out in the Gulfstream Park Oaks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCe8BaUiIfQ

While Crazy Beautiful certainly looked the part last time out, two of her victories are at Ellis Park, where she didn’t face the top competition. Her speed figures are not as lofty as several other contenders.

Unbeaten Search Results did not make her career debut until January. She has never run outside of New York. Her first try at two turns was a dominating effort in the Gazelle Stakes.

It is unclear whether Search Results wants more distance or tougher competition, but doubting trainer Chad Brown, and owner Seth Klarman is a dangerous approach.

Longshots

Several horses exit Oaklawn Park’s Fantasy Stakes. Paulines Pearl was the favorite, and just barely held off Ava’s Grace and Coach.

Paulines Pearl is trained by two-time Oaks winning trainer Steve Asmussen. She has taken big steps forward in each of her last two races. Another positive move and who knows.

Coach is trained by Cox and may benefit from the extra distance.

Pass the Champagne did not debut until January, changed trainers to veteran George Weaver before winning for the first time in February, and gave Malathaat all she wanted in the Ashland. If that was an example of how she’ll run around two turns, the speed figures are strong, and the price is right too.

Kentucky Oaks Best Bet

This is a pretty open affair, but there is a lot to like about Malathaat. She is unbeaten, has gotten better in each of her four races, is incredibly well-bred, and trained by a Hall of Famer. The price is reasonable, and there are bigger questions about everyone else.

Pick: Malathaat (+250)

Friday’s Other Graded Stakes Races

Three Grade 2 events and a second Grade 1 make-up the Oaks undercard. Whether it be in horizontal wagers or playing them individually, they are high-quality affairs with strong betting opportunities.

Alysheba

Maxfield is going to be a huge favorite and should be against five rivals going a mile-and-a-sixteenth.

Maxfield was going to be among the Kentucky Derby favorites last year but got injured. After starting his career five-for-five he lost in March going a mile-and-a-quarter at Santa Anita.

The only issue Maxfield could have is pace. There isn’t any entered in this race. Roadster, the best alternative is not exactly a speed horse, but Bob Baffert had him forwardly placed in his 2021 debut, and that could be the path to steal this race.

Pick: Maxfield

Edgewood

If Aunt Pearl’s 2021 debut looks anything like her three races last year she will be a deserving huge favorite in this mile-and-a-sixteenth test on the turf for fillies.

Aunt Pearl is unbeaten and only faces six challengers. Pletcher’s Zaajel is trying turf for the first time. British-born Gift List made a good move in her stateside debut finishing second to the very talented Jouster at the start of this month.

Pick: Aunt Pearl

La Troienne

In September Shedaresthedevil not only won the Kentucky Oaks but set the race record-beating heavily favored Gamine and Swiss Skydiver.

Shedaresthedevil is three-for-three at Churchill Downs and has won four-of-six at today’s mile-and-a-sixteenth distance. That said, she has one victory in two tries since the Oaks and will race with lasix for the first time on Friday.

Dunbar Road is a year older than Shedaresthedevil and may sit a perfect trip off a quick early pace. Paris Lights is four-for-five all time and while she hasn’t beaten this quality of horse, clearly was prepping for this race by winning a shorter event in New York four weeks ago. Finite loves Churchill Downs too and has been running competitively against top competition.

Pick: Dunbar Road

8 Belles

Dayoutoftheoffice is the headliner in this competitive seven-furlong dirt event for three-year-old fillies. Her 2021 debut comes after nearly six months off following her lone loss, in the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies.

There is a ton of speed entered here, with Dayoutoftheoffice likely to be tested early on by Baffert’s Kalypso, Windmill, and several others. Abrogate and Windmill ran a very tight strong race against each other on April 3, Abrogate won while Windmill seemed out of gas after six furlongs. Slumber Party is really interesting too. After a breathtaking win in her debut, she was blocked on the turn and was running late finishing second in a stakes race at Keeneland on April 2.

Pick: Slumber Party

Turf Sprint

Could we get a repeat of September’s version of this five-and-a-half furlong blitz on the grass?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJEY-AxMUBk

Diamond Oops won six months ago but is a truly strange entrant. He hasn’t run since December, and more often than not runs on dirt and in longer races. That said, he obviously is capable on the turf if the pace is fast enough.

The tempo should be quick since Just Might and Fiya are in the field though neither has won in Louisville. Fast Boat and Carotari have tactical speed and are coming off of wins. This could be a good spot for Sombeyay, who should be in a position to pounce when the early speed stops and loves working with jockey Flavien Prat.

Pick: Diamond Oops