Kentucky Oaks Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

Explore the Kentucky Oaks preview at Churchill Downs, featuring past winners, leading trainers, top jockeys, and key trends. Uncover patterns and insights to enhance your betting strategy for this prestigious 1β…›-mile Grade 1 race for three-year-old fillies.
Kentucky Oaks Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends
Andy Powell
Andy Powell Content Editor

Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.

2026 Kentucky Oaks Preview

The Kentucky Oaks is held each May at the Churchill Downs Racecourse, the Grade 1 is open to three-year-old fillies only and is run over one mile and one furlong.

The race was established in 1875 and is usually run the day before the Kentucky Derby takes place. The winner is presented with a garland of lilies, which is also known as the "Lillies for the Fillies".

Kentucky Oaks Information:

To see which runners the OLBG racing tipsters are tipping throughout the card that includes this race, head over to the Churchill Downs tips on the day of the race. Do they agree with the runners on the trend shortlist, or are they predicting other runners?

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How competitive is the Kentucky Oaks market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 10 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2025 when the race had an over-round of 122%. The race in 2020 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 124%, whilst on average over the last 10 renewals of the Kentucky Oaks, the over-round has been 123%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £123 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2026 Kentucky Oaks Trends. See which patterns have occurred over the recent renewals that you may be able to use for the next renewal. We also have a section that looks at the Kentucky Oaks Trend Analysis.

These are the top three quickest-run Kentucky Oaks races over the last 10 renewals:

  1. Shedaresthedevil (1:48.28) in 2020
  2. Malathaat (1:48.99) in 2021
  3. Monomoy Girl (1:49.13) in 2018

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? Over the past 10 renewals, if you had followed the winner of the Kentucky Oaks next time out, then you would have backed a total of 4 winners. Backing all 9 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of +0.38. Whilst we wait for the 2026 Kentucky Oaks, remember you can get daily racing predictions from the expert tipsters on the racing predictions page.

Over the last 10 renewals, it was Shedaresthedevil, trained by Brad H Cox and ridden by Florent Geroux, who set the fastest winning time in the Kentucky Oaks. That runner won the race in a time of 1:48.28 in 2020. At the other end of the scale, it was the combination of trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Mike E Smith with Abel Tasman who set the slowest winning time; the race-winning time was 1:51.62 in the 2017 renewal.

What the expert says...
The Fair Grounds Oaks has now been responsible for two of the last three winners, Pretty Mischievous (2023) was runner-up in that race before winning this whilst Good Cheer (2025) won both races. Serengeti Empress (2019) also came from that race.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Kentucky Oaks Past Winners

Here are the Kentucky Oaks past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse which won, along with the age & weight of the horse. Also detailed is the stall where the horse came from and the total number of runners in the race. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the Kentucky Oaks are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

YearHorse (Drawn)Info
2025
1:50.15
Good Cheer (USA)
3yo 8-9 (10 of 13) 7/5F
Luis Saez
Brad H Cox (USA)
2024
1:50.83
Thorpedo Anna (USA)
3yo 8-9 (4 of 14) 9/2
Brian Joseph Hernandez Jr
Kenneth McPeek (USA)
2023
1:49.77
Pretty Mischievous (USA)
3yo 8-9 (14 of 14) 104/10
Tyler Gaffalione
Brendan P Walsh (USA)
2022
1:49.44
Secret Oath (USA)
3yo 8-9 (1 of 14) 22/5
Luis Saez
D Wayne Lukas (USA)
2021
1:48.99
Malathaat (USA)
3yo 8-9 (9 of 13) 5/2F
John R Velazquez
Todd Pletcher (USA)
2020
1:48.28
Shedaresthedevil (USA)
3yo 8-9 (7 of 9) 151/10
Florent Geroux
Brad H Cox (USA)
2019
1:50.17
Serengeti Empress (USA)
3yo 8-9 (13 of 14) 13/1
Jose L Ortiz
Thomas Amoss (USA)
2018
1:49.13
Monomoy Girl (USA)
3yo 8-9 (14 of 14) 13/5
Florent Geroux
Brad H Cox (USA)
2017
1:51.62
Abel Tasman (USA)
3yo 8-9 (13 of 14) 92/10
Mike E Smith
Bob Baffert (USA)
2016
1:50.53
Cathryn Sophia (USA)
3yo 8-9 (12 of 14) 47/10
Javier Castellano
John C Servis (USA)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Kentucky Oaks have been based:

  • USA: 10 winners with an additional 19 placings from 127 runners
  • CAN: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 5 runners
  • UAE: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

Kentucky Oaks Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Kentucky Oaks over the last 10 renewals is Brad H Cox, who has won the race three times, with those three winners coming from Monomoy Girl (2018), Shedaresthedevil (2020) and Good Cheer (2025).

Here are some of the top Kentucky Oaks trainer statistics over the last 10 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

TrainerR-W-PWinEW
Brad H Cox13-3-4+9.10+4.96
Kenneth McPeek9-1-3-3.50-2.78
Todd Pletcher8-1-3-4.50-2.95
Bob Baffert5-1-2+5.20+2.09
Thomas Amoss4-1-1+10.00+4.80
Brendan P Walsh2-1-1+9.40+5.24
John C Servis2-1-1+3.70+1.82
D Wayne Lukas2-1-1+3.40+1.64
Steven Asmussen9-0-1-9.00-7.41
Chad C Brown5-0-3-5.00+0.57

Kentucky Oaks Jockey Statistics

There are two leading jockeys in the Kentucky Oaks over the last 10 renewals, with both Luis Saez and Florent Geroux, who have both won the race two times. Luis Saez winners have been with Secret Oath (2022) and Good Cheer (2025). Florent Geroux winners have been with Monomoy Girl (2018) and Shedaresthedevil (2020).

Here are some of the top Kentucky Oaks jockey statistics over the last 10 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

JockeyR-W-PWinEW
Luis Saez9-2-2-1.20-3.52
Florent Geroux8-2-2+11.70+4.62
Jose L Ortiz7-1-3+7.00+9.50
Javier Castellano7-1-2-1.30+0.32
Brian Joseph Hernandez Jr7-1-1-1.50-3.30
John R Velazquez7-1-4-3.50+0.54
Tyler Gaffalione5-1-2+6.40+2.99
Mike E Smith4-1-2+6.20+3.25
Irad Ortiz Jr8-0-4-8.00-3.38
Flavien Prat8-0-0-8.00-8.00

Kentucky Oaks Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor, which has produced 5+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +31.30, is when runners had 6 career starts in Flat (AW) races.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 1 career win in Flat (AW) races, when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-43.

Here are the most recent winning draws, along with the further placings in brackets:

  • 2025: Winner in 10 (4,12) [13 Runners]
  • 2024: Winner in 4 (12,3) [14 Runners]
  • 2023: Winner in 14 (3,2) [14 Runners]
  • 2022: Winner in 1 (4,9) [14 Runners]
  • 2021: Winner in 9 (11,10) [13 Runners]

The courses that have produced the most winners of the Kentucky Oaks are Fair Grounds and Keeneland; there have been a total of 3 winners from each of those courses.

Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have been disappointed with multiple attempts but no wins in the Kentucky Oaks; that stallion is Uncle Mo, who has failed to produce a winner from 5 runners.

Looking at the winning odds over the last 10 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Shedaresthedevil in 2020, winning for Brad H Cox at odds of 151/10 under the guidance of Florent Geroux. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 10 renewals, there have been 2 winning favourites in the race. Remember to bookmark the best racing tipsters page so you can get easy access to the best OLBG racing tipsters. All figures and trends above, such as the horse's previous runs, are based on the information that is available on the Racing Post. If you are interested in other races at the Churchill Downs racecourse, then why not read our blog for the Kentucky Derby.

Route to the Kentucky Oaks

Many trainers will target races to use as prep races before coming to the Kentucky Oaks, these are the races which the recent winners ran in before coming here:

InfoLast Race
2025 - Good Cheer
Fair Grounds - 1st of 8 (2/5)
Fasig-Tipton Fair Grounds Oaks
2024 - Thorpedo Anna
Oaklawn Park - 1st of 10 (37/10)
Fantasy Stakes
2023 - Pretty Mischievous
Fair Grounds - 2nd of 5 (23/10)
Fair Grounds Oaks presented by Fasig-Tipton
2022 - Secret Oath
Oaklawn Park - 3rd of 9 (7/5)
Arkansas Derby
2021 - Malathaat
Keeneland - 1st of 6 (6/4)
Central Bank Ashland Stakes
2020 - Shedaresthedevil
Indiana Grand - 1st of 8 (8/5)
Indiana Oaks
2019 - Serengeti Empress
Fair Grounds - 7th of 7 (3/10)
Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks
2018 - Monomoy Girl
Keeneland - 1st of 7 (3/10)
Central Bank Ashland Stakes
2017 - Abel Tasman
Santa Anita - 2nd of 7 (19/10)
Santa Anita Oaks Stakes
2016 - Cathryn Sophia
Keeneland - 3rd of 5 (1/2)
Central Bank Ashland Stakes

Article Contributor Information

We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Kentucky Oaks Preview are at hand, Andy and Darren. They both work on the Horse racing tips team team looking after the tipsters and managing the tips settlement, whilst also creating and managing all of the horse racing event previews for International racing.

Darren Brett

Darren Brett

Tipster Competition Manager

Darren has worked in the horse racing industry for decades bringing to OLBG for the last 20 years a wealth of knowledge, creating much of our content on these sports. Darren also manages our Grand National Guide and is the go-to font of knowledge for the world's greatest steeplechase.
Andy Powell

Andy Powell

Content Editor

Andy, a seasoned horse racing analyst with over 15 years of experience, delves into the intricacies of international horse racing, meticulously analyzing complex statistical data to uncover hidden trends. He spearheads the creation and management of OLBG's international horse racing trend blogs, providing valuable insights for bettors worldwide.

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