Exotics Plays for the 2024 Gulfstream Park Oaks

A really good field of nine sophomore fillies will vie in Saturday’s $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2). A total of 200 qualifying points will be on the line in the Road to the Kentucky Oaks challenge series event, and I think that there are multiple Oaks types signed on for the tilt. 

Oaks Exotics

• $5 exacta box 4,5,6 ($30)
• $1 trifecta 4,5 with 4,5,6 with all ($28)
• 50-cent superfecta 4,5 with 4,5 with 1,6 with all ($12)

The 1 1/16-mile affair features the return of Chad Brown’s #4 Ways and Means, who ran two dynamic races at Saratoga in the summer. I have been waiting for the Practical Joke filly to make her three-year-old debut for some time, but she has her work cut out for her against a quality cast. With that said, the Klaravich homebred is still the one to beat if she builds upon the massive talent that she flashed in 2023. 

The Ian Wilkes-conditioned #5 Into Champagne had what I thought was an ideal prep for the race when a sharp runner-up in the Forward Gal S. (G2) most recently, where the bay was wide trying to reel in a loose-on-the-lead winner who established moderate early splits. The Into Mischief filly bagged the Glitter Woman S. on the oval two back and gives me the impression of one who will appreciate the move to two turns. Julien Leparoux will have her in range throughout the contest. 

#6 Gun Song has been sharp with two big runs at the meeting since adding blinkers for Mark Hennig. The Gun Runner filly has a sharp turn of foot, and the chestnut will be very dangerous late if she endures a sensible trip under John Velazquez. The Kentucky-bred has trained well on the surface and I do not take her lightly. 

Jorge Delgado’s #1 Power Squeeze is 3-for-3 since moving to route races and is well drawn on the rail in her graded bow. The daughter of Union Rags comes off of tallies in the Cash Run S. and Suncoast S. in her last pair and has to be on some tickets. Daniel Centeno will ride. 

Todd Pletcher’s #9 Scalable had excuses for her fourth in the Forward Gal (G2) and is a talented filly, but I don’t envision her receiving the right kind of setup to thrive in the heat. The Davona Dale (G2) upsetter #8 Fiona’s Magic has been consistently good from five career races to date, but she will also endure a less-than-favorable journey on Saturday.