Kentucky Oaks Roundup: March 30, 2020

Stay up to speed on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks with a weekly roundup of all the latest news and developments:

Changes on the Kentucky Oaks Leaderboard

The leaderboard experienced another major shakeup when Swiss Skydiver—coming off a third-place effort in the Rachel Alexandra (G2)—sprung a 9-1 upset victory in Saturday’s Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) at Gulfstream Park. While the favored duo of Tonalist’s Shape and Spice Is Nice failed to fire at all, finishing eighth and sixth, Swiss Skydiver carved out slow fractions of :24.33, :49.12, and 1:13.30 before kicking clear easily in the homestretch to win by 3 1/4 lengths.

The victory awarded Swiss Skydiver 100 Kentucky Oaks qualification points, bringing her total to 110 and placing her atop the leaderboard. Lucrezia, who tracked Swiss Skydiver’s slow pace to finish second in the Gulfstream Park Oaks, picked up 40 points to boost her total to 50 and advance to ninth place in the rankings. Lake Avenue (35 points) advanced to 11th place with her third-place effort on Saturday, while Tonalist’s Shape (60 points, 5th place) and Spice Is Nice (20 points, 14th place) remain in the top 14 despite their setbacks.

On the Kentucky Oaks Work Tab

Auberge: Fired off a sharp workout on Friday at Santa Anita, blazing 5 furlongs in a bullet :59.00, but the suspension of racing at Santa Anita means the Santa Anita Oaks (G1)—the next logical target for Auberge—is currently off the table.

British Idiom: The reigning champion 2-year-old filly clocked a half-mile in :48.40 on Saturday at Oaklawn, with the May 1 Fantasy (G3) looming as her next target.

Donna Veloce: Cruised 5 furlongs in 1:00.60 on Saturday at Santa Anita, which was supposed to be her final move prior to the Santa Anita Oaks. Now it’s unclear where the Santa Ysabel (G3) winner will turn up next.

Frank’s Rockette: Cruised an easy half-mile in :50.80 on Friday at Payson Park.

Harvey’s Lil Goil: Took things easy on Sunday at Payson Park, breezing a half-mile in :50.20.

Lazy Daisy: Continued along the comeback trail with a half-mile in :48.60 on Friday at Santa Anita.

Sharing: The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) winner turned in her third workout of the year on Saturday, going a half-mile in :52.20. The postponement of the Kentucky Oaks raises the possibility that Sharing—who broke her maiden easily over the Saratoga main track—could switch back to dirt this summer and pursue Oaks qualification.

Venetian Harbor: Fired off another blazing workout on Sunday at Santa Anita, clocking 4 furlongs in a bullet :46.80.

Water White: Cruised a slow half-mile in :51.93 over the training track at Belmont on Saturday.

Zellda: Zenyatta’s unraced daughter clocked 5 furlongs in an easy 1:02.60 on Wednesday at Santa Anita.

Looking Ahead on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks

The suspension of racing at Santa Anita has taken the Apr. 4 Santa Anita Oaks off the table for the time being, which means the next scheduled Road to the Kentucky Oaks prep race is the Fantasy on May 1 at Oaklawn Park. However, should racing at Santa Anita resume in the near future, it’s possible the Santa Anita Oaks could be rescheduled with only a slight delay.