The 138th running of Churchill Downs’ $1 million Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) attracted a trio of late nominees during a late nomination phase that concluded Wednesday, April 11.
The late nominees to the Oaks, a 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies scheduled for Friday, May 4, lift the overall nomination total to 97 horses. All late nominations to the Run for the Lilies were accompanied by a $1,500 fee.
Last year’s late nomination process attracted also attracted three fillies that included St. John's River, a close runner-up to Peachtree Stable’s victorious Plum Pretty.
The late nominations to the 2012 Kentucky Oaks include:
--Gillian Campbell and R Group Management, and Greenwood Lodge Farm’s Jemima's Pearl, a Bob Baffert-trained daughter of Distorted Humor who started her career in Ireland and finished third in her most recent start to Oaks nominee Mamma Kimbo in the Fantasy (gr. II) at Oaklawn Park.
--Jonathan Rey, Javier Sarmiento, and Dante Zanelli Jr.’s Oaks Lily, who recently scored her first victory in eight races for trainer Timothy Hills in a 1 1/16-mile maiden event at Keeneland. She had finished second in the filly division of the OBS Championships in Ocala, Fla. in her previous outing.
--A G S Thoroughbreds’ Welcome Guest, the Chad Brown-trained runner-up to Oaks-nominated Broadway's Alibi in Aqueduct’s Comely (gr. III).