Explora Leads Small Fantasy Stakes Field With 200 Kentucky Oaks Points Up for Grabs

Explora will carry the weight of a $1 million purse and 100 Kentucky Oaks points into the Fantasy Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park on March 27, when the six-horse field makes history: for the first time in the race's 53-year existence, the Fantasy offers a seven-figure prize.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert sends out Explora off a three-quarter length victory over Counting Stars in the $750,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) on March 1 at the same 1 1/16-mile Oaklawn strip. Flavien Prat retains the mount. Explora, a finalist for an Eclipse Award as North America's champion 2-year-old filly, headlines a compact but well-credentialed field that includes her Honeybee runner-up in Counting Stars, who will get another shot under Francisco Arrieta at 122 pounds. Baffert, who won the Fantasy previously with Excellent Meeting in 1999 and Mamma Kimbo in 2012, is attempting to remain unbeaten in Kentucky Oaks preps at Oaklawn.

If all six fillies go to post, the Fantasy will distribute 200 total Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to its top five finishers on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale. A scratch that reduces the field to five would trim those points by 25 percent across the board, making the final starter list a critical variable for connections chasing Oaks eligibility.

The full field, from the rail out: Search Party (Cristian Torres, 122 pounds, trainer Mark E. Casse); Empath (Ramon Vazquez, 118, Casse); Counting Stars (Francisco Arrieta, 122, Casse); Taken by the Wind (Emmanuel Esquivel, 122, Kenneth G. McPeek); Sticker Shock (Irad Ortiz Jr., 118, Brad Cox); and Explora (Flavien Prat, 122, Baffert). Casse controls half the field with three entries.

Sticker Shock arrives with a 2-for-3 record but will be making her stakes debut for Cox, who swept Oaklawn's Kentucky Derby qualifying series in 2023 with Wet Paint. The jump from maiden or allowance company directly into a Grade 2 against the Honeybee winner puts her connections' confidence on full display.

The Fantasy is Oaklawn's third and final Kentucky Oaks qualifying race, capping a filly series that began with the $300,000 Martha Washington Stakes and ran through the $750,000 Honeybee. Oaklawn President Louis A. Cella framed the purse escalation in blunt terms: "This will be the first time in the history of North American racing that 3-year-old fillies will have an opportunity to run for a seven-figure purse prior to the Kentucky Oaks. When you factor in the Honeybee at $750,000 and Martha Washington at $300,000, it's clear Oaklawn continues to be the nation's best track to condition 3-year-olds." The combined total for Oaks-eligible fillies across the three races surpasses $2 million.

The Fantasy is slotted as the 11th race on a 12-race card that begins at 12:30 p.m. Central, with a probable post time of 5:54 p.m. Central. The Arkansas Derby (G1), carrying a $1.5 million purse, follows the next day on March 28 to close out Oaklawn's stakes weekend.