Leslie’s Rose tops strong field to win Kentucky Oaks prep race on Keeneland’s opening day

The 2024 Spring Meet at Keeneland began Friday under cloudy skies and chilly temperatures, but the action on the track was as intense as ever.

A full 10-race card was set for Friday, including a trio of stakes races.

Highlighted by the 87th running of the Grade 1, $600,000 Central Bank Ashland Stakes — a key prep race on the road to the Kentucky Oaks — here’s a rundown of the stakes action that was on display Friday.

Leslie’s Rose wins the Central Bank Ashland

In an upset, it was the less-fancied of Todd Pletcher’s two runners in the Ashland that emerged with the win.

Leslie’s Rose, at 9-1 odds, captured the Ashland, which was run over 1 1/16 miles over a fast Keeneland main track. The winning time for Leslie’s Rose was 1:43.85, as she claimed a 3-length win.

Trained by Pletcher and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., Leslie’s Rose is now locked into the Kentucky Oaks field as a result of her win.

She’s 3-0-1 in four career starts and has vaulted to third place on the Kentucky Oaks points qualifying leaderboard with her victory, which boosted her points total to 115.

“She’s always been a high-quality filly,” Pletcher said postrace. “She’s always trained like she wants to run longer and I think she proved that today, getting the opportunity to go two turns and finishing with good energy. So, fingers crossed (for the Kentucky Oaks).”

Pletcher now has three career wins in the Ashland: He also won in 2021 with Malathaat and 2022 with Nest.

“She broke so good,” Ortiz added. “I had a couple horses with speed outside, and they broke better than me, so after that I had to sit off right behind them. She handled it pretty well.”

The victory was worth more than $350,000 for the owners of Leslie’s Rose, Whisper Hill Farm, LLC.

Pletcher’s other horse in the race was the favorite, Candied, which finished fourth at 8-5 odds.

Just F Y I, previously undefeated and trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado, was second. Just F Y I is also firmly in the Kentucky Oaks field with 90 qualifying points.

Impel, trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Florent Geroux, was third.

A 50 cent trifecta of Leslie’s Rose, Just F Y I and Impel yielded $105.60.

Road to the Kentucky Oaks winding down

Friday’s running of the Ashland was one of the final prep races on the road to the Kentucky Oaks.

Only two other qualifying races for the Oaks will be run, both on Saturday: the Santa Anita Oaks at Santa Anita Park in California and the Gazelle Stakes at Aqueduct in New York.

Both of those races, like the Ashland, will award qualifying points for the Oaks on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale to the top five finishers.

The 150th edition of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks (14 starters) will be run May 3 at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

Here is a quick look at the horses on the Kentucky Oaks qualifying points leaderboard following Friday’s Ashland:

▪ 1 -Tarifa (150 points).

▪ 2 - Power Squeeze (120 points).

▪ 3 - Leslie’s Rose (115 points).

▪ 4 - Thorpedo Anna (105 points).

▪ 5 - Just F Y I (90 points).

▪ 6 - West Omaha (90 points).

▪ 7 - Jody’s Pride (65 points).

▪ 8 - Fiona’s Magic (60 points).

▪ 9 - Tapit Jenallie (54 points).

▪ 10 - Everland (54 points).

▪ 11 - Lemon Muffin (50 points).

▪ 12 - Into Champagne (50 points).

▪ 13 - Ways and Means (50 points).

▪ 14 - Our Pretty Woman (50 points).

▪ 15 - V V’s Dream (48 points).

▪ 16 - Intricate (45 points).

Neat captures the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes

Neat won the 36th running of the $400,000 Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes in a photo finish on Friday evening over a full field of 11 other horses that went 1/16 miles on the turf course.

Trained by Rob Atras and ridden by Reylu Gutierrez, Neat edged out Cugino (trained by Shug McGaughey and ridden by Javier Castellano) at the finish line for the graded stakes win.

“He had beaten arguably some lesser competition and today was a tough test, and he really showed up today,” Atras said afterward.

“Rob really had him ready,” Gutierrez added. “He beat some top horses here today.”

Neat, who went off at 13-1 odds, is 4-0-0 in six career starts and has vastly improved since his racing debut in September at Kentucky Downs.

Glengarry wins the 76th running of the Lafayette

Glengarry captured the 76th edition of the $400,000 Lafayette on Friday afternoon, the first stakes race of the Spring Meet.

Trained by Doug Anderson and ridden by Luis Saez, Glengarry covered the 7-furlong race on a fast main track in 1:22.91.

Glengarry (now 4-1-0 in five career starts) won by 3 1/2 lengths in a wire-to-wire win over six other horses, including massive long-shot Frosty Indulgence, who finished third at 49-1 odds.

This was Glengarry’s second stakes victory over the Keeneland main track: He also triumphed in the Bowman Mill Stakes (6 furlongs) in October.

“I mean, he’s grown up, he’s matured,” Anderson said afterward. “He doesn’t do his antics in the morning, and he goes out and is a professional. I hope (we have a big year with him).”

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