The seven-day all-turf meet at Kentucky Downs wraps up Sept. 10 with a pot of gold—err, prize cash—awaiting the winner of the Dueling Grounds Oaks Invitational Stakes (G3T).
At 1 5/16 miles—one lap across the pear-shaped oval—the Dueling Grounds Oaks carries a handbag of $2 million for the 12 opponents, all of them Kentucky-bred 3-year-old fillies.
The cash attracted high-quality runners, together with graded stakes winners Daisy Flyer , Destino d’Oro , Operating Away , Sweet Quest , and Fionn . The latter is even a victress on the highest stakes degree, having taken the July 5 Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) in her final begin. That race was value $500,000, 1 / 4 of the worth of the Dueling Grounds Oaks.
Purses at Kentucky Downs and at different tracks within the Bluegrass State are bolstered by income from slot-like historic horse racing gaming. Kentucky Downs’ brief season additional permits it to pay attention its purse funds generated by gaming and pari-mutuel wagering along with the tens of millions of {dollars} in purses it shares with different tracks within the state.
George Messina and Michael Lee’s Fionn, a daughter of Twirling Sweet educated by Brad Cox, is 5-1-1 in seven begins—having additionally gained the Remorse Stakes (G3T) at Churchill Downs and the Allen “Black Cat” LaCombe Memorial Stakes at Truthful Grounds Race Course & Slots inside stakes firm.Join BloodHorse Each day
Flavien Prat, aboard for her come-from-behind nostril victory within the Belmont Oaks, returns within the irons.
Cox additionally trains Steve Landers Racing’s Destino d’Oro, who’s 2-for-2 this 12 months and 3-0-1 in 4 begins general. The Bolt d’Oro filly captured the Aug. 3 Pucker Up Stakes (G3T) at Ellis Park underneath Luan Machado as a prep for the Dueling Grounds Oaks.
Daisy Flyer, like Fionn, additionally heads to Kentucky Downs by means of Saratoga after having rallied to take the July 26 Lake George Stakes (G3T) in New York for coach Rusty Arnold.
Destino d’Oro and Daisy Flyer are each confirmed over the undulating, European-style course at Kentucky Downs, having scored in maiden races through the 2024 season.
The 11-race program at Kentucky Downs on Wednesday attracted 128 customary entries, plus one other 32 also-eligibles. A further 21 horses have been excluded altogether from the 11 races attributable to many contests being overdrawn. For Kentucky-breds, each race on this system is value $170,000 or extra.
Entries: Blackwood Dueling Grounds Oaks Invitational S. (G3T)Kentucky Downs, Wednesday, September 10, 2025, Race 10Grade IIITOne And 5 Sixteenthm Turf $2,000,0003 yo Fillies5:31 PM (native)
