2024 Coaching Club American Oaks Preview

A select group of leading sophomore dirt fillies take the spotlight on Saturday, July 20 at Saratoga Race Course in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks, the first big race for sophomore dirt fillies during the Spa meet. The race covers 1 ⅛ miles on the dirt and offers a lucrative $500,000 purse.

Though the race drew a field of just five, it is led by the best sophomore filly in the country: Thorpedo Anna, who left no doubt when winning the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and the Acorn (G1) already this year. Two of her four foes are also Grade 1 winners: Candied won the Alcibiades (G1) last year, and Leslie’s Rose won the Ashland (G1) earlier this year.

2024 Coaching Club American Oaks Information

• Race Date: Saturday, July 20
• Track: Saratoga Race Course
• Post Time: 6:17 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: 1 ⅛ miles
• Age/Sex: three-year-old fillies
• Where to Watch: FanDuel Racing, FOX
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

Coaching Club American Oaks Draw and Odds

These are the runners in the 2024 edition of the Coaching Club American Oaks, along with post positions, trainers, jockeys, and official morning-line odds on each runner.

Coaching Club American Oaks Prep Race Results

The five runners in the Coaching Club American Oaks come out of five different races.

Two runners come out of the same Grade 1 race over this same Saratoga course and distance. Although the Acorn is traditionally run at Belmont Park, it happened upstate due to the construction. In the Acorn, Thorpedo Anna ran right back to her impressive Kentucky Oaks victory, taking the Acorn by 5 ½ decisive lengths. Leslie’s Rose, stalking just behind Thorpedo Anna, chased on for a clear second.

Two others come out of stakes company at other tracks. Candied got a confidence-builder on June 8, going 1 1/16 miles at Monmouth in the Lady’s Secret, in which she stalked the pace and cleared off by 4 ½ lengths. Intricate also got a class drop in her last race after a handful of graded stakes; she tried the 1 1/16-mile Monomoy Girl at Churchill Downs on June 15, where she was the runner-up, ¾ lengths behind Our Pretty Woman.

Barbratina is the only runner coming out of a non-stakes engagement. Though she has dabbled in stakes company before, she most recently gritted out a head victory in a first-level allowance at Churchill Downs, going 1 ⅛ miles.

Coaching Club American Oaks Contenders

These are the five runners in the 2024 edition of the Coaching Club American Oaks, in order of post position.

1. Candied: One of the better juveniles of last year, she won the Alcibiades at Keeneland and missed by only ¾ length to Just F Y I in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. A disappointing fourth as the favorite in the Ashland kept her out of the Kentucky Oaks. However, this tactically versatile filly returned beautifully in the Lady’s Secret. Though that was only a listed-level race, it was open to older horses as well. She stalked, pounced, and won in blowout fashion over Honor D Lady—a four-year-old who returned to win the Delaware Handicap (G2) by 5 ½ lengths in her next start. This makes her the only one in the field with a start (much less a win!) over older, and the most interesting prospect to threaten Thorpedo Anna.
2. Barbratina: She comes into the Coaching Club American Oaks as the least proven quantity: she has been a consistent sort in allowance company and even an ungraded stakes try, though she was well beaten by Where’s My Ring in the Gazelle (G3), her only graded-stakes attempt. She freshened up after that and returned in an allowance on June 1 at Churchill Downs. That showed some positives: she shook off that tendency to finish second and actually won by a head, and she showed that she could stay 1 ⅛ miles. Since that win, she has moved to the George Weaver barn. Weaver does well with new arrivals to his barn, though he has started Saratoga cold, and Barbratina needs a sharp step up in terms of speed to contend with Thorpedo Anna or even a better race from Candied or Leslie’s Rose.
3. Thorpedo Anna: Look in the winner’s circle of the best three-year-old filly races this year, and you keep seeing one face: Thorpedo Anna. She was a good juvenile, winning her first two starts and finishing her season with a second behind Intricate in the Golden Rod (G2) at Churchill. However, she has been a dynamic sophomore: all three starts this year have come in graded-stakes races, and all three of her wins have been by four lengths or more. She has the tactical speed to work a trip in a short field, she has won two straight Grade 1 races at 1 ⅛ miles (including the Acorn over this same course), and she looms as the horse to beat.
4. Leslie’s Rose: She didn’t show up in a sloppy edition of the Kentucky Oaks, but has run solid races in all her other starts, including a top-level victory in the Ashland three starts back. It’ll be a tough ask for her to turn the tables on Thorpedo Anna from the Acorn last out, but with clear weather expected on Coaching Club American Oaks day and the days leading into it, she should be able to get her footing. And, she is tactical enough to get a solid trip and get a piece of the purse.
5. Intricate: Last year, Brendan Walsh had the queen of the sophomore filly division in Pretty Mischievous. He doesn’t have the divisional leader this year, but he still has a solid enough one in Intricate. She is a graded-stakes winner by virtue of a blowout win in the Golden Rod last year, a race that has made her the only horse to date to finish ahead of Thorpedo Anna. However, in three starts this year, she has yet to win. She has amassed a pair of stakes placings, including a close second in the Monomoy Girl at Churchill last out. She is going to need to take a serious step up to contend for more than a minor check, though coming second off the lay and stretching to 1 ⅛ miles for the first time both give her upside.

Coaching Club American Oaks FAQ

Q: When is the Coaching Club American Oaks?

A: The Coaching Club American Oaks happens on Saturday, July 20, 2024, at 6:17 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Q: Where is the Coaching Club American Oaks?

A: The race happens at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Coaching Club American Oaks?

A: Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher is a fixture in New York, and that stretches to the Coaching Club American Oaks. He has won the race eight times, most recently in 2022 with Nest, who went on to champion three-year-old filly honors. Pletcher can extend his record to nine wins if either Candied or Leslie’s Rose springs the upset.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Coaching Club American Oaks?

A: Off of three dominant wins this year, including in the Kentucky Oaks, Thorpedo Anna is the 1-2 morning-line favorite and, barring a scratch, will hold as the heavy favorite in the Coaching Club American Oaks for trainer Kenny McPeek and jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr.

Q: Who is the best Coaching Club American Oaks jockey?

A: Mike Smith and John Velazquez lead all jockeys with five wins in the Coaching Club American Oaks. John Velazquez can take the record for himself alone if he can ride Leslie’s Rose to victory in this year’s edition for Todd Pletcher.

Q: Who won the Coaching Club American Oaks in 2023?

A: Wet Paint took the 2023 Coaching Club American Oaks for trainer Brad Cox and jockey Flavien Prat. Neither returns to the field this year.

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