LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Good Cheer didn’t start well, but the favorite authored a dominant closing run to win the 151st Kentucky Oaks.
Good Cheer was a 6-5 favorite at post time and was as low as eighth in the 14-horse race early on. Bob Baffert’s Tenma had the early lead, but Good Cheer came on strong on the outside and ended up winning by multiple lengths.
“We know she’s a very special filly,” jockey Luis Saez said. “Of course, we were a little nervous, but I knew she had a lot of talent and I rode her pretty confidently because we know when she comes to the top of the straights she’s going to make a big move.”
Good Cheer comes from behind to win the 151st Longines Kentucky Oaks! pic.twitter.com/cigrvmcseX
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) May 2, 2025
This is trainer Brad H. Cox’s third Kentucky Oaks win. He also won in 2018 with Monomoy Girl and in 2020 with Shedaresthedevil. He can go for the Oaks-Kentucky Derby double tomorrow with Final Gambit.
“We knew there was some speed in the race,” Cox said. “We thought there were four or five fillies that would be in front of us. Luis did a good job, I think, of putting her into a good position going into the first turn.”
A $2 bet on Good Cheer paid out at $4.78.
Drexel Hill finished second, Bless the Broken took third and Tenma rounded out the superfecta in fourth.
Baffert made his return to Derby weekend after a three-year absence, and it looked like he had a chance at a win for a while, but the closers took over.
Cox said Good Cheer was a touch nervous in her last start, but calm and cool before the Oaks.
“With her like that, I watched the race with a lot of confidence,” Cox said. “She was perfect today in the paddock.”
Severe weather in the late afternoon halted action for a short time and delayed the post time by 10 minutes. That also meant there were muddy track conditions.
Those sloppy conditions didn’t bother Good Cheer, who already had a dominant win in wet conditions on her resume. The 3-year-old filly is now undefeated in seven starts.
Saez got his second Oaks victory after winning in 2022 on Secret Oath. Saez has been on Good Cheer for all but one of her starts.
“This is one of the best fillies I’ve ever been around,” Saez said. “I won the Kentucky Oaks with Secret Oath, but she’s undefeated, so she has to be No. 1.”
(Photo: Grace Hollars / The Courier-Journal / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)