The seven-day all-turf meet at Kentucky Downs wraps up Sept. 10 with a pot of gold—err, prize money—awaiting the winner of the Dueling Grounds Oaks Invitational Stakes (G3T).
At 1 5/16 miles—one lap around the pear-shaped oval—the Dueling Grounds Oaks carries a purse of $2 million for the 12 competitors, all of them Kentucky-bred 3-year-old fillies.
The money attracted high-quality runners, including graded stakes winners Daisy Flyer, Destino d'Oro, Running Away, Candy Quest, and Fionn. The latter is even a victress at the highest stakes level, having taken the July 5 Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) in her last start. That race was worth $500,000, a quarter of the value of the Dueling Grounds Oaks.
Purses at Kentucky Downs and at other tracks in the Bluegrass State are bolstered by revenue from slot-like historical horse racing gaming. Kentucky Downs' short season further allows it to concentrate its purse funds generated by gaming and pari-mutuel wagering in addition to the millions of dollars in purses it shares with other tracks in the state.
George Messina and Michael Lee's Fionn, a daughter of Twirling Candy trained by Brad Cox, is 5-1-1 in seven starts—having also won the Regret Stakes (G3T) at Churchill Downs and the Allen "Black Cat" LaCombe Memorial Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots within stakes company.
"We beat (in the Belmont Oaks) the unbeatable horse, Nitrogen, who is a great filly in her own right," Messina said. "Really, nobody gave us a chance in that race. I'd have been happy to be second or third, the way it looked. But (Fionn) came running. She has the heart of a champion; she doesn't stop. You can't see that when you're buying them at a sale. You don't know what's there. She's got that fighting spirit, that heart. She came rolling down the lane and really stamped herself as one of the top fillies in her class."
Flavien Prat, aboard for her come-from-behind nose victory in the Belmont Oaks, returns in the irons.
Cox also trains Steve Landers Racing's Destino d'Oro, who is 2-for-2 this year and 3-0-1 in four starts overall. The Bolt d'Oro filly captured the Aug. 3 Pucker Up Stakes (G3T) at Ellis Park under Luan Machado as a prep for the Dueling Grounds Oaks.
"She's an up-and-coming filly and has a lot of talent," Messina said of Destino d'Oro. "We know we're going to have our hands full with her. She's won at Kentucky Downs before (in her debut), so we know she's going to be a tough customer."
Daisy Flyer, like Fionn, also heads to Kentucky Downs by way of Saratoga after having rallied to take the July 26 Lake George Stakes (G3T) in New York for trainer Rusty Arnold.
Destino d'Oro and Daisy Flyer are both proven over the undulating, European-style course at Kentucky Downs, having scored in maiden races during the 2024 season.
The 11-race program at Kentucky Downs on Wednesday attracted 128 standard entries, plus another 32 also-eligibles. An additional 21 horses were excluded altogether from the 11 races due to many contests being overdrawn. For Kentucky-breds, every race on the program is worth $170,000 or more.
Kentucky Downs, Wednesday, September 10, 2025, Race 10Entries: Blackwood Dueling Grounds Oaks Invitational S. (G3T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Daisy Flyer (KY) Joel Rosario 120 George R. Arnold II 6/1 2 2Destino d'Oro (KY) Luan Machado 120 Brad H. Cox 9/2 3 3Nosleeptilbrooklyn (KY) Luis Saez 120 Brian A. Lynch 30/1 4 4Princess Attitude (KY) Lanfranco Dettori 120 Victoria H. Oliver 20/1 5 5Running Away (KY) Victor Espinoza 120 Wesley A. Ward 10/1 6 6Reining Flowers (KY) John R. Velazquez 120 John Alexander Ortiz 15/1 7 7Fionn (KY) Flavien Prat 124 Brad H. Cox 2/1 8 8Admit (KY) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 120 Thomas Drury, Jr. 20/1 9 9Fixin to Bee (KY) Florent Geroux 120 George R. Arnold II 30/1 10 10Hereforagoodtime (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 120 Brendan P. Walsh 12/1 11 11Totally Justified (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 120 George R. Arnold II 15/1 12 12Candy Quest (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 120 Mark E. Casse 5/1
