The $400,000 Golden Rod Stakes (G2) Nov. 29 at Churchill Downs is the next stop on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. Trainer Brad Cox will look for a second consecutive win in the event with Rags to Riches Stakes winner Life of Joy, who currently sits seventh on the Kentucky Oaks (G1) leaderboard with 10 points.
Last year's Golden Rod Stakes proved to be an important stepping stone for eventual Kentucky Oaks winner Good Cheer. The daughter of Medaglia d'Oro also won the Rags to Riches for Cox and owner Godolphin, and went undefeated through her first seven starts, capped by her Kentucky Oaks victory.
The top five finishers Saturday will receive qualifying points on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale for the 1 1/16-mile race.
Life of Joy (Gun Runner ), who is owned by Will Stroud, Andrew Farm, Mountmellick Farm, and For the People Racing Stable, broke her maiden at Horseshoe Indianapolis by 14 3/4 lengths going 1 mile on the dirt. She then won the Rags to Riches Stakes Oct. 26, finishing 2 1/4 lengths in front of the Kenny McPeek-trained The Grumpy Rabbit.
Prior to her effort in the Rags to Riches, The Grumpy Rabbit, a daughter of second-leading sire Not This Time , finished third in the Alcibiades Stakes (G1) at Keeneland behind Percy's Bar and Tommy Jo. She will break from the outside post in the 12-horse field.
Morning-line favorite and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) runner up Explora was not put on the flight from California with her stablemates and has been scratched from the Golden Rod, according to a note from Churchill Downs.
Mike Maker will send out New York invader Letmecounttheways, who is coming off a 6-length win in the Oct. 25 Maid of the Mist Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack for owners Paradise Farms, JP Racing Stable, David Staudacher, and Zilla Racing Stables. The daughter of leading first-crop sire Yaupon 's only other race came Sept. 27 when she broke her maiden on debut by 5 1/2 lengths.
She has put in a trio of works at Churchill Downs since her win in the Maid of the Mist, and is 9-2 on the morning line.
Another filly to pay attention to is Godolphin's Bella Ballerina, who broke her maiden by 4 1/4 lengths in a 6-furlong maiden special weight at Keeneland Oct. 5 in her lone start for trainer Brendan Walsh. She is by Street Sense and out of the grade 1-winning Tapit mare Pretty City Dancer, making her a half sister to Godolphin's 2023 Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief ), also trained by Walsh.
Churchill Downs, Saturday, November 29, 2025, Race 11Entries: Golden Rod S. (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Baracca (KY) Axel Concepcion 122 Brendan P. Walsh 15/1 2 2Essential Coffee (KY) Corey J. Lanerie 122 Steven M. Asmussen 30/1 3 3Just Singing (KY) Luan Machado 122 J. Kent Sweezey 15/1 4 4Vita Mia (FL) Junior Alvarado 122 Armando De la cerda 30/1 5 5Letmecounttheways (NY) Joel Rosario 122 Michael J. Maker 9/2 6 6Life of Joy (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 122 Brad H. Cox 4/1 7 7Raspberry (KY) Luis Saez 122 D. Whitworth Beckman 30/1 8 8Wonzee Weather (KY) Chase Miller 122 Darrin Miller 30/1 9 9Atropa (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 122 Cherie DeVaux 8/1 10 10Coco Connect (KY) Adam Beschizza 122 John Ennis 30/1 11 11Bella Ballerina (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 122 Brendan P. Walsh 10/1 12 12Explora (KY) Flavien Prat 122 Bob Baffert 7/5 13 13The Grumpy Rabbit (KY) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 122 Kenneth G. McPeek 15/1
