Bob and Jill Baffert are looking to make the Kentucky Oaks (G1) a family affair. In what they hope will be a path to that race, grade 1 winner Bottle of Rouge leads the charge in the $250,000 Virginia Oaks, run at a one-turn 1 1/16 miles March 14 at Colonial Downs.
Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert and owned by wife Jill, the daughter of Vino Rosso enters off a 1 1/2-length win in the Feb. 15 Sunland Park Oaks, the first start of her 3-year-old season. As a 2-year-old, Bottle of Rouge won the Del Mar Debutante (G1) before finishing sixth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), both at Del Mar. She was purchased at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $100,000.
Among the other five fillies entered is stakes winner Hit Parade. Trained by Brad Cox and owned by Gary and Mary West, the daughter of Street Sense won the 2025 Untapable Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. Her lone start as a 3-year-old came Feb. 6, when she was fifth in the Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn Park. She is the morning-line third choice at odds of 3-1.
The Brittany Russel trainee, Dazzling Dame, is the second choice on the morning line at odds of 5-2. The Maryland-bred daughter of Girvin won the Jan. 3 Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct in her 3-year-old debut.
Todd Pletcher comes in with a duo of Kadabra, who was third in the Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, and Baffle, a Repole Stables-owned maiden.
The Virginia Oaks carries Kentucky Oaks points of 50-25-15-10-5 to the top five finishers.
