The Bourbonette Oaks and Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes (G3) March 21 at Turfway Park both bring wide-open, competitive fields.
The morning-line favorite of the $300,000 Bourbonette Oaks is the Brad Cox trainee Scratch It, who is making the first start of her 3-year-old career. Last time out, she was second to Brave Deb in the Surfer Girl Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita Park. She broke her maiden in the first try by 1 1/4 lengths Aug. 1 at Saratoga Race Course. Owned by Fergus Galvin, Mrs. M.V. Magnier, and Mrs. Paul Shanahan, she entered the P.G. Johnson Stakes off that win, and finished second behind Time to Dream.
A tough filly she will face in the full field of 12 is California shipper La Ville Lumiere. Trained by Michael McCarthy, the daughter of City of Light is a dual-surface filly. As a 2-year-old, she broke her maiden going 5 furlongs on the turf, and was third in the Oak Leaf Stakes (G2) going 1 1/16 miles on the dirt, before competing in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. After that off-the-board finish, she completed her 2-year-old season with a third in the 1-mile Jimmy Durante Stakes (G3T) and won the Blue Norther Stakes, which is also run at a mile on the turf. Her lone start this year was a 10th-place finish in the Sweet Life Stakes.
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The Bourbonette Oaks runs at 1 1/16 miles on the all-weather surface, and carries Kentucky Oaks points of 50-25-15-10-5 to the top five finishers.
Mercante leads strong Kentucky Cup Classic
The Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes (G3), run at 1 1/8 miles, is led by Mercante. Trained by Brian Knippenberg and owned/bred by Carl Pollard, the 6-year-old Gun Runner gelding is making his first start of the year. He is looking to go back to back in this race, having won the 2025 edition by a length. He went on to run second in the Turf Classic Stakes (G1T) to Spirit of St Louis at Churchill Downs and won the May 31 Arlington Stakes (G3T). Mercante has won five races in his 17 career starts.
A major threat looms in the Whit Beckman trainee Honor Marie. The 5-year-old Honor Code gelding won his most recent start at Turfway Park, taking the Dust Commander Stakes. Last year, the Kentucky Derby (G1) participant won the Isaac Murphy Marathon Stakes at Churchill Downs.
Turfway Park, Saturday, March 21, 2026, Race 10Entries: TwinSpires Kentucky Cup Classic S. (G3)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Honor Marie (KY) Joseph D. Ramos 122 D. Whitworth Beckman 5/1 2 2Utah Beach (KY) Vincent Cheminaud 120 Brendan P. Walsh 6/1 3 3Naptown (ON) Victor R. Carrasco 120 Jose J. Magana 20/1 4 4Tickled Quist (KY) Fernando De La Cruz 120 Brad H. Cox 8/1 5 5Willy D's (KY) John R. Velazquez 120 Michael J. Maker 9/2 6 6Tapit Shoes (KY) Luis Contreras 120 Ed Moger, Jr. 8/1 7 7Endlessly (KY) Kazushi Kimura 120 Michael W. McCarthy 12/1 8 8Wadsworth (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 120 Brad H. Cox 3/1 9 9Mercante (KY) Walter A. Rodriguez 120 Brian Knippenberg 7/2
Turfway Park, Saturday, March 21, 2026, Race 11Entries: Bourbonette Oaks
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Resplendence (KY) Alberto Burgos 122 Paulo H. Lobo 5/1 2 2Resist (KY) Irving Moncada 122 Thomas Drury, Jr. 12/1 3 3Beara Peninsula (KY) Luan Machado 122 Jeremiah O'Dwyer 20/1 4 4Blazing Brat (KY) Joseph D. Ramos 122 D. Whitworth Beckman 30/1 5 5Scratch It (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 122 Brad H. Cox 7/2 6 6Callmeyourmajesty (MD) Vincent Cheminaud 122 Wayne M. Catalano 20/1 7 7Maximum Offer (KY) Emmanuel Esquivel 122 Kenneth G. McPeek 9/2 8 8Bless Her (KY) John R. Velazquez 122 H. Graham Motion 8/1 9 9Lovely Grey (KY) Joel Rosario 122 Kelsey Danner 6/1 10 10La Ville Lumiere (KY) Kazushi Kimura 122 Michael W. McCarthy 4/1 11 11Lorelei Lee (KY) Fernando De La Cruz 122 Michael J. Maker 12/1 12 12Wonzee Weather (KY) Dylan MacHado 122 Darrin Miller 30/1
