Favorite Blind Luck edges Evening Jewel by a nose to win Kentucky Oaks

Blind Luck nips Evening Jewel to win Kentucky Oaks

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Blind Luck tracked down Evening Jewel in the final yards to win the $500,000 Kentucky Oaks on Friday at Churchill Downs.

The heavy 6-5 favorite trailed early before roaring down the stretch to catch Evening Jewel at the wire in the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies.

It was the third victory in the filly version of the Kentucky Derby for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Blind Luck, ridden by jockey Rafael Bejarano, paid $4.60, $3.60 and $2.80 while covering the distance in 1:50.70.

Evening Jewel and jockey Kent Desormeaux came within a head-bob of pulling off the upset and paid $9.40 and $7.20. Tidal Pool, under Calvin Borel, was third and paid $5.00.

A year after superstar Rachel Alexandra obliterated the field to win by a record 20¼ lengths, the margin was decidedly closer.

Like, say, a nostril.

Blind Luck hung at the back of the field for the first half-mile, well behind frontrunning Tidal Pool.

Bejarano, who was criticized by Hollendorfer for a poor ride during a third-place finish in the Santa Anita Oaks in February, moved her toward the outside at the turn and set her eyes on Evening Jewel as they reached the top of the lane.

Evening Jewel dug in as Desormeaux tried to pull his second stunner of the day. He and Unrivaled Belle outdueled Rachel Alexandra in the La Troienne Stakes earlier Friday, a performance that left the Hall of Fame jockey playfully flexing his muscles after stunning the Horse of the Year.

Not this time.

Blind Luck doesn’t have Rachel Alexandra’s raw power. She’s a closer who outlasts rivals. She had just enough to provide a thrilling finish in front of a record Oaks crowd at the sun-splashed track.

Rachel Alexandra used her Oaks victory as a springboard to the Preakness, where she beat the boys. Hollendorfer, who co-owns Blind Luck, isn’t ready to head to Pimlico in two weeks.

“I would say we probably wouldn’t do that,” Hollendorfer said.

Hollendorfer won the Oaks with Lite Light in 1991 and Pike Place Dancer in 1996.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas was hoping to tie an Oaks record by collecting his fifth victory. Yet Tidal Pool cooled after setting the early pace and was a distant third behind the theatrics at the front.