The best three-year-old fillies in the country take the spotlight Friday, May 2 at Churchill Downs for the $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks! The most promising fillies in the country have been working toward this 1 ⅛-mile dirt race since last year. The winner takes home a huge payday and an iconic blanket of lilies.
Bettors, too, can take home a huge payday. With one of the largest and classiest fields of the year, the the Kentucky Oaks is one of the best horse racing betting events of the year. Keep on reading to find out the best places to bet the Kentucky Oaks online, and get real Las Vegas odds from anywhere!
Before you even start handicapping the race, you can set yourself up for a profitable Kentucky Oaks day by signing up at the best online sportsbooks. Where you bet the race matters – not only do you want to get the best Las Vegas odds on the race, but you need to make sure that your choice is a trusted betting site with reliable payouts, a smooth user interface, and bankroll-boosting bonuses.
Our betting experts have done the homework for you. All of our recommended sites offer the basics of a great online betting experience. And, each site offers great betting site bonuses like rebates, deposit bonuses, and referral benefits. Take a few minutes to read the reviews, find the site with the best features and bonuses for your betting style, and then boost your bankroll by hundreds or even thousands of dollars!
These are the best sites for betting the Kentucky Oaks online:
This is the official field for the 2025 Kentucky Oaks including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line prices:
Remember that the morning line isn’t an odds guarantee, but rather an educated estimate for wagering action. If you bet at the track, you won’t know your odds until the starting gates open on Oaks day. However, there is a better way.
If you bet major races like the Kentucky Oaks at an online sportsbook, you can bet fixed odds in advance. That way, you can lock in real Las Vegas odds just by placing a bet! Then, you can watch the race knowing what you’ll be paid when your horse wins.
Here are the Las Vegas odds for the Kentucky Oaks horse at the top of the market:
 |  |  |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Good Cheer | +125 | +110 | +120 |
| La Cara | +700 | +950 | +600 |
| Quietside | +700 | +825 | +800 |
| Simply Joking | +900 | +950 | +1000 |
| Ballerina D'Oro | +1100 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Five G | +1100 | +1500 | +1200 |
| Take Charge Milady | +1200 | +1500 | +1200 |
| Tenma | +1400 | +1000 | +1200 |
The 12-1 morning-line odds seem like a pipe dream (at least if you bet on track!), but with Good Cheer in the field, Tenma should be a fair price. She came into her own on the west coast spur of the Kentucky Oaks trail winning the Starlet (G2), Las Virgenes (G3), and the Santa Anita Oaks (G2). She battled on the pace to win the Starlet and the Las Virgenes, but it’s that last out win that makes her most interesting.
In the Santa Anita Derby, she put it all together. She had won a couple races as a juvenile from off the pace, and in the Santa Anita Derby she finally was able to set a couple lengths off the pace while things were going fast in front of her, and make her rally in the lane. With quite a few in the field who could show speed, that ability to be tractable is going to be key.
Good Cheer comes into the Kentucky Oaks a perfect six-for-six. In every one of her starts she has stayed off the early lead, a positive since there are quite a few in this field who can show pace. She is versatile enough to stalk or rally from midfield, a good thing since she has to navigate an outside post. And, if the possible rain comes? She is already a big winner over slop at Churchill Downs.
Simply Joking was well enough regarded that trainer Whit Beckman debuted her in a stakes race, and she won against more experienced winners that day. She stretched out to run well in routes in her next two starts; though she couldn’t quite hold off Quietside in the Fantasy And, with rain in the forecast, it’s a great sign that she won with authority over a sloppy track in the Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds.
Quietside has to deal with an outside post, but two back in the Honeybee she was able to stalk, battle, and win despite drawing in the parking lot. The Oaklawn spur of the Kentucky Oaks trail has risen in importance over recent years, and she has kept turning good efforts against serious Kentucky Oaks contenders throughout her career, so her class fits. She also has a good effort on a wet track as a juvenile, and impeccable off-track breeding.
Especially with a wet forecast this week, Bless the Broken has a right to outrun her odds. Though she comes into the Oaks out of a victory on the Tapeta at Turfway, her best race to date may well be her second-place finish in the Silverbulletday over the slop at Fair Grounds. This midpack-to-closing type shouldn’t be too hampered by the near-outside gate, and it’s excellent to see hall of fame rider John Velazquez stay in the irons.
Both of the all-time leading jockeys from the Kentucky Oaks have four wins apiece, Eddie Arcaro and Manuel Ycaza, but both accomplished this feat in the mid-20th century Among the jockeys in the 2025 edition, two lead with a pair of wins each. John Velazquez won with Ashado in 2004 and Malathaat in 2021, and can win a third with Bless the Broken. Florent Geroux won with Monomoy Girl (2018) and Shedaresthedevil (2020); he rides Simply Joking this year.
Other Kentucky Oaks-winning jockeys in the field include Brian Hernandez, Jose Ortiz, and Luis Saez, each of whom have won once apiece. Hernandez is going for a second consecutive win, as he rode Thorpedo Anna in 2024.
D. Wayne Lukas has won the Kentucky Oaks five times (1982, 1984, 1989, 1990, 2022), tied with Woody Stephens for the most Oaks wins ever. He is still active, and in fact has a Kentucky Derby horse in 2025, but does not have a runner in the Oaks.
Among the trainers in the 2025 Kentucky Oaks, the one with the most wins is Bob Baffert. He has won three times: with Silverbulletday in 1999, Plum Pretty in 2011, and Abel Tasman in 2017. He can extend his tally to four if Tenma wins in 2025.
Brad Cox trained both 2018 winner Monomoy Girl and 2020 winner Shedaresthedevil, and can win another if likely favorite Good Cheer obliges. Other Oaks-winning trainers who return to the field are Kenny McPeek, who won in 2024 with Thorpedo Anna and returns with Take Charge Milady, and Tom Amoss, who won in 2019 with Serengeti Empress and can win another with Quickick.
These are the expert bets for the Kentucky Oaks:
