SAR Oaks – (Grade ll)

Purse $500.00 – For Fillies Three Years Old

1 3/16 Miles – Turf

Saratoga – August 7, 2026

Though the field is short on numbers, it is long on talent as a select group of accomplished three-year-old fillies line up for the 8th running of the SAR Oaks. This event has consistently attracted top-class talent, with each of the previous seven winners already owning a graded stakes victory before adding this race to their résumé. The SAR Oaks earned its graded designation in 2021, though its 1 3/16-mile distance has remained unchanged throughout its history. Mb Stables and Smokey Stover share the lead atop the owners’ leaderboard with two victories apiece. Mb could move into sole possession of first with two serious contenders entered this year. The stakes record was set by Let Me Explain in 2024, who came into the SAR Oaks as a three-time Grade One winner. She stopped the clock for the 1 3/16 miles in 1:52.03. Almost every filly entered this year brings impressive stakes credentials, so who’s going to be up to the task? Let’s take a look at the contenders!

1. State Title – (Mb Stables, J R. Velazquez) Bought privately from Team 7 Illusions for $350.00 back in March. This filly had an impressive two-year-old season, winning first time out and eventually finding her way to the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. State Title ran second in that race after drawing a wide post. This daughter of Dream Sequence changed barns after two starts in 2026 and immediately switched surfaces to the dirt. She had a two-length advantage in the Ashland trying to take the field wire-to-wire but yielded late to finish third. State Title moved back to the grass and ran in the BEL Oaks last time out. Mb took off the blinkers and this time she successfully made every pole a winning one. My top pick.

2. Cher Ami – (Waldo, S X. Bridgmohan) The most lightly raced filly entered this year with six career starts. Cher Ami broke her maiden second time out sprinting on the grass last year at TUP. Connections made a start in an N1X on the dirt before switching back to the turf at the beginning of 2026. She won back-to-back races, clearing the N2X condition twice in impressive fashion. This California-bred jumped into stakes company last time out in The Tepin at Churchill Downs. She was a 30-1 longshot that day in a big field of ten horses. Cher Ami saved ground on the rail and unfortunately didn’t have enough late kick in the stretch to make an impression on the leaders. Will need to step up in here.

3. Shot Of Summer – (Diablo Diablo, V. Espinoza) A habitual deep closer who will be unleashing a powerful late run in the stretch. This daughter of Indian Summer is also one of the most experienced fillies entered this year with thirteen career starts. She almost became a Grade One winner as a two-year-old, just missing the wire by a nose in the Natalma Stakes at Woodbine. Shot Of Summer started 2026 in the right way by capturing the CA Cup Oaks by a length under jockey Victor Espinoza. She then almost made it two in a row down in Florida, producing another late charge down the lane and missed by a neck. Her last couple of starts don’t jump off the page as Shot Of Summer has run evenly. Watch out for her late.

4. Firewall – (Mb Stables, P. Lopez) Broke her maiden on the turf late last year, but has run exclusively on the dirt since. Firewall’s debut first time against winners was in The Demoiselle on a muddy track. She ran the field off their feet, scoring in wire-to-wire fashion by a length in just her third career start. Connections definitely had high hopes after that performance and tried putting this daughter of Prevent on the Kentucky Oaks trail. Things didn’t quite go her way as she failed to get enough points to make the field. Mb looked to change things up two races back, switching back to the grass. Firewall captured the Grade Three Regret and ran third in the BEL Oaks. It looks like this filly needs the lead to run her best.

5. I Am The Storm – (TwinTowersRacing, M J. Sanchez) Has done her best running against non-graded stakes and allowance company. I Am The Storm experimented with the grass in her fifth career start in an N1X. She cleared that condition with ease and parlayed that effort with another solid effort in an N2X. It was clear that this daughter of Expert Eye runs the best on the sod, so connections jumped up in class to some black-type races. This New York-bred captured the Lacombe Memorial closing from last place in a six-horse field. Since that victory, I Am The Storm’s last four starts have been exclusively against graded company. She comes in here off a second-place finish in the G1 BEL Oaks. Deserves a look.

6. Valley Center – (Nakamura Stables, R. Santana Jr.) Out of eleven career starts, this filly has only three starts on the turf. Valley Center has been running around two turns throughout most of her career in non-graded stakes. She ended up scoring in The Suncoast Stakes and found herself on the road to the Kentucky Oaks. This daughter of Con Will Con made the trip out west and ran ninth in the Grade Three Santa Ysabel Stakes at Santa Anita. Connections were looking for a bounce-back effort and started working out Valley Center on the grass. She turned heads with some impressive works, so this filly ran in the G2 Edgewood. It resulted in a fourth-place finish and she ended up winning one race later in a Grade Three. Definitely a contender.

– AJM

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES