The FL Oaks – Grade III
$200.000 For Fillies Three Years Old
1 1/16 Miles – Turf
Tampa Bay Downs – March 7, 2026

It seems like an Oaks race in America should be on the dirt and this race used to be run on that surface, but it was moved to lawn in 2011, and it has remained there since. This year marks the sixteenth running since the surface switch, and it has drawn a full field of twelve to compete for the $200.000 purse being offered to the top finishers. The forecast as of this writing shows a firm course and the twelve contenders are as follows:

1. Zen Conquest (Mb Stables/ B. Curtis) The first of two entries from Mb Stables is making her fifth career start and her third straight stakes effort following an eye-popping maiden win by lengths at Del Mar at the end of November. That kind of dominance at a high-level track will get people to take notice but with all due respect to the field that day there does not seem to have been very much behind her as only one of those six other horses has yet to even break their own maiden yet. She has done ok in her two non-graded stakes efforts finishing close up in one and placing third in her last start. Hard to discount anyone from this barn but she has to show more. 

2. She Is Into It (Jerry Garcia Racing/J.L. Ortiz) Stakes winning filly who seems to really like Churchill Downs. She broke her maiden under the famous Twin Spires and she followed that up by winning the Rags to Riches and missed taking the G2 Golden Rod by a neck on that same track. Both of those stakes efforts came with Oaks qualifying points and she currently sits twenty sixth in the qualifying standings with fifteen points, so it is surprising to see her here making a grass debut rather than trying to get into the Oaks on the track she has excelled on. Her seasonal debut was a fading ninth in the Martha Washington at Oaklawn. Needs to establish turf form but has shown her class previously. 

3. Spruill (Luz International/S. Elliott) Comes into the race off of very good turf form with two wins in three grass starts. She barely missed making it three in a row in her last start where she missed by a head. All of that is good but she tries to do two new things now which is to move up into stakes company and also make her first start beyond six furlongs. Obviously has talent but gets a serious class test. 

4. State Title (Team 7 Illusions/A.A. Gallardo) Three starts on grass and never worse than second. All three of her grass races have been in stakes races. She finished second in both the lucrative KD Juvenile Fillies and the G1 BC Juvenile Fillies Turf. She lost both of those events by less than a length combined. She opened up her season with her first stakes win in The Sweetest Chant, showing she has carried her form from two to three. The one they have to beat.

5. Shes So Pretty (High Voltage/Mar. Garcia) Was a stakes winner on the grass in her third career start when she won the OT Juvenile Turf at Del Mar. She was purchased privately for $150.000 after finishing eleventh in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf. She was put on the shelf for three months after that and resurfaced in early February where she was a closing fourth in the Sweet Life Stakes in her barn debut. That was a sprint and looks to be nothing more than a tune up for this. The added distance will help her and her works are good. Don’t overlook.

6. Follow The Queen (La Canada Racehorses/A. Santos) First of two entries from the La Canada Racehorses barn. Won the G3 Durante at Del Mar to close out her two-year-old year. She started 2026 with a dirt win at Santa Anita which was her third win in a row and showed her versatility. Encouraged to give the KY Oaks trail a shot she appeared next in the SUN Oaks where she showed early speed before fading to sixth. She comes back for her third of the year and moves back to the surface where she has thus far had the most success.

7. Shot Of Summer (Diablo Diablo/S.X. Bridgmohan) Won the Catch A Glimpse Stakes in her turf debut and then missed winning the G1 Natalma by a scant nose. She closed in the crowded stretch of the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf to finish seventh. Despite finishing off the board in the Durante behind Follow The Queen she was only a neck behind. She came back to start her freshman year with a restricted stakes win in the CA Cup Oaks. Her works are faster than some others. 

8. Pucci (Mo Mentum Farm/J.C. Ferrer) Another in the field who is already a stakes winner on the grass and comes out of the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf where she finished eighth. She came back to win an overnight to kick off 2026 but that was in a dirt sprint. She moves back to the grass and stretches out. Has proven her class on the turf before so she belongs.  

9. Used Less (Maxmillion Farm/Ch. Marquez) She was purchased privately for $150.000 after finishing second on the grass in a NY bred MSW at Saratoga. She broke her maiden by five impressive lengths three races later when she went long for the first time on the Aqueduct grass. All eight starts have been restricted to NY Breds and she steps out of that restriction for the first time now. Her only stakes race saw her finish fourth after challenging early. She was given a turf sprint tightener which she won to open up her 2026 campaign. Needs to step up against these. 

10. Influence Seeker (Mb Stables/T. Gaffalione) Second entry from Mb Stables and the stronger entry having already put a G1 win on her resume by taking the G1 Natalma. She faded to sixth in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf. She looked for a confidence builder making two non-stakes starts. Found that confidence by winning her three-year-old opener by three lengths in an overnight before moving back to stakes company in the SUN Oaks. She dipped her hoof in the KY Oaks waters, finished ninth and moves right back to what seems to be her preferred surface. Throw out the SUN Oaks and the daylight grass win in January shows the form to consider here.

11. Wild Water Wagon (La Canada Racehorses/P. Morales) Three wins from six career starts. Won three in a row on the grass as a two-year-old culminating in her sin in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf. She then made two graded stakes starts in races that offered qualifying points to the KY Oaks. She finished third in the G2 Demoiselle so she didn’t crash and burn but she moves back to the surface where she has yet to be bested. Her La Canada stablemate Follow The Queen has early speed and could soften up some of her rivals. 

12. Sod Fairy (Nakamura Stables/F.H. Da Silva) Sod Fairy wins the best name in the field award, which doesn’t really exist and gets you nothing but still…you want a filly named Sod Fairy to be a champion on the grass. In her favor you can’t point to the fact that she is undefeated on the sod. She broke her maiden at Belterra Park on the grass in her second start. She has not set foot on the grass since. She won a State Bred stakes in the Shady Well at Woodbine in late November and followed that up with a win in an optional claimer at Santa Anita to finish her two-year-old season. She started 2026 with an ambitious graded stakes debut in the Forward Gal where she finished sixth. She joins a myriad of others who found the KY Oaks trail not to their liking and move back to the grass. The outside draw does not help her cause.

We have the first two finishers from the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf in this race. I am going to pick both of those on top in reverse order with State Title ahead of Wild Water Wagon. I think Shot Of Summer will be third with Influence Seeker fourth after being pressed early.

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES