The Sunland Park Oaks (formerly the WinStar Oaks) is an American
Thoroughbred horse race
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...
open to three-year-old
fillies
A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use:
*In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old.
*In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...
and
mare
A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than fo ...
s willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt. The Oaks, an
ungraded stakes event, is held in March at
Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino (founded in 1959) in
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
.
Once sponsored by
WinStar Farm
WinStar Farm is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding and racing farm near Versailles, Kentucky, owned by Kenny Troutt. It won the 2010 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Owner and 2016 Outstanding Breeder. WinStar Farm owned 2018 Triple Crown ...
in
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
where
Distorted Humor
Distorted Humor (foaled March 19, 1993 in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse and a successful sire.
Bloodline
Distorted Humor's sire is Forty Niner, 1987's Eclipse Award winning Outstanding Two-Year-Old Male Horse by the champio ...
and
Tiznow
Tiznow (foaled March 12, 1997 in California) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his wins in the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2000 and 2001, becoming the only horse to win this race twice. He was the 2000 American Horse of the Year an ...
stand, the race offers a purse of $200,000. Begun as a one and one sixteenth mile race, then taken down to a mile, it is now back to one and one-sixteenth.
Since 2013, the Oaks has been part of the
Road to the Kentucky Oaks, a series of races through which fillies qualify for the
Kentucky Oaks
The Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers at Churchill Downs; the horses carry . The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Friday ...
.
The race was not run in 2016 due to an outbreak of equine herpesvirus.
jockey
Jerry Bailey
Jerry D. Bailey (born August 29, 1957 in Dallas, Texas) is an NBC Sports thoroughbred racing analyst and a retired American Hall of Fame jockey.
Early years
Bailey was born in Dallas but raised in El Paso. He had a pony as a child and became ...
and
Mike E. Smith
Michael Earl Smith (born August 10, 1965) is an American jockey who has been one of the leading riders in U.S. Thoroughbred racing since the early 1990s, was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2003, and has won the ...
, as well as jockeys
Patrick Valenzuela
Patrick Angel Valenzuela (born October 17, 1962, in Montrose, Colorado) is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Born into a racing family, his father plus three of his uncles, including Ismael Valenzuela, were jockeys. He rode his first ...
and
Cash Asmussen
Cash Asmussen (born March 15, 1962 in Agar, South Dakota) is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Born Brian Keith Asmussen, in 1977 he legally changed his name to "Cash".
From a Texas horse racing family, his parents, Keith and Marily ...
, all began their careers at Sunland Park.
Records
Speed record:
* 1:41.06 @ 1 1/16 miles: Midnight Lucky (2013) (
new track record)
Most wins by a
jockey:
* 4 -
Victor Espinoza
Victor Espinoza (born May 23, 1972) is a Mexican jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing who won the Triple Crown in 2015 on American Pharoah. He began riding in his native Mexico and went on to compete at racetracks in California. He has w ...
(2006, 2007, 2009, 2015)
Most wins by a
trainer:
* 8 -
Bob Baffert
Robert A. Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American racehorse trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakn ...
(2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019)
Most wins by an owner:
* 2 - Karl Watson, Paul Weitman (2007, 2013)
* 2 - Peachtree Stable (2011, 2012)
Winners
See also
*
Road to the Kentucky Oaks
References
{{Reflist
External links
Sunland Park
Ungraded stakes races in the United States
Horse races in New Mexico
Flat horse races for three-year-old fillies
Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino