The Kentucky Oaks, reserved for fillies, was first contested in 1875, with several of its winners joining the boys on the Triple Crown trail. Rachel Alexandra won the 2009 Kentucky Oaks before winning the Preakness Stakes later that year, so might there be another world-class filly in the 2025 Kentucky Oaks field? There were 14 horses that drew in and undefeated Good Cheer is the 6-5 favorite in the 2025 Kentucky Oaks odds. She’s followed by La Cara (6-1), Quietside (8-1), Simply Joking (10-1) and Ballerina d’Oro (10-1) in the Kentucky Oaks odds 2025, with post time scheduled for 5:51 p.m. ET on Friday. Before making any 2025 Kentucky Oaks picks, be sure to see the horse racing predictions and futures bets from SportsLine’s elite horse racing expert Jody Demling.
A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling has nailed the Oaks-Derby double 11 times in the last 16 years. He also predicted the winner of the Belmont Stakes four of the last seven years and called 10 of the last 20 Preakness winners, including in 2023, when he hit the winner, exacta, trifecta and superfecta, as well as the trifecta in 2024. Anyone who has followed him on those picks on betting sites like FanDuel Racing, TwinSpires and 1/ST BET is up huge.
Now, with the 2025 Kentucky Oaks post positions set and odds on the board, Demling is sharing his 2025 Kentucky Oaks betting picks and 2025 Kentucky Oaks predictions over at SportsLine. Go here to see them.
Top 2025 Kentucky Oaks predictions
One of Demling’s surprising 2025 Kentucky Oaks picks: He is fading La Cara (6-1), predicting that the second favorite doesn’t even hit the board in his 2025 Kentucky Oaks projections. Sire Street Sense was the 2007 Derby winner and damsire Bernardini won the 2006 Preakness Stakes and the Travers Stakes, so there’s a lot to like on the hoof. However, dam Cara Caterina never broke her maiden in eight tries and La Cara has struggled to meet expectation consistently.
“The daughter of Street Sense does look good on the track and was impressive in the Ashland Stakes. But she’s been so inconsistent and she has never put back-to-back big efforts together,” Demling told SportsLine. She has four wins in nine career starts and has failed to hit the board entirely on three occasions. See which other 2025 Kentucky Oaks horses to avoid at SportsLine.
Another stunner: Demling is high on Simply Joking, even though she is a 10-1 longshot in the Kentucky Oaks odds 2025. Sire Practical Joke was a fifth-place finisher in the 2017 Derby and he went out to stud with three G1 victories under his belt. Simply joking didn’t debut until late in her two-year-old season (Dec. 21), but she won each of her two races and then finished a strong second behind Quietside in the G2 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
“The Whit Beckman-trained daughter of Practical Joke looked like a budding star with a second in the Fantasy Stakes off a long layoff. She’s only started three times and she should sit just off the pace,” Demling said. Dam Imply was a four-time winner, mostly on turf/synthetic surfaces, and we should see Simply Joking look to set the pace on Friday. See which other horses to back at SportsLine.
How to make 2025 Kentucky Oaks picks, bets
Demling is especially high on a colossal double-digit longshot who “will come running in the end.” Demling is sharing which horse it is, along with his entire projected 2025 Kentucky Oaks leaderboard, over at SportsLine.
Which horse wins the Kentucky Oaks 2025, and which huge double-digit longshot is a must-back? Check out the latest 2025 Kentucky Oaks odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Demling’s picks for the Kentucky Oaks, all from the expert who has nailed 11 Derby-Oaks doubles.
2025 Kentucky Oaks odds, post positions
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