Kentucky Oaks: Post Position Draw & Morning Line Odds

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Dreaming of Julia has been assigned post 8 as the 3-1 morning-line favorite in a stellar field of 11 3-year-old fillies for the Kentucky Oaks, the filly classic that will be run for the 139th time Friday at Churchill Downs.

Dreaming of Julia, with John Velazquez back to ride, won the Gulfstream Park Oaks by a whopping 21 3/4 lengths. She is one of four fillies from the Todd Pletcher stable in the Grade 1, $1 million Oaks.

Another of the Pletcher fillies is Unlimited Budget (post 4, Javier Castellano), who also will be one of the top choices as one of three unbeatens in the field.

Midnight Lucky (post 2, Rafael Bejarano) also is undefeated, as is Close Hatches (post 11, Joel Rosario).

The other Pletcher fillies are Silsita (post 1, Gary Stevens) and Princess of Sylmar (post 6, Mike Smith). Pletcher has won the Oaks twice, with Ashado (2004) and Rags to Riches (2007).

Close Hatches is trained by Bill Mott, who has a second Oaks starter in Flashy Gray (post 10, Junior Alvarado).

Post time for the 1 1/8-mile Oaks is 5:45 p.m. Eastern. It will be shown live on a one-hour broadcast on the NBC Sports Network (5 p.m.).

Five other stakes will be run on the Oaks undercard. First post is 10:30 a.m.

Kentucky Oaks
Purse: $1 million; 1 1/8 miles; Grade 1
Post, Horse, Jockey, Morning-line odds
1. Silsita, G.Stevens, 20-1
2. Midnight Lucky, R.Bejarano, 9-2
3. Beholder, G.Gomez, 7-2
4. Unlimited Budget, J.Castellano, 7-2
5. Seaneen Girl, R.Napravnik, 20-1
6. Princess of Sylmar, M.Smith, 20-1
7. Pure Fun, J.Leparoux, 30-1
8. Dreaming of Julia, J.Velazquez, 3-1
9. Rose to Gold, C.Borel, 15-1
10. Flashy Gray, J.Alvarado, 15-1
11. Close Hatches, J.Rosario, 6-1
Track odds
Post time: Friday, 5:45 p.m. Eastern
All starters carry 121 pounds
Television: NBC Sports Network, 5-6 p.m.