The storied Kentucky Oaks will be run in primetime for the first time when the starting gate opens on Friday night for the 2026 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. The Todd Pletcher-trained Zany has been installed as the 4-1 morning-line favorite in the 2026 Kentucky Oaks odds. She leads a deep and wide-open Kentucky Oaks field that features six fillies between 4-1 and 8-1. The others are Meaning (5-1), Explora (6-1), Percy's Bar (6-1), Counting Stars (8-1) and Prom Queen (8-1). Post time for the $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks 2026 is 8:40 p.m. ET.
With a full field of the country's best fillies set to enter the starting gate on Friday, you NEED to see what Santa Anita-based racing reporter and insider Michelle Yu has to say before making any 2026 Kentucky Oaks picks, considering what she did last year.
Few people in racing are as well-connected as Yu. An on-air host and reporter who has provided racing analysis for TVG, HRTV and the Breeders' Cup, Yu has spent a lifetime in racing. Prior to her television career, she worked for trainers Steve Asmussen and Ron Moquett. She also is married to Santa Anita-based trainer Ryan Hanson.
Yu also has tremendous handicapping chops. In a wide-open Kentucky Derby in 2021, she gave out Medina Spirit, who crossed the finish line first, as the winner at 12-1. In Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager four years ago, she suggested a play on All Other 3-Year-Olds, which cashed at a whopping 18-1 when Rich Strike won.
She started off 2025 by correctly going all-in on Citizen Bull to win the Robert B. Lewis Stakes, and she also predicted Forever Young's win in the Saudi Cup, Journalism's win in the San Felipe Stakes, Sandman's win in the Arkansas Derby, Good Cheer's win in the Kentucky Oaks and Mindframe's win in the Churchill Downs Stakes. She also hit the exacta in the Kentucky Derby.
In August she hit the Fierceness-Journalism exacta in the Pacific Classic, and just last month she nailed the Renegade-Silent Tactic-Taptastic trifecta in the Arkansas Derby.
For the 2026 Kentucky Oaks, Yu has made her picks and constructed her bets. One surprise: She is completely fading Zany, even though she is the 4-1 favorite. Another curveball: Yu is high on Prom Queen, even though he's an 8-1 longshot. "This very lightly raced winner of the Gulfstream Park Oaks has talent and room to grow," Yu told SportsLine. She is using Prom Queen prominently in her 2026 Kentucky Oaks bets.
Moreover, Yu's top pick is a horse who has a "tactical running style." She also is high on a double-digit longshot who "has no flaws." She is including these horses in her 2026 Kentucky Oaks bets, and so should you. You ABSOLUTELY NEED to see her picks before locking in any of your own!
So which horse wins the 2026 Kentucky Oaks? What double-digit longshot is a must-back? And how has Yu constructed her wagers? ... Join SportsLine right now to get Michelle Yu's 2026 Kentucky Oaks picks and bets, all from the racing insider who nailed this race last year!
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