With the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) now less than two weeks away, this seems a good time to reflect on another potential member of the field who has good credentials but has not yet been reviewed in this column. This week, the spotlight falls on Zany, who fell from the unbeaten ranks in the Central Bank Ashland Stakes (USA-G1) on April 3 but still has the potential to be a serious contender on May 1.
Owned by Mike Repole, Zany has raced only four times but has quite a solid resume, After airing in her first start, a 6½ furlong maiden special weight on November 2 at Gulfstream Park, the filly shipped to Aqueduct and closed out her brief 2-year-old season on December 6 with an 8½-length score in the 9-furlong Demoiselle Stakes (USA-G2). In that race, she dusted stakes winners Jumping the Gun and Shilling as well as Ivy Girl, who has won two stakes races in 2026.
Zany returned at 3 on February 7 in the Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and added that to the win column too, coming home by 2 ¾ lengths over Life of Joy. That rival franked the form in her next outing with an impressive score over multiple Grade 2 winner Bella Ballerina in the Fasig-Tipton Fair Grounds Oaks (USA-G2).
Although Zany found Percy’s Bar (who clearly loves the Keeneland surface) to be too much for her in the Ashland on April 3, she was a solid second and posted a new career high Equibase figure without making a huge jump. Her lone work since then almost exactly matches her last work prior to the Ashland, suggesting that she hasn’t knocked herself out. Thus, she comes into the Kentucky Oaks with the impression that she can still improve. The question is whether she can post further improvement at the right time to prevail in what looks like a wide-open race.
One point in Zany’s favor is that she is already a winner at the 9-furlong distance, and her pedigree indicates that this was not a fluke. Bred by D. J. Stable, she is a daughter of 2015 American Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year American Pharoah, whose ability to get runners capable of going 9 furlongs or more is not in question. Her dam is 2017 Top Flight Invitational Stakes (USA-G3) winner Mo’ Green, whose signature win was over 9 furlongs and whose previous three winners all scored at a mile or more. So far, so good.
A half sister to juvenile stakes winner She’screative (by Creative Cause), Mo’ Green is by 2010 American champion 2-year-old male Uncle Mo, whose top-level winners ranged from Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (USA-G1) winner Golden Pal to Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner Mo Donegal, out of stakes-placed She’s a Rebel Too. A more speed-oriented sort, She’s a Rebel Too is a full sister to listed stakes winner Two Punch Sonny and is by the good Maryland sire Two Punch, a stakes-winning sprinter.
The dam of She’s a Rebel Too, the Dixieland Band mare Dixieland Queen, appeared to throw toward the proclivities of her mates, as her stakes-winning Smarten daughter, Ragtime Doll, and her stakes-placed Formal Gold colt, Cheverley Gold, stayed better than either She’s a Rebel Too or Two Punch Sonny. A full sister to 1988 Tempted Stakes (USA-G2) winner Box Office Gold, Dixieland Queen is out of 1978 Bed o’ Roses Handicap (USA-G3) winner Fearless Queen (by Never Bend’s good son Iron Ruler).
Now standing in Japan, American Pharoah has had Classic success in Australia, getting 2023 Victoria Derby (AUS-G1) and Australian Derby (AUS-G1) winner Riff Rocket and 2024 Victoria Derby (AUS-G1) winner Goldrush Guru, but he has yet to come up with the winner of a race of Classic stature in the United States. At this point in his career, a Kentucky Oaks win by Zany is unlikely to change the trajectory of what has been a fairly successful but not top-drawer stallion career, but to Pharoah’s fans, a bouquet of lilies from his daughter would surely be a lovely addition to his legacy as well as, perhaps, a stepping stone to a legendary career of her own.
Owned by Mike Repole, Zany has raced only four times but has quite a solid resume, After airing in her first start, a 6½ furlong maiden special weight on November 2 at Gulfstream Park, the filly shipped to Aqueduct and closed out her brief 2-year-old season on December 6 with an 8½-length score in the 9-furlong Demoiselle Stakes (USA-G2). In that race, she dusted stakes winners Jumping the Gun and Shilling as well as Ivy Girl, who has won two stakes races in 2026.
Zany returned at 3 on February 7 in the Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and added that to the win column too, coming home by 2 ¾ lengths over Life of Joy. That rival franked the form in her next outing with an impressive score over multiple Grade 2 winner Bella Ballerina in the Fasig-Tipton Fair Grounds Oaks (USA-G2).
Although Zany found Percy’s Bar (who clearly loves the Keeneland surface) to be too much for her in the Ashland on April 3, she was a solid second and posted a new career high Equibase figure without making a huge jump. Her lone work since then almost exactly matches her last work prior to the Ashland, suggesting that she hasn’t knocked herself out. Thus, she comes into the Kentucky Oaks with the impression that she can still improve. The question is whether she can post further improvement at the right time to prevail in what looks like a wide-open race.
One point in Zany’s favor is that she is already a winner at the 9-furlong distance, and her pedigree indicates that this was not a fluke. Bred by D. J. Stable, she is a daughter of 2015 American Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year American Pharoah, whose ability to get runners capable of going 9 furlongs or more is not in question. Her dam is 2017 Top Flight Invitational Stakes (USA-G3) winner Mo’ Green, whose signature win was over 9 furlongs and whose previous three winners all scored at a mile or more. So far, so good.
A half sister to juvenile stakes winner She’screative (by Creative Cause), Mo’ Green is by 2010 American champion 2-year-old male Uncle Mo, whose top-level winners ranged from Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (USA-G1) winner Golden Pal to Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner Mo Donegal, out of stakes-placed She’s a Rebel Too. A more speed-oriented sort, She’s a Rebel Too is a full sister to listed stakes winner Two Punch Sonny and is by the good Maryland sire Two Punch, a stakes-winning sprinter.
The dam of She’s a Rebel Too, the Dixieland Band mare Dixieland Queen, appeared to throw toward the proclivities of her mates, as her stakes-winning Smarten daughter, Ragtime Doll, and her stakes-placed Formal Gold colt, Cheverley Gold, stayed better than either She’s a Rebel Too or Two Punch Sonny. A full sister to 1988 Tempted Stakes (USA-G2) winner Box Office Gold, Dixieland Queen is out of 1978 Bed o’ Roses Handicap (USA-G3) winner Fearless Queen (by Never Bend’s good son Iron Ruler).
Now standing in Japan, American Pharoah has had Classic success in Australia, getting 2023 Victoria Derby (AUS-G1) and Australian Derby (AUS-G1) winner Riff Rocket and 2024 Victoria Derby (AUS-G1) winner Goldrush Guru, but he has yet to come up with the winner of a race of Classic stature in the United States. At this point in his career, a Kentucky Oaks win by Zany is unlikely to change the trajectory of what has been a fairly successful but not top-drawer stallion career, but to Pharoah’s fans, a bouquet of lilies from his daughter would surely be a lovely addition to his legacy as well as, perhaps, a stepping stone to a legendary career of her own.
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