The 2023 Kentucky Oaks marks the beginning of a highly-anticipated weekend of races at Churchill Downs.
With seven races on Friday, horse-racing experts Mike Conti and Mike Somich made their Kentucky Oaks betting predictions on The Action Network Podcast, featuring a winner for the 149th running of the Kentucky Oaks (5:51 p.m. ET) and other 2023 Kentucky Oaks Day races. We transcribed those Kentucky Oaks betting predictions below.
Note: Transcriptions edited for clarity.
Kentucky Oaks Betting Preview
Kentucky Oaks Predictions
Winner: No. 7 Wet Paint (5-2)
Conti: "Conditions [at Churchill Downs] won't matter because of how this girl has fared over any track.
She's floated over a sloppy race track multiple times at Oaklawn. She's won over a fast race track. And what's most interesting to me is: She's a closer — she’s closed in on really slow paces and on faster paces.
I'm very confident in her."
Somich: "[Wet Paint] is rolling right now. She's been phenomenal in her last couple races … has won over a sloppy track, has won over a fast track.
We saw Secret Oath win this race last year — she made this sweeping wide move around the turn and absolutely buried the field. I wouldn't be surprised if it's almost a carbon copy of that for Wet Paint this year."
Kentucky Oaks Day Picks
Conti highlighted other horses he's targeting in multi-race wagers on Kentucky Oaks Day, including:
- Race 8: No. 11 Caravel (4-5)
- Race 7: No. 3 Olivia Twist (12-1)
- Race 9: Secret Oath (3-1)
- Race 10: No. 9 Papilio (7-2)
You can read his full Kentucky Oaks Day betting card here.
Here are a couple additional picks for Friday's races from Somich:
- 4, 7 Exacta in Race 11: No. 7 Wet Paint to finish 1st, No. 4 Southlawn to finish second — "Southlawn can run into pace and should get a beautiful setup. My guess is that she gets the lead down the stretch and Wet Paint will have to run Southlawn down."
- No. 10 Flashy Gem (10-1) in Race 10: "This is a race that I don’t see a massive amount of pace in and Luis Saez is very good at forwardly placing horses. I have a feeling Flashy Gem is going to be on the lead, and if she's able to get away, 10-1 is going to look like a steal."
