Just F Y I Heads Field of Eight for Grade 1 Ashland

Just F Y I, George Krikorian's undefeated champion, will make her 2024 debut when she headlines a field of eight 3-year-old fillies entered for the 87th running of the $600,000 Central Bank Ashland (G1) going 1 1/16 miles on the main track at Keeneland Racecourse on Opening Day - April 5.

Scheduled as the ninth race on Friday's 10-race program with a 5:16 p.m. ET post time, the Central Bank Ashland is the first Grade 1 race of 2024 for the 3-year-old filly division and offers 200 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, a $1.5 million race to be run May 3 at Churchill Downs.

Kentucky Oaks points will be awarded on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale to the first- through fifth-place finishers. The Oaks is limited to the top 14 point earners.

Trained by Bill Mott, who won the Central Bank Ashland in 2013 with Emollient, Just F Y I capped her 2023 campaign with a narrow victory in the NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Santa Anita. Prior to that, she won the Frizette (G1).

Junior Alvarado, who has been aboard for all of Just F Y I's starts, has the mount Friday coming out of post six.

Chief among Just F Y I's rivals Friday are the 2-3 finishers from the Breeders' Cup in Parkland Thoroughbreds and Sportsmen Stable's Jody's Pride and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Candied plus Juddmonte's undefeated Impel.

Trained by Jorge Abreu, Jody's Pride has won three of four starts with her lone defeat being a runner-up finish to Just F Y I in the Breeders' Cup. In her lone start of 2024, Jody's Pride won the Busher (L) at Aqueduct going a mile on March 2. Flavien Prat has the mount from post eight.

Candied is trained by two-time Central Bank Ashland winner Todd Pletcher. Winner of the Darley Alcibiades (G1) here last fall prior to the Breeders' Cup, Candied will be making her 2024 debut Friday and exit post one under Luis Saez. Pletcher won the race in 2021 with Malathaat and in 2022 with Nest.

Impel is trained by Brad Cox, who won the 2018 Central Bank Ashland with Monomoy Girl. Impel made her debut New Year's Day with a 3¼-length victory going 6 furlongs at Fair Grounds. She followed that with an 8½-length allowance victory going a mile and a sixteenth at Oaklawn Park on March 3. Florent Geroux has the mount from post seven.

The field of the Central Bank Ashland, with riders from the rail out, is: Candied (Saez), Standoutsensation (Edgar Morales), Leslie's Rose (Irad Ortiz Jr.), Halina's Forte (Tyler Gaffalione), Shimmering Allure (Brian Hernandez Jr.), Just F Y I (Alvarado), Impel (Geroux) and Jody's Pride (Prat). All starters will carry 121 pounds.

2024 Ashland Stakes Draws 88 Nominees

Feb 21 - Keeneland's 87th running of the $600,000 Central Bank Ashland (G1) on Friday, April 5, opening day of the 16-day Spring Meet, has attracted 88 nominees to the race for 3-year-old fillies led by George Krikorian's undefeated champion Just F Y I and Godolphin's Tarifa, winner of the Rachel Alexandra (G2) last Saturday at Fair Grounds.

The division's first Grade 1 race of 2024, the Central Bank Ashland is an important early-season target. Recent winners who went on to be named champions are Nest (2022), Malathaat (2021) and Monomoy Girl (2018).

Meanwhile, the race awards 100 points to the winner on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. The next four finishers receive 50 points, 25 points, 15 points and 10 points, respectively, to the $1.5 million, Grade 1 race on May 3 at Churchill Downs.

The 1 1/16-mile Central Bank Ashland is the ninth race on the 10-race card that begins at 1 p.m. ET. Post time for the Central Bank Ashland is 5:16 p.m.

Other stakes that day are the 36th running of the $400,000 Transylvania (G3) for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the turf and the 76thrunning of the $400,000 Lafayette for 3-year-olds racing 7 furlongs on the dirt.

Just F Y I, trained by Bill Mott, is undefeated in three career races highlighted by a victory in the NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Santa Anita in November. She also won the Frizette (G1) last fall.

Godolphin's Tarifa, trained by Brad Cox, posted a 2¾-length victory over favored Intricate in the Rachel Alexandra in her stakes debut.

Also nominated to the Central Bank Ashland, Intricate made her 2024 debut in the Rachel Alexandra after closing 2023 with a 5¼-length victory in the Golden Rod (G2) in November at Churchill. Trained by Brendan Walsh, she is owned by Bradley Thoroughbreds, Laura Leigh Stable, Scott Estes and Cambron Equine.

Other notable Central Bank Ashland nominees include Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Candied, winner of last fall's Darley Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland and third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies; Parkland Thoroughbreds and Sportsmen Stable's Jody's Pride, runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies; Michael Lund Petersen's Kinza, winner of the Las Virgenes (G3); Spendthrift Farm's Kopion, winner of the Santa Ynez (G3); Repole Stable's Life Talk, winner of the Demoiselle (G2); MJM Racing and Magdalena Racing's V V's Dream, winner of the Pocahontas (G3) and runner-up in the Darley Alcibiades; and Dixiana Farms' Band of Gold, winner of the Martha Washington (L).

Cox leads all trainers with 10 nominees to this year's race, while Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown each have nine nominees.

The late nomination deadline for the Central Bank Ashland is Wednesday, March 20.

Post positions for the Central Bank Ashland and the other April 5 races will be drawn on Monday, April 1.

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