2023 Bourbonette Oaks Preview & FREE Picks | Botanical Faces Ag Bullet, Renegade Rebel In Latest Test

Vinny from Real Dynasty Picks previews the 2023 Bourbonette Oaks from Turfway Park, then gives her top picks & long shots from this 50-point prep race for the 2023 Kentucky Oaks (G1). Local hero Botanical faces invading stakes winners Ag Bullet & Renegade Rebel in her latest test as the Brad Cox trainee continues marching toward the 1st Friday of May. Tell us YOUR thoughts in the Comments section!

SMASH the *Thumbs Up* ~ HIT *Subscribe* ~ RING the *Notification* bell

The track press release:

LNJ Foxwoods and Clearsky Farms’ Botanical, the dazzling 6 ½-length winner of the $150,000 Cincinnati Trophy Stakes three weeks ago, headlines a field of 11 3-year-old fillies that entered Saturday’s $300,000 Bourbonette Oaks (Listed) at Turfway Park Racing & Gaming.

The 1 1/16-mile Bourbonette Oaks will go as the 11^th race on the stakes-laden 13-race program. First post is 12:45 p.m. and the Bourbonette Oaks has a scheduled post time of 5:43 p.m. The Bourbonette Oaks is one of six stakes events on the Jeff Ruby Steaks Day card from Turfway Park. The other stakes contests are the 52^nd running of the $700,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks (GIII), the 23^rd running of the $300,000 TwinSpires Kentucky Cup Classic (Listed); the 37^th running of the $250,000 Animal Kingdom Stakes; the 41^st running of the $250,000 Latonia Stakes; and the 36^th running of the $250,000 Rushaway.

The top 5 finishers in the Bourbonette Oaks will receive points on a 50-20-15-10-5 scale towards the $1.25 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI).

Trained by Brad Cox, Botanical is undefeated in three starts over the Turfway Park Tapeta surface. The daughter of Medaglia d’Oro crushed a field of 11 on Nov. 30 to break her maiden by 10 ¾ lengths. Two starts ago, Botanical was tested against first-level allowance company and made quick work of her nine rivals by 4 ½ lengths. In the Cincinnati Trophy, Botanical sat nine lengths behind a runaway pacesetter and easily defeated her six rivals as the heavy 4-5 favorite. Jockey Chris Landeros will have the return call and break from post No. 5.

Chief among Botanical’s top rivals in the Bourbonette Oaks is Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran’s California-shipper Ag Bullet. Trained by George Papaprodromou, Ag Bullet is scheduled to make her first start outside California in the Bourbonette Oaks. Based at Santa Anita, Ag Bullet tabbed her first stakes victory in her last start when she gamely held off The Wild Grazer by a neck in the $100,000 Lady Shamrock Stakes. The gray daughter of Twirling Candy will break from post 11 with Umberto Rispoli in the saddle.

Another stakes winner that entered the Bourbonette Oaks is D. J. Stable’s Renegade Rebel. Trained by Mark Casse and ridden by Rafael Hernandez, Renegade Rebel is slated to make her 3-year-old debut in the Bourbonette Oaks. As a 2-year-old, Renegade Rebel impressively broke her maiden by seven lengths at Woodbine and followed that victory one month later with a front-running score in the $150,000 Mazzarine Stakes (GIII). Renegade Rebel will break from the rail.

Here is the complete field for the Bourbonette Oaks from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):

          1. Renegade Rebel (Hernandez, Casse)

          2. Bolivie (IRE) (Irad Ortiz Jr., Brendan Walsh)

          3. Olympic Prank (Edgard Zayas, Saffie Joseph Jr.)

          4. Thirty Thou Kelvin (Kazushi Kimura, John Terranova)

          5. Botanical (Landeros, Cox)

          6. Always At Ease (Kent Desormeaux, Keith Desormeaux)

          7. Miss New York (Jose Morelos, Jorge Delgado)

          8. Flashy Gem (John Velazquez, Brad Cox)

          9. Shewillghostu (Sonny Leon, Eric Reed)

          10. Medaglia Forever (Fernando De La Cruz, Rusty Arnold)

         11. Ag Bullet (Rispoli, Papaprodromou)