The feature race on the eve of the Kentucky Derby is the distaff counterpart to the classic race happening the next day. Similarly modeled on Epsom’s Oaks, the Kentucky Oaks has evolved from a regional contest into a beloved Grade 1 stakes almost as heavily anticipated as the Derby itself. Yet a glance at bookshelves yields a plethora of books on the run for the roses and none on the run for the lilies … until now.

Avalyn Hunter’s new book “The Kentucky Oaks: 150 Years of Running for the Lilies” is a much-needed recounting of Kentucky Oaks history, a celebration of the fillies that have made the first Friday in May an event unto itself.

Writing a Classic

A longtime pedigree expert and turf writer, Hunter is the author of five books including the recently published “Dream Derby,” a look at the life and career of Black Gold. Her website American Classic Pedigrees and the book of the same name have become a go-to resource for both writers and readers and a source for this epic exploration. The motivation behind this unprecedented look at Oaks history was simple: “because it hadn’t been done before.”

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“When you consider that the Oaks is invariably one of the top five horse races in the country at this point by both on-site audience and by TV coverage, and that it is a huge charity event as well, it should really be getting a lot more [attention] on a wider scale,” she explained. “And when you’re looking at the filly that wins the race, you’re looking at first a potential champion, because [this] is the earliest race on the calendar that really holds a heavy weight in voting for the Eclipse [Award] as champion 3-year-old filly and you’re also looking at a potential broodmare whose value may be in the multiple millions.”

The 216-page book goes from Vinaigrette in 1875 to Secret Oath in 2022 and gives each winner their time in the sun. Some receive a more thorough treatment, elaborating on their contributions beyond Oaks day, which brings readers a new perspective on this long list of fillies. In addition to the sheer amount of research the book required, Hunter says her “biggest single challenge was finding information during the early years of the Oaks, when it got relatively little attention.”

Her perseverance is rewarded with another go-to resource for racing fans, which, much like American Classic Pedigrees, collects valuable information about notable horses and people in the history of this signature race. For so long, “the stallions have always been the glamor boys of the Thoroughbred breeding industry and the racing industry. The same attention was never given to the Oaks all the way around,” the author observed. “I’ve always had a thing about recounting the feminine half of the breed, simply because it hasn’t gotten the level of attention that the males do. While they say the stallion is half the herd, if you don’t pay attention to the mares that are the other half the herd, you won’t have a breeding program.”

This opus, its cover featuring the famed Hall of Fame filly Rachel Alexandra, focuses on the girl power that has become a highlight of the first half of the season, a day that is as much a destination as the next day’s classic.

A Bright Light

The highlights of “The Kentucky Oaks” include a look at the winners who have had an impact beyond their victory in that race.

“Modesty, who was the first really great filly to win the Oaks, and yet, broadly, has not yet been honored by being put in the Racing Hall of Fame, even though she also won the inaugural American Derby. In a sense, she helped put the Oaks on the map as a race the champions could contest in.”

Then the race’s history includes horses like “Blue Delight, who did not win the Oaks herself, but foaled three Oaks winners. And the first of them, Real Delight, became an important Calumet [Farm] foundation mare, whose line led to Alydar and to Our Mims. Her half-sister Princess Turia produced Forward Pass, who won the Preakness in his own right, and got the Derby on the disqualification of Dancer’s Image.”

Rachel Alexandra dominant in 2009 Kentucky Oaks (BloodHorse/Mike Corrado)

“Among more modern winners, obviously, you can’t overlook Rachel Alexandra, who was the only Oaks winner ever to be acclaimed as Horse of the Year,” the author shared. “Her story is incredible. I’d also like to mention Blush with Pride, who was the first of D. Wayne Lukas’s five Oaks winners, and a tremendously influential modern broodmare.”

Hunter’s book shares “a whole side of racing that hasn’t been told much about, and it’s the feminine side of things.”

The chronicle of racing history has not always emphasized the importance of broodmares, which leaves that part of the story largely untold until recently, a facet that is “just as important to the story of racing and the story of Thoroughbred breeding as the glamour boys that get focused on in the Kentucky Derby. I want people to see that tapestry, if you will, that texture.”

The century and a half of the Kentucky Oaks counts Hall of Famers, both equine and human, as part of its rich history, one that has come out of the shadows and into the spotlight in recent decades. Yet it tends to play second fiddle to the next day’s classic.

As Hunter observed, “if the Derby is a big rock concert, then the Oaks is the opening act. I would like people to see it as a very important and wonderful event in its own right.”

Hunter’s new book shines a much-deserved light on this classic test and brings readers closer to the distaff half of the sport’s history.