The $300,000 Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks presented by Keeneland Sales drew a fantastic full field of 3-year-old fillies set to contest the 1 1/8-mile turf race on Saturday, Aug. 16 at Del Mar.

Thought Process checks all the boxes as a winner of five of seven career races, with three wins from four starts on the Del Mar turf course, including an impressive 1 ¾-length win in her most recent start in the Grade 2 San Clemente Handicap July 19 at Del Mar. Casalu, a $775,000 purchase as a 2-year-old, has a pair of nice stakes wins on the Santa Anita turf course this year and has yet to finish worse than fourth from nine career starts. Lush Lips looks well placed here and finishing with two wins and two seconds in her four starts this year.  Will Then was in peak form late last year into early 2025, winning three straight including the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes at Del Mar by 2 ¼ lengths over Casalu. She won the China Doll Stakes in March at Santa Anita, where she earned a career-best 100 Equibase Speed Figure. Take A Breath will be making her first start in North America coming off back-to-back wins in Great Britain. She switches to the barn of trainer Mark Glatt and jockey Hector Berrios gets off Thought Process to take the mount. Velocity has shown consistent improvement in every start, winning an allowance last time going 1 1/16 miles on the turf at Del Mar following a fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Senorita Stakes in a downhill turf sprint at Santa Anita. Slick owns one win last December at Santa Anita. Firenze Flavor won by a nose at this 1 1/8-mile distance on the turf in the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes at Santa Anita in May. Resolve, Miso Phansy, and Edge of Mali round out the field.

Analysis and main contenders:

Lush Lips (Candice Chavez/Eclipse Sportswire)

Lush Lips ships in from Kentucky for trainer Brendan Walsh coming off a 3 ¾-length victory in the Tepin Stakes last time out, earning a career-best 107 Equibase Speed Figure, the highest speed figure of any horse entered in the Del Mar Oaks. Jockey Tyler Gaffalione will be aboard on Saturday and has been in top form since returning from an injury last month. Gaffalione does not travel to Del Mar often but was successful when making this exact move in 2022 when he won the Del Mar Oaks aboard Spendarella for trainer Graham Motion. Lush Lips broke her maiden at Gulfstream Park by seven lengths in her fourth career start last November with the addition of blinkers in her first outing for Walsh. She then came right back to win a Gulfstream allowance in January before finishing second to Nitrogen, arguably the best 3-year-old turf filly in the country, in both the Grade 3 Florida Oaks and the Grade 2 Edgewood Stakes presented by Accenture. Following the Edgewood, Lush Lips dominated the Tepin Stakes at Churchill Downs in late June. She’s at the top of her game and Walsh is shipping in to win.

Thought Process has pretty much done nothing wrong in her career, taking five trips to the winner’s circle from seven career starts. Her only two losses were in her career debut on the dirt and a ninth-place finish in the 2024 John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf where she led the field for 7 ½ furlongs before being swallowed up by heavily favored Lake Victoria in the final sixteenth of mile. She returned from a nearly eight-month layoff following the Breeders’ Cup to win by 5 ¾ lengths with a 105 Equibase Speed Figure in an allowance race going a mile on the turf at Santa Anita in June. Last time out, she won the San Clemente Handicap beating Casalu, Will Then, Firenze Flavor, and Miso Phansy to improve her career record to 3-for-4 on the Del Mar turf. She is ranked first in this field by average speed figure (96) and had a nice bullet workout on Aug. 10 going five furlongs on the turf in 1:00.20 in preparation for the Del Mar Oaks.

Casalu (Richard Steele/Eclipse Sportswire)

Casalu is an ultra-consistent filly, never finishing worse than fourth in nine career starts for trainer Bob Baffert. She broke her maiden in her career debut by 5 ½ lengths at Del Mar last July before finishing third in the Grade 3 Sorrento Stakes, fourth in the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf behind Thought Process, and second behind Thought Process again in the Grade 3 Surfer Girl Stakes at Santa Anita. She turned things around this year with back-to-back turf stakes wins at Santa Anita with 100 and 95 Equibase Speed Figures in those wins. Last time out, she finished second to Thought Process in the San Clemente. This filly has run in four graded stakes races in her career and has finished in the money in all four.

The rest of the field (with best Equibase Speed Figures in similar races): Edge of Mali (92), Firenze Flavor (102), Miso Phansy (93), Resolve (102), Slick (85), Striver (82), Take A Breath (102), Will Then (100), and Velocity (95).

Win Contenders In Preference Order:

Lush Lips

Thought Process

Casalu