Bottle of Rouge Pulls Away in Virginia Oaks, Moves Closer to Kentucky Oaks

NEW KENT, VA. (March 14, 2026) — Bottle of Rouge rallied from just off the pace and surged clear in the stretch to win the second running of the $250,000 Virginia Oaks on Saturday at Colonial Downs, earning 37.5 qualifying points toward a berth in the 152nd Kentucky Oak on Friday, May 1.

Bottle of Rouge, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert and owned by Jill Baffert, completed the 1 1/16-mile race in 1:41.41.

Ridden by Flavien Prat, Bottle of Rouge broke sharply but settled behind a hot pace of :22.61 and :45.64 set by Dazzling Dame, with Kadabra pressing. After saving ground in the pocket, Prat tipped the filly out between rivals entering the stretch. She closed on Dazzling Dame, seized the lead near the eighth pole and drew clear of her four rivals.

“I thought it was a good run from her,” Prat said. “She’s improving race after race and continues to show she can handle more distance.”

Prat won five on the Virginia Derby Day card, including a pair of undercard stakes.

Already a Grade 1 winner, Bottle of Rouge began her 3-year-old season with a 1½-length victory in the Sunland Park Oaks in February, earning 20 Oaks qualifying points. Her victory in the Virginia Oaks boosted her Kentucky Oaks qualifying total to 57.5, strengthening her position to third on the leaderboard for the “Run for the Lilies” at Churchill Downs.

Dazzling Dame held on for second, adding 18.75 points for a new total of 40.75, and is now ranked seventh on the leaderbaord. Baffle rallied from the back of the pack for third, scoring her first 11.75 points. Hit Parade ran fourth, earning 7.5 points for a new total of 19.5. Kadabra faded to fifth for 3.75 points.

Sent off as the odds-on favorite, Bottle of Rouge returned $3.60, $2.10 and $2.10.

“She’s been a lot of fun to travel with,” assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes said. “She ran well at Sunland and came here and won. I wasn’t sure how the race would set up because there was a lot of speed, but we were able to settle her. She rated well, and Flavien was patient and found a hole to get through. She did the rest.”

The Vino Rosso filly’s lifetime record now stands at 6-4-1-0, and she has banked $577,000 in career earnings.

Additional Quotes:

Jevian Toledo, jockey of second-place finisher Dazzling Dame

“I really wanted a slower pace, but the other horse chased us the entire way, so I couldn’t give her a breather. She ran really hard and tried her best. She acted more mature today — before she used to be very nervous in the gate, but she relaxed today.”

Cristian Torres, jockey of fourth-place finisher Hit Parade

“We were moving nicely on the backside. Coming into the turn, she started making a nice move on her own — I never had to ask her. She was traveling well, but by the quarter pole, the leaders ran away, and she just stayed there.”

Colonial Downs Racetrack, in New Kent, Virginia, hosts live Thoroughbred racing on two nationally renowned surfaces – the Secretariat Turf Course, the widest turf course in North America at 180 feet wide and on a 1 1/4-mile dirt track. The Colonial Downs Group, which is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN), also operates Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums® throughout the Commonwealth, which offer innovative historic horseracing (HHR) gaming and full-card simulcasting as well as Rosie’s Game Room in Collinsville, Roseshire Gaming Parlor in Henrico, and The Rose Gaming Resort® in Dumfries which offers 1,650 HHR gaming terminals, full-card simulcasting, eight bars and restaurants and more than 100 hotel rooms.

-30-

Caption: Battle of Rouge, with Flavien Prat aboard for trainer Bob Baffert, captured the $250,000 Virginia Oaks at Colonial Downs on March 14, 2026

Photo credit: Coady Media