2025 Apple Blossom Handicap Betting Odds and Contenders Preview

The reigning horse of the year, Thorpedo Anna, leads a field of seven in the older fillies’ and mares’ feature of the Oaklawn meet: the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap. The race covers 11 1/16 miles on the dirt, and offers an exciting $1.25 million purse.

Thorpedo Anna’s top foes include Where’s My Ring, a Kentucky Oaks runner from last year who won a recent Oaklawn allowance in blowout fashion, as well as Free Like a Girl, the highest-earning Louisiana-bred of all time, and the horse who chased Thorpedo Anna home for second in the Azeri (G2) last out.

The race began in 1958 as an open-company race, and was run only sporadically until 1968. It has been run regularly since then. The conditions switched to fillies and mares in 1973, and since then has emerged as one of the highest-quality distaff races of the year.

The undisputed ruler of the Apple Blossom is its only three-time winner, Azeri, who swept the race in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and fan favorite Zenyatta won this race twice, in 2008 and 2010. Other high-profile winners include the first-ever millionaire mare Susan’s Girl (1975), Kentucky Oaks winner Bold ‘n Determined (1980), horse of the year Havre de Grace (2011), Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Ce Ce (2020), and Breeders’ Cup Distaff winners Bayakoa (1989), Paseana (1992, 1993), Escena (1998), Untapable (2015), and Forever Unbridled (2016).

With less than a month to go until the Derby, check out the latest Kentucky Derby odds and see which contenders are set to compete!

Apple Blossom Handicap 2025 Information

• Race Date: Saturday, April 12, 2025
• Track: Oaklawn
• Post Time: 5:48 p.m. Central Standard Time
• Distance: 1 1/16 miles
• Age/Sex: three-year-olds
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

Apple Blossom Handicap Odds

This is the field for the 2025 Apple Blossom, including posts, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line odds for each horse.

Apple Blossom Handicap Prep Results

Three of the seven entrants come out of graded-stakes races, which is a strong profile predictor for winning the Apple Blossom. Thorpedo Anna and Free Like a Girl ran 1-2 in the Azeri (G2), the local prep for the Apple Blossom. Wild Bout Hilary races for the first time since winning the Bayakoa (G3), a filly and mare race earlier in the meet; Free Like a Girl was also second in that race.

The only other horse to come out of a stakes race is Neom Beach. She was most recently a well-beaten eighth behind Bru Na Boinne in the Trivista Overnight Stakes on February 23 at Oaklawn.

Two others come out of conventional allowance races. Where’s My Ring demolished first-level allowance company over the same course and distance as the Apple Blossom, romping clear by 12 ¼ lengths. Sweet Alyssa will try to bounce back from a well-beaten ninth behind Distorted d’Oro in a second-level allowance on the grass at Fair Grounds on February 16.

Noble Miss, unraced for almost a year, was last seen finishing third behind Olivia Twist in a $15,000 starter-optional claiming sprint at Sunland, where she tracked the pace and was no match for the leading pair.

Apple Blossom Handicap Contenders

These are the contenders in the 2025 Apple Blossom, organized by post position:

1. Sweet Alyssa: A stakes winner at Evangeline Downs against off-turf foes last year, she has hit a bit of a skid since then, finishing no better than fourth in her six starts since. To her credit, that stakes win came at a mile on the dirt, and she has not run two turns on conventional dirt since, giving her some upside to right the ship. Even so, her best day leaves her with some time to find against these more proven stakes horses, and she is unlikely to make the front with horses like Free Like a Girl, Thorpedo Anna, and Wild Bout Hilary to her outside.
2. Neom Beach: She is a winner at 1 1/16 miles on the Oaklawn Dirt, clearing her first-level allowance condition over the course and distance last year. However, her form coming back to the track this year has been flat—she just hasn’t shown the same kind of ability to get near the speed this year like she could last year against straight three-year-olds. It may suggest that she hasn’t moved forward from three to four, or even at this point in her career, she’d rather run on the grass, as she did beat older second-level allowance horses last year on the lawn.
3. Free Like a Girl: All this six-year-old mare does is show up. She doesn’t always win, as she fell short to Wild Bout Hilary two back in the Bayakoa and then chased Thorpedo Anna home in the Azero. But she has shown that she can run her race even against better horses than she has faced in most of her career at smaller tracks, and she has the sharp yet tactical speed to be in the mix from the outset. Expect another good effort from her.
4. Noble Miss: It’s not a great sign when you read a horse’s past performances and the first horse who comes to mind is Rick’s Natural Star, the New Mexico-based claimer who made his first start in over a year in the 1996 Breeders’ Cup Turf and turned out to be in beyond his depth. Noble Miss has not raced in over a year, she has never raced outside of New Mexico, she has typically raced in claiming or starter races, and she has never gone two turns. Though her pedigree suggests a middle distance is worth trying, she has yet to run a race that makes her a contender at this level.
5. Where’s My Ring: She has never been the most consistent horse, though she has been well-regarded throughout her career. She broke her maiden in the Gazelle (G3) last year, but after three well-beaten tries, she was put away for the summer and fall. She returned with a credible third in a sprint allowance at Santa Anita in February, then trounced first-level allowance foes at Oaklawn over the Apple Blossom distance next out. The question is whether she can run back to that. If she can, especially while working a stalking trip, she has a shot. But, the last time she ran a race that big, she regressed big time, meaning that even though she is one of the classier foes in this field, there is reason to be skeptical if the price is too short.
6. Thorpedo Anna: In short, she is the horse to beat. In 11 starts, she has never run a bad race, while keeping top-class company. She has sharp early speed but also the ability to be tactical—important since Wild Bout Hilary to her outside has such crackling early speed. She is proven at the distance, she is proven at Oaklawn, she has run winning races with a variety of pace scenarios around her … in short, you can’t blame anyone for singling her, looking for prices elsewhere in the sequence, and enjoying watching Thorpedo Anna just be Thorpedo Anna.
7. Wild Bout Hilary: She has sharp early speed from the outside, and should be able to get a clean run to the front. However, she won’t be able to go as slow as she did when she upset the Bayakoa last out—Free Like a Girl won’t be too far away, and the even better Thorpedo Anna will be forward as well. The slower the pace she is allowed to go, the more likely she is to hang on for a share in the end, but despite how likely she is to get to set the pace, she may just be too slow in the end.

Apple Blossom Handicap Past Winners Past Performances

Well befitting one of the best distaff-division races of the year, every single winner of the Apple Blossom over the last ten years has come out of a graded-stakes race, and every one finished in the superfecta in their previous race.

The local prep, the Azeri, has produced the most next-out Apple Blossom winners in the last ten years, with four. Midnight Bisou (2019) won it, and Untapable (2015), Letruska (2021), and Clairiere (2023) all came out of runner-up efforts.

Two other races have produced a pair of next-out Azeri winners. Two horses who won the Beholder Mile (G2) at Santa Anita have won the Azeri next out in the last ten years: Ce Ce (2020, when the Beholder was still a Grade 1) won it, and Adare Manor (2024) came out of a second-place run. The Royal Delta (G3) at Gulfstream has also produced two: Unbridled Mo (2018) came out of a fourth-place finish, and Letruska (2022) won it.

The only Apple Blossom winner to come out of a most recent start in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff was Stellar Wind (2017), who won this in her first outing since a fourth-place finish in the end-of-season feature. Forever Unbridled (2016) won the Apple Blossom in a step up in class after winning the Houston Ladies Classic (G3) in January at Sam Houston.

Apple Blossom Handicap Undercard

The Apple Blossom is the 11th of 12 races on the Oaklawn card scheduled for Saturday, April 12. It is one of two stakes on the card, with the other being the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G2) for older sprinters. That race is headlined by Booth, winner of two straight stakes at Oaklawn, including the Whitmore (G3) on March 15.

With huge fields and purses all day long at Oaklawn, and major races at other tracks like Keeneland, it’s a great day to bet on horse racing. Watch races and get analysis all day long with FanDuel TV, and bet every race online with FanDuel!

Oaklawn Park History

Back in 1905, the Hot Springs Mayor declared a half-day holiday for the opening of Oaklawn Park, with over 3,000 people attending the track on its first day of horse racing. The holiday heralded the beginning of a tradition that has lasted for over a century!

Due to political issues, no racing took place at Oaklawn Park between 1907 and 1916, but after a sustained period of action, the now-famous Apple Blossom was inaugurated in 1936 with a purse of $5,000 offered to entrants.

By 1952, Oaklawn Park could boast daily attendances of almost 8,000 people and an average daily handle of well over $400,000, figures which rose by the turn of the decade to 10,000 and $500,000, respectively, with the Apple Blossom purse increasing to $50,000 by 1965.

The track continued to go from strength to strength, and during a 50-day meeting in 1970, an average of 11,000 people were attending daily, with over $43,000,000 wagered over the course of the meet.

In the mid-70s, Oaklawn gave birth to the Racing Festival of the South, with pari-mutuel wagering amounting to a cool $80,000,000 that season, and by the 80s, over a quarter of a million people were attending the festival each year. By then, the purse for the flagship Arkansas Derby was up at $500,000, and a new single-day attendance record was set with 71,000 showing up to see Rampage win the big race in 1986.

Ten years later, Arkansas Derby day saw a total handle of over $10.5 million, and by the turn of the millennium, Oaklawn was still seeing increases in attendance and wagering, meaning the track stands as one of the most thriving horse racing scenes in the country at present.

Apple Blossom Handicap FAQ

Q: When is the Apple Blossom?

A: The 2025 Apple Blossom will be run on Saturday, April 12 at March 29 at 5:48 p.m. Central Daylight Time. It is the 11th of 12 races on the card.

Q: Where is the Apple Blossom?

A: It takes place at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Apple Blossom?

A: Bill Mott leads all trainers with four wins in the Apple Blossom—amazingly, his first came in 1984 with Heatherten and his most recent in 2014 with Close Hatches. He is still training at the top level, but does not have an entrant in this race in 2025. Among the trainers who do, Steve Asmussen leads with three wins, with Untapable, Midnight Bisou, and Clairiere. He can tie Mott if Neom Beach wins in 2025.

Q: Who is the favorite for the 2025 Apple Blossom?

A: Thorpedo Anna is the 2-5 morning-line favorite for the Apple Blossom. Given her recent local win in the Azeri, her consistency, and her unassailable class, it would be no surprise to see her at a price even shorter than that come post time.

Q: Who is the best Apple Blossom jockey?

A: Mike Smith leads all riders with seven wins in the Apple Blossom between 1994 and 2019. Smith is still actively riding, though he does not have a call in the race this year. Among jockeys who will be in the saddle in 2025, Ricardo Santana, Jr. is the only one who has won it before. He won in 2018 with Unbridled Mo and can win again with Sweet Alyssa.

Q: Who won the 2024 Apple Blossom?

A: Adare Manor won the 2024 Apple Blossom for trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Juan Hernandez. Neither Baffert nor Hernandez returns for the 2025 edition.

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