Muhimma wins the Demoiselle (G2) Dec. 7 at Aqueduct (Susie Raisher)
Keeneland Press Release
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Shadwell Stable’s Muhimma and Tracy Farmer’s homebred La Cara headline a field of eight 3-year-old fillies entered Monday for the 88th running of the $750,000 Central Bank Ashland (G1) at Keeneland on Friday afternoon.
The 1 1/16-mile main track test is the centerpiece of the 10-race program that kicks off the 15-day Spring Meet that runs through Friday, April 25. The Central Bank Ashland will be run as the ninth race on the program with a 5:16 p.m. ET post time. First post is 1 p.m.
The Central Bank Ashland is the first Grade 1 race of 2025 for 3-year-old fillies and offers 200 qualifying points on a 100-50-25-15-10 for the first- through fifth-place finishers toward the $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) to be run May 2 at Churchill Downs.
Fourteen fillies have won both the Ashland and Kentucky Oaks with the most recent being Malathaat in 2021.
Trained by Brad Cox, Muhimma has won three of four career races and enters the Central Bank Ashland off a third-place finish in the Honeybee (G3) at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 23. Her resume includes a victory in the Demoiselle (G2) to close her 2024 campaign.
Flavien Prat has the mount on Muhimma and will exit post 4.
Two-time stakes winner La Cara comes into the Central Bank Ashland off a runner-up finish in the Davona Dale (G2) at Gulfstream Park on March 1 for trainer Mark Casse.
Winner of the Pocahontas (G3) last September at Churchill Downs, La Cara opened her 2025 campaign with a 6¼-length victory in the Suncoast (L) at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 8. Dylan Davis has the mount from post 2.
Other stakes winners in the field include Stud TNT’s Running Away; Reddam Racing’s Look Forward; and James Ball, Magdalena Racing and Kenneth Rhodes’ Take Charge Milady.
Trained by Wesley Ward, Running Away brings a two-race win streak into the Central Bank Ashland with the most recent victory coming in the Busanda at Aqueduct on Jan. 18. Gerardo Corrales has the mount from post 5.
Invading from California for trainer Michael McCarthy is Look Forward. Winner of the Santa Ynez (L) at Santa Anita on Jan. 5, Look Forward finished seventh in her most recent outing in the Honeybee on Feb. 23. Mario Gutierrez retains the mount from post 1.
Take Charge Milady, trained by three-time Central Bank Ashland winner Kenny McPeek, won the Martha Washington (L) at Oaklawn by 5¾ lengths on Jan. 25. In her most recent race, she was 10th in the Honeybee. Brian Hernandez Jr. has the mount from post 6.
88th Running of the $750,000 Central Bank Ashland (G1), 3-year-old fillies, 1 1/16 miles
Weight: 121 lbs. * Race 9 * Post time: 5:16 p.m. ET
| Post | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | ||||
| 1 | Look Forward | Michael McCarthy | Mario Gutierrez | ||||
| 2 | La Cara | Mark Casse | Dylan Davis | ||||
| 3 | Supa Speed | John Sadler | Joel Rosario | ||||
| 4 | Muhimma | Brad Cox | Flavien Prat | ||||
| 5 | Running Away | Wesley Ward | Gerardo Corrales | ||||
| 6 | Take Charge Milady | Kenny McPeek | Brian Hernandez Jr. | ||||
| 7 | Amarth | Eddie Kenneally | Luis Saez | ||||
| 8 | Admit | Tom Drury | Jose Ortiz |
