The Oaks is officially wide open (now what?)

I had just opened Facebook for the final time tonight when on my timeline I saw that Songbird is out of the Kentucky Oaks with a fever. With that the Oaks has gone from a slam dunk to wide open. There are several contenders in the race who have faced and have been beaten by Songbird. And there are a few who haven't. Lets go over a few of them

Terra Promessa (Curlin)- After finishing 3rd in her career debut, Terra has done nothing wrong with all wins including her last 2 which have been G3 races. She is a homebred whose owner and trainer also owned/trained her sire. Most importantly she has a win over the Churchill surface. The interesting thing is that even though she finished #2 behind Songbird in points, she is more likely her owner's second best chance to win the race.

Land Over Sea (Bellamy Road)- In order to avoid Songbird, she traveled to the Fair Grounds to take their Oaks... which has been the hottest prep for the KY Oaks since 2009 when Rachel Alexandra won. Her trainer will have Nyquist in the Derby, but I question weather she will enjoy the Churchill surface. Her sire ran poorly in the Derby and her brother War Story was an extreme disappointment in both his final Derby prep and the Derby last year. Of course though she could prove me wrong since she is a completely different horse then her brother (aka more accomplished)

Weep No More (Mineshaft)- The beneficiary to a duel in the Ashland, she has a bit of an interesting pedigree. Like Terra Promessa, she is by a Horse of the Year, however her second dam is Flute who won the Kentucky Oaks herself. if there is any downside to her it's that she will have to prove that her 30-1 win was no fluke and finish better then 8th like she did in her career debut. Then again that was at 7 furlongs.

Rachel's Valentina (Bernardini)- Remember I said that Terra was likely her owner's second best chance? Well here is the A Team. Yes she has yet to win going two turns where as everyone else on this list has, but 9 furlongs hits her right between the eyes. Both her parents won the Preakness, mom won the Oaks, Haskell and Woodward, dad won the Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup. Of course mom was Horse of the Year. She was only a neck away in the Ashland and if the wire had come up a little bit sooner she would have been a G1 winner at 2 and 3. There has been a ton of pressure on her since her birth, and so far she's lived up to the hype with no finish worse then 2nd. Of course like all the other horses in the race she'll have to take the Churchill surface. If she wins though, oh will Rachel fans (including me) be ecstatic.

Lewis Bay (Bernardini)- Good news is that she is 3 for 5 in her career with two of them stakes wins. The bad news? All of her wins have been in New York with both of her stakes wins at Aqueduct. Now she did travel to Florida for the Davona Dale where she did finish 2nd, however the winner of that race is skipping the Oaks after a poor finish in the Ashland. The good news for her is that Princess of Sylmar won the Oaks after ruling the NY route. The bad news is no one has been successful since.