Dave Portnoy is not pretending Lovely Grey is a favorite in the 152nd Kentucky Oaks. He said on social media that his horse is “an extreme longshot” and added, “I don’t care,” as the filly prepares for Friday’s race at Churchill Downs.
Portnoy also wrote, “All you need is a chip and a chair,” and said, “Im (sic) proud of her win lose or draw.” He said Lovely Grey will “prob be at least 30-1 unless the Stoolies bet her down,” and joked, “If it was a beauty pageant she’d win in a landslide.” Lovely Grey races under Portnoy’s Go Go Greys Stable, which he started last year.
The horse’s path to Louisville has been anything but smooth. Portnoy acquired Lovely Grey earlier this year after bidding was stalled, and she finished second in her most recent race on March 21 in the Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky. Another Kentucky Oaks contender, Bottle of Rouge, was scratched from the race last weekend after developing a cough, changing the field before the primetime NBC broadcast on Friday.
That matters because the Kentucky Oaks is not just a standalone race. It is the opening act for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, and racing fans are expected to know the horses’ form and backstories far better than casual viewers. Lovely Grey remains an extreme longshot, but if she were to win at Churchill Downs, she would become the first horse to take the Kentucky Oaks with a female trainer. For Portnoy, the wager is less about odds than ownership: he is backing the horse he bought, and he is doing it loudly.
