Kentucky Oaks favorite Tarifa, trained by Brad Cox, among those who can make history May 3

Brad Cox is of the mindset that, if you have the right horse, you can win from anywhere.

"Post positions," the Louisville-born trainer said, "are a little overrated."

Do with this what you will, then. Cox loves where his 2024 Kentucky Oaks morning-line favorite, Tarifa (7-2), will be starting the $1.5 million, Grade 1 stakes race Friday at Churchill Downs — the No. 8 post.

Tarifa, a descendant of two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Tiznow, enters the race having won all three of her starts this year; the most recent being the Fair Grounds Oaks (Grade 2) on March 23. She's drawn everywhere from on the rail in a six-horse field to the far outside in a seven-horse field.

"Hopefully, she gets away well (and) gets a good, clean trip," Cox said after Saturday's draw. "I think she's going to like the mile and an eighth."

If jockey Flavien Prat can deliver, the history Tarifa will achieve with a win cannot be understated. Godolphin, LLC would become just the fourth owner to notch back-to-back victories in the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies since its inception in 1875.

That's just one of the story lines to keep an eye on as we get closer to post time, 5:51 p.m. Friday.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas is trying to reach the winner's circle in the Oaks for a sixth time; breaking a tie with a fellow Hall of Famer, Woody Stephens, atop the race's all-time leaderboard. If Todd Pletcher wins, he would tie Lukas and Stephens.

Lukas' horse, Lemon Muffin (30-1), is starting in the No. 6 post with jockey Keith Asmussen making his Oaks debut.

"The draw doesn't have any bearing on her that I thought would be a plus or a minus," Lukas said. "She's doing really well. She had a wonderful work this morning, kind of tipping her hand; so we'll need her over there with a lot of confidence."

Lemon Muffin has one win and one second-place finish thus far in 2024.

She and Asmussen are coming off a seventh-place finish in the Fantasy Stakes (Grade 2) on March 30 at Oaklawn Park. In that race, the duo had the No. 9 post.

Lukas shared Cox's sentiment about post positions being a tad overhyped. What he cares about most is not where his horse starts; rather, it's who is starting beside her.

Yet again, that's jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. aboard Thorpedo Anna (5-1). They won the Fantasy Stakes starting out of the No. 10 post and drew the No. 5 spot for the Oaks.

Thorpedo Anna's trainer, Kenny McPeek, called her morning-line odds "a fair number."

"I was second in the Oaks a few years back with Daddy’s Little Darling; and she drew the 14," McPeek said. "She wins the race if she doesn't draw 14."

The 14th post is where Leslie's Rose (4-1) will start with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., the winningest rider in North America for seven years running. Pletcher wasn't too thrilled about the spot.

"We got two of the worst three," he said; referring to Candied, an also-eligible horse at No. 16.

No. 14 worked out well for last year's winners, Pretty Mischievous and jockey Tyler Gaffalione.

This year, Gaffalione will start three spots to the inside — in the No. 11 post with Ways and Means (5-1). If he wins aboard the Chad Brown-trained filly, who has yet to win a stakes race, he'll become the first rider since Eddie Arcaro (1951-53) to do so in consecutive years.

Brown loved the draw for Gaffalione, saying he "should have plenty of options to just choose his spot if he wants to go on or be just off the lead."

He said he chose the 29-year-old Florida native to jockey Ways and Means, for whom the Oaks will be just her fourth career start, because of his recent success at Churchill.

Gaffalione earned his 11th career leading-rider title at the track during last year's Fall Meet.

"He knows every inch of the track," Brown said, "and now he knows this horse. I'm confident."

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Tarifa can make history during Kentucky Oaks 2024 at Churchill Downs