Month: March 2022

Derby Fever Starting to Take Hold in Lukas Camp

Though Secret Oath (Arrogate) will meet males Saturday in the GI Arkansas Derby, Hall of Fame trainer Wayne Lukas has been saying all along that the main goal for her remains the GI Kentucky Oaks. That's starting to change.

“First of all, we have to assume she is going to run a top race in the Arkansas Derby,” Lukas said. “(Owner-breeder) Rob Mitchell and I were talking three weeks ago and he said he wanted to go in the Oaks. Since then, he's brought up the Derby two or three times. I think it's a 50-50 proposition. That Derby Fever runs deep. I'll do whatever they want.”

Lukas understands that there is nothing like running a horse in the Kentucky Derby, especially a top contender. Even a race as prestigious as the Kentucky Oaks doesn't compare.

“I've been there and done that,” he said. “I've had all the thrills. I've sang 'My Old Kentucky Home.' I've had the experience a number of times. I want to give the Mitchells that experience. I want them to do whatever they want to do. If they say we want to run in the Derby that's what we will do. Whatever way they lean, I will endorse it 100% and try to make it work.”

Lukas and Mitchell, who owns Secret Oath along with his wife Stacy, have laid the groundwork for a possible Derby start. Had they opted instead to run against 3-year-old fillies the same day in the GIII Fantasy S., they would not have been able to accrue any points for the Derby. After Secret Oath romped in the GIII Honeybee S., winning her third straight, the decision was made to test the water in the Arkansas Derby. On paper, it looks like a smart move. The males lining up for the race are not a particularly strong group and Secret Oath has been made the 5-2 morning-line favorite. Secret Oath is the only horse in the race to have run a Beyer figure in the nineties.

“There was a lot of discussion that went into this,” Lukas said. “The Fantasy, believe it or not, is a Grade III. Rob and Stacy Mitchell thought that if we were going to go for a Grade I, maybe this was the spot to try it. They think we are competitive with the colts, which we probably are. Secondly, it's $1.25 million for the Arkansas Derby versus $600,000 for the Fantasy. I let them make the decision. I told them their filly was in top shape right now and I had led them over there against the colts before and I would do it again with great confidence. But the Grade III versus the Grade I was the main thing that pushed us in that direction.”

More so than any other trainer in the sport, Lukas knows what buttons to push when it comes to running fillies against colts. He won the Kentucky Derby in 1988 with the filly Winning Colors, one of only three fillies to win the race, and he won the 1984 Arkansas Derby with the filly Althea. She came back to run 19th in the Derby. He's won Grade I stakes races against males with Lady's Secret and Serena's Song.

“We are so tradition bound in Thoroughbred racing,” he said. “Nobody changes anything. I came along in the seventies and we made some changes and we were criticized for it. Even for the white bridles. Tradition is real strong, even with the younger guys. But, with a filly, if you have the fastest horse, you're in the right situation, the horse is doing the best they can possibly be doing and you can analyze the field and say, 'look, we are as good as they are,' I have no problem leading them over there. The Kentucky Derby is a career-making race.”

Appearing on the TDN Writers' Room podcast, jockey Gary Stevens, who rode Winning Colors, said that Secret Oath might be better than the Hall of Fame filly. Lukas isn't ready to go there yet, but he has a ton of confidence in Secret Oath.

“She breaks their heart when she runs by horses,” he said. “She'll clock them for a little while, and then when Luis Contreras let's her go, she has an acceleration that is really special. Winning Colors has done a lot more. But she could be that type. I don't know if I'd rate her as high as Winning Colors just yet. But when we get a little further down the base paths, she could turn out to be that good.”

Throughout his career, Lukas has been the eternal optimist. But even he probably never thought he might get back to the Derby at age 86. He has not won the race since 1999 with Charismatic, and his last Derby starter was Bravazo (Awesome Again) in 2018.

“My wife tells me every day, boy, with the way that filly has been running, it has really picked your head up,” Lukas said. “I have a passion for the main event. I want to compete in them. At 86, I have a few things going for me. We have a really good filly and we have a pretty good colt too in Ethereal Road (Quality Road). I have an experience edge on these guys big time. There's no how-to book when it comes to winning the race. I have already having done it and that gives you an edge. I am enjoying it immensely.”

During a prolonged period where negative racing stories have dominated the headlines, the story of an 86-year-old icon winning the Kentucky Derby with a filly could help heal a lot of wounds. Can it happen? It looks like Wayne Lukas is willing to give it every chance.

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38 Years Later, D. Wayne Lukas Enters Another Top Filly Against The Boys In Arkansas Derby

The last name called during the post position draw for the $1.25 million Arkansas Derby (G1), the richest Kentucky Derby prep, was Secret Oath. But regarding the race, could it another case of “ladies first” for her Hall of Fame trainer, D. Wayne Lukas?

After winning the 1984 Arkansas Derby with a filly, Althea, Lukas attempts to do it again with Secret Oath, who headlines a nine-horse field for the 1 1/8-mile event Saturday at Oaklawn. Probable post time for the Arkansas Derby, which goes as the 12th of 13 races, is 6:35 p.m. (Central). Racing begins at noon. The infield will be open and will feature live music, food trucks, Beer Garden and Kids Zone.

Saturday's card also features the $600,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles, $400,000 Oaklawn Mile (G3) for older horses and the $200,000 Carousel Stakes for older fillies and mares at 6 furlongs.

No horse on Saturday's card has generated more buzz during the 2021-2022 Oaklawn meet than Secret Oath, a homebred for Lukas' longtime clients Robert and Stacy Mitchell (Briland Farm). From the first crop of deceased champion Arrogate, Secret Oath has won her three starts, displaying push-button acceleration in each, by a combined 23 lengths. Secret Oath won a Dec. 31 allowance race at 1 mile by 8 ¼ lengths, $200,000 Martha Washington Stakes Jan. 29 by 7 ¼ lengths and the $300,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) Feb. 26 by 7 ½ lengths. The Martha Washington and Honeybee were 1 1/16 miles.

The Arkansas Derby will offer 170 points (100-40-20-10, respectively) to the top four finishers toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby. A top two finish likely would give Secret Oath enough points to run in the Kentucky Derby, which is limited to 20 starters.

Secret Oath, with 60 points for her Honeybee and Martha Washington victories, already has secured a spot in the Kentucky Oaks, the nation's biggest prize for 3-year-old fillies. Secret Oath had been under consideration for Saturday's $600,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 – Oaklawn's final major Kentucky Oaks prep – before Lukas targeted the Arkansas Derby.

The Kentucky Oaks is May 6 at Churchill Downs, the day before the Kentucky Derby.

“The Oaks is still very much right in the middle of our thinking, except the owners did mention the Derby two or three times since then,” Lukas said. “I don't know where they're headed, but the five weeks is terrific.”

Lukas won the Arkansas Derby with Althea, a week after she finished second in the Fantasy. Lukas also finished third in the 1986 Arkansas Derby with another filly, Family Style, a week after she finished fourth in the Fantasy. Althea and Family Style were both Eclipse Award winners at 2 and faced males at 2 in the Hollywood Futurity at Hollywood Park.

Secret Oath will be tackling males for the first time Saturday, but she's the 5-2 program favorite against eight projected opponents.

“She's got a running style and the efficiency of motion is good,” Lukas said. “She places herself in the race. I would say the thing that's probably the biggest concern would be a traffic problem. She's very rangy and tall. I don't know about starting and stopping. In the Honeybee, they shut her down, then just 'Boom!' She amazed me that when she dove into the rail (turning for home), she just (took off).”

Secret Oath is scheduled to break from post 6 under regular rider Luis Contreras and carry 117 pounds, 2-5 pounds less than her male rivals.

“It's a kiss of death to predict it, but I (wanted) 5, 6 or 7,” Lukas said. “I didn't want the inside and I thought the outside's probably not a good idea, either, so that's OK. I don't worry too much about that.”

The projected Arkansas Derby field from the rail out:

  1. Kavod, Mitchell Murrill to ride, 122 pounds, 15-1;
  2. Chasing Time, Jose Lezcano, 119, 12-1;
  3. Barber Road, Reylu Gutierrez, 119, 8-1;
  4. Doppelganger, John Velazquez, 119, 3-1;
  5. Un Ojo, Ramon Vazquez, 122, 6-1;
  6. Secret Oath;
  7. Ben Diesel, Jon Court, 119, 15-1;
  8. Cyberknife, Florent Geroux, 119, 8-1; and
  9. We the People, Flavien Prat, 119, 7-2.

Unbeaten We the People (2 for 2) will be making his stakes debut after two dazzling victories earlier in the meeting for trainer Rodolphe Brisset. Both races were around two turns. We the People, employing stalk-and-pounce tactics, broke his maiden by 5 ¾ lengths at 1 mile Feb. 12 and cleared his first allowance condition by five lengths at 1 1/16 miles March 12.

We the People had been under consideration for several other 170-point prep races around the country before Brisset decided to keep him at Oaklawn because of the attractiveness of a potential five-week turnaround to the Kentucky Derby.

“When you're 2 for 2 at the beginning of April at 3 years old, of course, we think he could be the real deal,” Brisset said. “But we still have to show it. I think the talent is there. We definitely have to be very careful with his brain. We don't want to overthink, but we do have to be ahead of this with him and this is the reason why we just felt like the three weeks, turning back at three weeks here (was best). He knows the place. He knows the racetrack. He's 2 for 2 on it. For us, it makes us a little bit more comfortable to come back at three weeks at a place he knows and then you've got the five weeks where you can adapt, if he does run 1-2, where you can adapt and come up with a plan where you can try to bring him up the best to Churchill.”

The Arkansas Derby brings back Un Ojo, Barber Road, Kavod, Chasing Time and Ben Diesel, 1-3-4-5-8, respectively, in the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) Feb. 26. The 1 1/16-mile Rebel was the final major local prep for the Arkansas Derby and an 85-point Kentucky Derby race.

Barber Road is seeking his breakthrough stakes victory after also finishing second in Oaklawn's first two Kentucky Derby points races, $250,000 Smarty Jones at 1 mile Jan. 1 and $750,000 Southwest (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Jan. 29, for trainer John Ortiz.

“That just proves right there that this is a horse for the course,” said Ortiz, who trains the gray son of multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Race Day for former Walmart executive William Simon. “He's proven that he belongs with these type of horses. We're not scared. This horse has given us the trip here. I haven't done anything specific for this horse. He went from his maiden race to here all on his own.”

The speedy Kavod figures to set the pace from the rail for 2015 Oaklawn training champion Chris Hartman. After winning the inaugural $150,000 Advent Stakes at 6 furlongs Dec. 3, Kavod finished fourth in the Smarty Jones, Southwest and Rebel.

Cyberknife was a sharp allowance winner Feb. 19 at Fair Grounds in his last start for two-time reigning Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox. Cyberknife's only stakes appearance was a sixth in the $200,000 Lecomte (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Jan. 22 at Fair Grounds.

“He's doing well,” Cox said. “He's breezed well. He's gotten better. He appears to be improving. I thought his last race was a step forward. Got a really good figure the last race. I think it's going to stack up and probably be one of the better ones in the Arkansas Derby and if he runs that race, I think he's a player.”

The Southern California-based Doppelganger had been with Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert – a four-time Arkansas Derby winner – before being recently transferred to Tim Yakteen, a former assistant. Doppelganger exits a runner-up finish in his two-turn debut, the $400,000 San Felipe Stakes (G2), March 5 at Santa Anita.

Because of a two-year ban by Churchill Downs and impending 90-day suspension, sanctions stemming from the disqualification of his 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (medication violation), a handful of Baffert's 2022 Kentucky Derby prospects were transferred to other trainers in late March. Doppelganger previously had been ineligible to collect Kentucky Derby qualifying points.

Kavod and Doppelganger both remove blinkers Saturday.

“I think they're all the ones to beat,” Brisset said. “Everybody's trying to peak now. Everybody wants to see if they're good enough to go in there. I don't do everything based on numbers (speed figures), but if you look right and left, from Beyer to Rag, everybody looks the same, pretty much. Everybody looks the same. Maybe Beyer gives three points more for the filly than the colts. But our horse on the Rag is pretty fast. Brad's horse is fast on the Rag, too. I think the only way to find out is to bring them over there and let them run.”

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Chilean Group 1 Winner First Constitution Chasing Second Local Stakes Win At Aqueduct

Don Alberto Stable's First Constitution will look to score his second stakes victory this year in Saturday's $150,000 Excelsior for older horses travelling nine furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, First Constitution started his career in his native Chile where he won the Group 1 Gran Criterium Mauricio Serrano Palma by eight lengths in October 2020. He finished ninth in his American debut at Saratoga Race Course in September, his only off-the-board finish from nine lifetime starts.

The son of Constitution earned his first American win last time out in the nine-furlong Jazil on Jan. 22 at the Big A, setting the pace under Jose Lezcano and drawing away to a 6 3/4-length victory.

First Constitution was sent to Palm Beach Downs in Del Ray, Fla., after his Jazil victory and returned to the Empire State last week. He breezed a half-mile in company with stablemate Untreated in 48.65 seconds over Belmont Park's training track Saturday.

“He's doing well,” said Byron Hughes, Pletcher's Belmont-based assistant. “We breezed him here and he went well. He looks great and we're hoping he puts in a big effort.”

Hughes said that the chestnut would likely vie for the lead again after his frontrunning tactics proved successful in the Jazil.

“He'll be forwardly placed again and we aren't going to take away anything that comes easy to him,” said Hughes. “Hopefully, he breaks well and puts himself in a good spot and we'll go from there. He seems to like the track based on that last performance.”

Kendrick Carmouche picks up the mount from post 3.

Pletcher will also be represented by three-time winner Untreated, who enters from a sixth-place finish in the G3 Mineshaft on Feb. 19 at Fair Grounds Race Course.

Owned by Team Valor International, the Nyquist bay colt was an impressive winner of a maiden special weight at second asking by 8 3/4 lengths going one mile and 40 yards at Tampa Bay Downs last March. He stepped up to face graded company in the G2 Blue Grass next time out at Keeneland, finishing eighth behind multiple Grade 1 winner Essential Quality.

After seven months away from the races, Untreated returned with a pair of one-turn mile allowance victories at the Big A, posting wins on Nov. 19 and Dec. 31.

“He's doing good, too. He breezed pretty much on even terms with First Constitution,” Hughes said. “He looks great and is a talented horse. We definitely think he's a two-turn horse, so we're hoping that's what he likes. He likes the track and we're hoping for a big effort from him, too.”

Trevor McCarthy will ride from post 2.

Queens County winner Forewarned returns from a nose defeat in the John B. Campbell at Laurel Park on Feb. 19 where he earned a field-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure for his runner-up effort to Galerio.

“He came out of the race fantastic,” said owner and trainer Uriah St. Lewis.

The 7-year-old son of Flat Out was a 42-1 upset winner of the Queens County on Dec. 19 at the Big A, stalking the pace under Dexter Haddock and making up ground down the stretch to win by 1 1/4 lengths and earn the first open-company stakes victory of his career.

St. Lewis said he is hopeful the bay will relish a return to nine-furlongs after he cut back to 1 1/16 miles last time out.

“I think it will help him tremendously,” St. Lewis said. “I think he can make a nice run at the end.”

The Ohio-bred finished fourth in the Jazil behind First Constitution and has shown an affinity for more ground, posting three consecutive victories in the Best of Ohio Endurance at Mahoning Valley Race Course going 10 furlongs.

Forewarned has compiled a record of 10-8-4 from 47 starts and earnings of $788,383.

Haddock gets the call again from the outermost post 5.

Ramesh Racing Stables' Son of an Ex will make a quick return after finishing a closing third in the Caixa Eletronica starter stakes Saturday at Aqueduct for trainer Randi Persaud.

Initially trained by James Ferraro, the Effinex gelding won his first start for Persaud in a one-mile maiden special weight facing fellow New York-breds at Aqueduct in January. He then went on to finish second in his first start facing winners in a restricted nine-furlong optional claimer, beaten 4 3/4 lengths after a slow start.

The 4-year-old dark bay has only been off-the-board once in his last five outings and was a 38-1 longshot in Saturday's Caixa Eletronica, rating from off the pace under Samuel Camacho, Jr. before swinging five-wide in the turn and making up ground late to secure show honors.

Son of an Ex will break from post 4 with Camacho, Jr. up.

Completing the field is Splicethemainbrace, who will venture outside of Pennsylvania for the first time since August 2020 for trainer Robert Reid, Jr., who co-owns the son of Poseidon's Warrior with LC Racing. The Pennsylvania-bred has been in good form over the last six months, winning or finishing in the money in his last six efforts. He most recently finished third in the Washington Crossing at Parx to earn his third stakes placing.

Splicethemainbrace's latest win came with a 2 3/4-length score in an optional claimer at Parx going one mile and 70 yards on Dec. 27 with regular rider Abner Adorno in the irons.

Adorno will guide the dark bay from post 1.

The Excelsior is slated as Race 8 on Saturday's nine-race card. First post is 1:20 p.m. Eastern.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the spring meet at Aqueduct Racetrack on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

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Appeals Panel Reduces Jockey Robbie Dunne’s Bullying Ban To 10 Months

A disciplinary panel convened by the British Horseracing Authority issued an 18-month ban to national hunt jockey Robbie Dunne last December, after he was found guilty of bullying female rider Bryony Frost over a sustained period.

Now, racingpost.com reports that an appeals panel has reduced that ban to 10 months.

Dunne's suspension is now slated to end on Oct. 9, 2022.

“We wish to make it clear that Mr. Dunne's behavior, we think, was reprehensible and disgraceful and any jockey behaving like that in future must expect serious punishment,” said appeal panel chair Anthony Boswood QC.

“We think [the original punishment] was severe given the number of rides Mr Dunne will have lost to date and will lose in the future at this late stage in his career.

“We also think that it may be that the disciplinary panel gave insufficient credit for items of mitigation such as his attempted apology to Bryony Frost after the Stratford race, and his willingness to participate in a 'banging of heads together' at Kempton that was facilitated by the jockey Richard Johnson after conversations with Bryony Frost's father.”

The chair of the disciplinary panel, Brian Barker, issued the following statement after the original decision was handed down in December: “We are unable to accept Mr. Dunne's sweep of denials, criticisms and his reasoning. The tenor and type of language that we find was used towards Ms. Frost is totally unacceptable, whatever the frustrations about her style and whatever the habits of the weighing room. They fall squarely within the ambit of the prohibition set out in the rule.”

Dunne's representative Roderick Moore argued that other female jockeys had not spoken out about malevolent behavior from Dunne.

“The isolation I felt for speaking out I wouldn't wish on anyone,” Frost said from the stand. “You are asking me for my opinion and they [the other female riders] have to go into the weighing room every day. I feel they are protecting themselves and, rightly so, staying neutral.”

Dunne gave testimony as well, arguing that when he said he would “put her through a wing,” he didn't mean it as a threat.

“It's a common thing that's said in the weighing room,” said Dunne. “Never once have I seen someone go through with it. It's just a matter of speech . . . it wasn't a threat, it was a figure of speech.”

Read more at racingpost.com.

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