Moments after Call Me Jamal's half-mile workout Thursday morning at Oaklawn, trainer Mike Puhich reiterated his position following the gelding's Feb. 26 entry-level allowance victory.
The decision on the next race for Call Me Jamal, Puhich said, will still be based largely on the next race for multiple stakes winner Secret Oath. After three dominant victories at the meet against 3-year-old fillies, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Secret Oath could challenge males for the first time in the $1.25 million Arkansas Derby (G1) at 1 1/8 miles April 2.
Puhich said Call Me Jamal will make his next start in the Arkansas Derby or the $1 million Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at 1 1/8 miles April 9 at Keeneland. He's just waiting on Oaklawn's leading lady.
“I think Lukie, he's going for the Derby,” Puhich said. “Did you see the work the day before yesterday? That filly gets better every fricking day. She looked liked a monster coming home.”
Secret Oath, in her first work since a 7 ½-length victory in the $300,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) Feb. 26, covered a half-mile in :48.40 Tuesday morning. Secret Oath also is a candidate for the $600,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles April 2. The Fantasy is Oaklawn's third and final Kentucky Oaks points race.
Sandwiched around a troubled seventh-place finish in the $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) Jan. 29, Call Me Jamal has posted two meet victories at 1 1/16 miles, breaking his maiden Dec. 18 in his two-turn debut and capturing an entry-level allowance by 2 ¼ lengths Feb. 26 under Geovanni Franco.
Puhich had considered running Call Me Jamal in the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) for 3-year-olds Feb. 26 before opting for the 1 1/16-mile undercard race. Call Me Jamal ran the distance over a fast track in 1:45.45. The winning time for the Rebel approximately two hours later – the surface was transitioning from fast to sloppy because of rain – was 1:45.69. Secret Oath won the Honeybee, run about three hours before the Rebel, in 1:44.74 for 1 1/16 miles. Ethereal Road, who finished third behind Call Me Jamal Dec. 18, returned to break his maiden Jan. 29 and run second, beaten a half-length, in the Rebel for Lukas.
The Arkansas Derby and Blue Grass will offer 170 points (100-40-20-10) to its top four finishers toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby. Call Me Jamal likely would need a top two finish in either race to secure a spot in the Kentucky Derby, which is limited to 20 starters. The gelding has no qualifying points.
“A lot of it will, probably most of it will (depend on Secret Oath) and the weather and everything,” Puhich said. “But honestly, I like giving him a little more time. He's not going to be 3 until after the (Kentucky) Derby, so I'd lean more towards the Blue Grass. I think they're both going to be ultra-tough.”
Returning to the work tab for the first time since his allowance victory, Call Me Jamal covered a half-mile in :49.80 Thursday morning under Franco. Puhich called the move over a fast track a “maintenance” drill.
“He's doing well,” Puhich said.
A $70,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale graduate, Call Me Jamal races for prominent Pacific Northwest heart surgeon Mark DeDomenico. The Malibu Moon gelding was named after Seattle Seahawks All-Pro safety Jamal Adams.
Meanwhile, Lukas said Secret Oath and Ethereal Road came out of their recent works in good order and both probably will breeze twice more in advance of their April 2 races. Ethereal Road worked 5 furlongs in 1:01.40 March 6.
Ethereal Road is pointing for the Arkansas Derby, Lukas said Thursday morning, while Robert and Stacy Mitchell, who bred and own Secret Oath, continue to debate the Arkansas Derby and Fantasy.
From the first crop of deceased champion Arrogate, Secret Oath has been among the most dazzling horses at the 2021-2022 Oaklawn meeting after winning a Dec. 31 allowance race by 8 ¼ lengths, $200,000 Martha Washington Stakes Jan. 29 by 7 ¼ lengths and romping in the Honeybee. Secret Oath already has secured a spot in the Kentucky Oaks – the nation's biggest race for 3-year-old fillies – after collecting 60 points for victories in the Martha Washington and Honeybee.
Lukas won the 1984 Arkansas Derby with Althea, a week after she finished second in the Fantasy.
“I've talked to Rob Mitchell and they're undecided,” Lukas said. “They're kind of leaving it up to me, too. One day, they lean towards maybe trying the Derby and another day they lean towards the Fantasy. I would say there's an outside chance that we'll go in the Derby. I'm going to try to do what they'd like to do.”
Ethereal Road ranks seventh on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 20 points following his runner-up finish in the Rebel, which marked his stakes debut. Other locally based horses pointing for the Arkansas Derby include Barber Road and Chasing Time, third and fifth, respectively, in the Rebel.
Trainer Chris Hartman said Rebel fourth Kavod is targeting shorter races. Dash Attack, who finished seventh in the Rebel, is pointing for the $400,000 Lexington Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles April 16 at Keeneland, trainer Kenny McPeek said in a Thursday email.
Dash Attack earned 10 points for his victory in the $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes at 1 mile Jan. 1. The Smarty Jones was Oaklawn's first of four Kentucky Derby points races.
The post Allowance Winner Call Me Jamal Could Target Either Arkansas Derby Or Blue Grass appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
