Month: September 2022

In the spring, the best 3-year-old filly in the country was Briland Farm's Secret Oath. She won three of her first four starts of 2022, including the prestigious Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks.

The start to the second half of the season belonged to a 3-year-old filly named Nest, who assumed the top spot in the division after decisive scores in a pair of Grade 1s at Saratoga, the Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama. Secret Oath was second in both races.

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas is hoping that Secret Oath jump-starts her season when she runs in Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing.

Secret Oath is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the 1 1/16-mile race, which attracted nine 3-year-old fillies. Nest is not running in the Cotillion.

Secret Oath, a daughter of Arrogate, arrived at Parx Wednesday after vanning down from Saratoga Race Course, where she remained after the Spa's 40-day summer meeting ended on Labor Day. She and Lukas' longtime assistant, Sebastian “Bas” Nicholl, got their first looks at the Parx oval on a warm Thursday morning.

Nicholl, aboard a pony, accompanied Secret Oath and exercise rider Pedro Requena onto the track just after 9 a.m. Secret Oath stretched her legs with a light jog and then departed, heading back to the barn.

“She is only getting stronger,” said Lukas, who plans on being at the race, “She sure is filling out and getting better and holding a lot of weight. She is probably maturing into the filly that we wanted her to be.”

Secret Oath has raced seven times this year and has three wins, two seconds and a third. She has three wins in four career starts at the Cotillion distance. Luis Saez, aboard since the Kentucky Oaks, takes the return call.

Lukas admits that Nest is the leader of the 3-year-old filly division, but Secret Oath can close the gap with a Cotillion win.

“Those two are going to lock up again,” Lukas said, referring to the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland in November. “We'll have a chance to settle it again. I'm looking forward to that, but I'm looking forward to Saturday.”

The post ‘Filling Out And Getting Better’: Secret Oath Ready For Cotillion Redemption appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The Grade 3, $200,000 Remington Park Oaks features a field of eight with Grade 1 winner Juju's Map as the heavy morning-line favorite at 1-2 odds.

A winner at age two of the Grade 1, $400,000 Alcibiades at Keeneland in October 2021, Juju's Map then finished second behind Echo Zulu in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies event at Del Mar in November. Owned by Albaugh Family Stables of Des Moines, Iowa and trained by Brad Cox, Juju's Map will attempt to regain her winning ways in the Remington Park Oaks.

The Remington Park Oaks, for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles, will be just the fourth start of 2022 for Juju's Map who will be ridden by Florent Geroux. She won her first race as a 3-year-old in an allowance-optional claiming event at Churchill Downs, on the Kentucky Oaks Day undercard in May. Since that score, the talented daughter of Liam's Map from the Flatter mare Nagambie has finished third in two attempts, the Grade 2 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park in June and the Grade 3 Monmouth Park Oaks in July.

An earner of $753,180 from seven attempts, Juju's Map is the top money-maker in the Remington Park Oaks field.

Free Like A Girl is the second-favorite in the morning-line at 5-1 odds. She invades Remington Park after finishing second in the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks in late August. Trained by Chasey Deville Pomier, Free Like A Girl will be handled by regular jockey Pedro Cotto, Jr. who has ridden her in 13 straight races.

The top winner in the Remington Park Oaks with eight career triumphs, Free Like A Girl is well-traveled and has won stakes races at Louisiana Downs, Evangeline Downs, Delta Downs and Fair Grounds, all in Louisiana where she was bred. A daughter of El Deal from the Flashy Bull mare Flashy Prize, Free Like A Girl has won races ranging from five furlongs to 1-1/16 miles.

Local stakes winner Hits Pricey Legacy is the third morning-line favorite at 6-1 odds, for owner, trainer, breeder C.R. Trout of Edmond, Okla. The Oklahoma-bred won the Oklahoma Stallion Stakes (filly division) on Sept. 9, at seven furlongs, in her first attempt at age three. A daughter of Den's Legacy from the Concord Point mare High Price Hit, Hits Pricey Legacy was third in the $100,000 Trapeze Stakes in December 2021, Remington Park's top open-company stakes event for 2-year-old fillies. She also won the Slide Show Stakes here in November, in a race for state-breds.

The field for the Remington Park Oaks, by post position and program order, with trainer, jockey and morning-line odds:

1. Rollin Chrome: Alex Baldillez, Jansen Melancon, 20-1
2. Cleopatras Charge: Scott Young, Floyd Wethey, Jr., 20-1
3. Free Like A Girl: Chasey Deville Pomier, Pedro Cotto, Jr., 5-1
4. Hits Pricey Legacy: C.R. Trout, Jose Alvarez, 6-1
5. Juju's Map: Brad Cox, Florent Geroux, 1-2 (morning-line favorite)
6. Bionica: Steve Asmussen, Stewart Elliott, 12-1
7. Hannah's Haven: Jayde Gelner, David Cabrera, 20-1
8. My Friend Amy: Jayde Gelner, Lane Luzzi, 10-1

The Remington Park Oaks is the ninth of 12 races Sunday at Remington Park with a scheduled post time of 7:08pm. The Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby is the headline event in race 11, set for 8;14pm. The first race on Sunday is at 3pm. All times are Central.

The post Juju’s Map Heavily Favored Over Seven Rivals In Remington Park Oaks appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby headlines a 12-race program on Sunday, Sept. 25 at Remington Park. The headliner drew a field of eight this morning with Best Actor tabbed the morning-line favorite at 9-5 odds.

Owned by Gary and Mary West of Omaha, Neb., Best Actor will attempt to give trainer Brad Cox his fourth consecutive victory in the Oklahoma Derby. Most recently, the winner of the Grade 3, $300,000 Smarty Jones Stakes at Parx in Philadelphia, Best Actor will try to join Owendale (2019), Shared Sense (2020) and Warrant (2021) as Cox-trained derby winners at Remington Park.

Best Actor has only had four career starts, all as a 3-year-old, winning three of the four. The lone defeat was a second-place effort in the Grade 3 Indiana Derby at Horseshoe Indianapolis, where he was beaten only a half-length by Actuator. Jockey Florent Geroux will keep the mount he has had with Best Actor in his last two attempts. Geroux rode Owendale to victory in the Oklahoma Derby to begin the string of triumphs in Oklahoma City for Cox.

Rattle N Roll has the second status on the morning-line at 5-2 odds, after winning the $250,000 St. Louis Derby at FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing, in southern Illinois. Owned by Lucky Seven Stable of Louisville, Ky. and trained by Ken McPeek, Rattle N Roll won the St. Louis Derby by 4-1/2 lengths. Earlier in the year, Rattle N Roll ran third to Cyberknife in the Grade 3, $225,000 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs. Cyberknife, the Arkansas Derby winner, went on to be victorious in the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Stakes and was runner-up in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga this summer. Jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr. will ride Rattle N Roll as he has in all but two of the colt's 12 career attempts.

Rattle N Roll leads all entrants in the Oklahoma Derby with career earnings of $758,105. He also won the $200,000 American Derby at Churchill Downs in July and was the winner of the Grade 1, $500,000 Breeders Futurity at Keeneland in October 2021 as a 2-year-old.

Racing's all-time leading trainer, Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, has entered King Ottoman for the Oklahoma Derby as he tries to win the race for a second time. Owned by Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky., King Ottoman was victorious in the $300,000 Texas Derby at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas in May. That win is the only career victory from six attempts for this colt by Curlin from the Tapit mare Shook Up. King Ottoman will be ridden by Stewart Elliott and is 5-1 in the morning-line.

Other derby winners in the Oklahoma Derby on Sunday include: Grade 3 Canadian Derby winner Great Escape (8-1 odds) and Manitoba Derby winner Red Knobs (12-1), both trained by Robertino Diodoro who won the race in 2013 with Broadway Empire; and Steal Sunshine (8-1), winner of the Ellis Park Derby in Henderson, Ky. in August.

Here is the Oklahoma Derby field, by post position and program order, with trainer, jockey and morning-line odds:
1. Steal Sunshine: Bobby Dibona, Leonel Reyes, 6-1
2. Red Knobs: Robertino Diodoro, Jorge Carreno, 12-1
3. Flash Of Genius: Shawn Davis, Leandro Goncalves, 15-1
4. Best Actor: Brad Cox, Florent Geroux, 9-5 (morning-line favorite)
5. Rattle N Roll: Ken McPeek, Brian Hernandez, Jr., 5-2
6. Big Chopper: Jayde Gelner, Lane Luzzi, 15-1
7. King Ottoman: Steve Asmussen, Stewart Elliott, 5-1
8. Great Escape: Robertino Diodoro, Cristian Torres, 8-1

The Oklahoma Derby is the 11th of 12 races Sunday at Remington Park with a scheduled post time of 8:14pm. The Grade 3, $200,000 Remington Park Oaks is the top undercard event, set for race nine at 7:08pm. The first race on Sunday is set for 3pm. All times are Central.

The post Best Actor Aims To Give Brad Cox Fourth Consecutive Victory In Oklahoma Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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