May, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Secret Oath Will Point To Ogden Phipps That ‘Could Be A Real Bellringer’

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas has been fortunate enough to have won the Belmont Stakes four times in his storied career. While the legendary horseman does not have a contender for this year's “Test of the Champion,” he does plan on sending up Secret Oath for the Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps on the same day.

The Ogden Phipps, contested at nine furlongs on June 10, is a Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” qualifier for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff in November at Santa Anita. It is one of nine Grade 1 events slated to take place during the annual Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, highlighted by the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets.

Secret Oath, a Kentucky homebred owned by Briland Farm, captured last year's Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks over eventual Champion 3-Year-Old Nest, providing Lukas with his fifth Oaks conquest and first in 32 years. Now a 4-year-old, the Arrogate filly has finished a neck shy of victory in her last two starts in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom on April 15 at Oaklawn Park and the Grade 1 La Troienne on May 5 at Churchill Downs. She captured her 2023 debut in the Grade 2 Azeri on March 11 at Oaklawn.

“I think she's a better filly, but she has to be at this stage,” said Lukas, who saddled A Wild Ride [1991] and Hall of Famer Serena's Song [1996] to Ogden Phipps scores. “The fields get a lot steeper in these races for older fillies. This race here, just the way that it's lining up, could be a real bellringer. If everyone that they're saying might show up runs, it will be a very interesting betting race for the spectators.”

In the last out La Troienne, jockey Tyler Gaffalione claimed foul against John Velazquez aboard the winner Played Hard for interference in the stretch run. Secret Oath was eight wide around the turn and matched strides with Played Hard nearing the eighth pole with the latter lugging out. The objection was ultimately dismissed by the stewards.

“That affected us. It lost her concentration and broke her stride,” Lukas said. “They could have probably reversed that, but it's tough to do that in a race of that magnitude and grade. You could have made a case either way there. I would have liked to have been in a different position around the sixteenth pole, but it is what it is. It's racing and we'll move on from there.”

Secret Oath had a 1 1/2-length advantage at the stretch call of the Apple Blossom, but could not stave off the late rally of likely returning rival Clairiere.

“Tyler was still learning a little bit about her and he made his move a little too quick,” Lukas said. “He made a big move around the turn. We'd like to have both of those back, but we're in pretty good shape going into this race. She's bigger, stronger and doing well.”

Lukas said Secret Oath would ship to Belmont Park on Tuesday, June 6.

Secret Oath is out of the Grade 1-placed Quiet American mare Absinthe Minded. She boasts a record of 16-6-4-3 and earnings of $2,324,767.

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‘Super Breeze, Big Gallop Out’ For Belmont Hopeful Tapit Trice

Whisper Hill Farm and Gainesway Stable's Grade 1 winner Tapit Trice recorded his penultimate piece of preparation for the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 10, breezing five furlongs over the Belmont Park main track for Hall of Fame conditioner Todd Pletcher.

Under mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s, Tapit Trice worked under exercise rider Fernando Rivera to the outside of stablemate Classic Catch [1:00.87] following the renovation break. He completed the five-furlong move in 1:00.22 over the fast main track before galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.60 and 1:25 flat for seven furlongs according to NYRA clockers.

Last Friday, Tapit Trice worked a half-mile in 49.04 seconds in his first move since finishing seventh in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs. Tapit Trice captured the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby and Grade 1 Blue Grass and entered as one of the favorites for the “Run for the Roses.”

“Super breeze, big gallop out,” Pletcher said following the work. “He seems to really like the main track here. I'm very, very happy with the way he's been training. He hasn't missed a beat since the Derby. He's settled in well. He's been galloping over the main track. He had a breeze last week and a more serious breeze today. It was a major piece of work today, we'll come back for a maintenance type breeze next week. We always thought the mile and a half would suit him.”

Classic Catch, an allowance winner that finished fourth in the Grade 3 Peter Pan here on May 13, has the Grade 3 Matt Winn at Churchill Downs under consideration.

Tapit Trice is by prolific sire Tapit, who has sired prior Belmont Stakes winners Tonalist [2014], Creator [2016], Tapwrit [2017], and Essential Quality [2021]. His graded stakes-placed dam Danzatrice is by Dunkirk – who Pletcher saddled to a runner-up finish in the 2009 Belmont Stakes.

Tapit Trice's pedigree along with his running style make him an ideal candidate for the Belmont Stakes' demanding 1 1/2-mile distance, according to Pletcher.

“Tapits have had a lot of success in the Belmont. He's out of a Dunkirk mare who I trained and ran second in the Belmont. From a pedigree standpoint, you would think he's capable,” Pletcher said. “He's got that big, long galloping stride. I think the main thing is making sure that he gets into that comfortable rhythm and doesn't give himself too much to do early on. The Belmont is not necessarily a closer's race, but it seems like he's really coming up to it the right way.”

Pletcher also has three other potential Belmont Stakes contestants in reigning Champion 2-Year-Old Forte, Grade 2 Louisiana Derby winner Kingsbarns – who finished 14th in the Kentucky Derby – and 10-furlong maiden winner Prove Worthy.

Forte and Kingsbarns were slated to breeze this morning with the former now scheduled to work Saturday at 8:45 a.m. over the Belmont main track.

Pletcher said he is not sure when Kingsbarns will work back.

“He's got a little bit of a bellyache today, so we weren't able to breeze him,” Pletcher said.

Pletcher said Prove Worthy, who is stabled with his Churchill Downs division, remains possible for the Belmont.

On Friday morning, Pletcher also worked Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Up to the Mark in preparation for the Grade 1, $750,000 Resorts World Casino Manhattan on June 10. The 4-year-old son of Not This Time registered a 103 Beyer Speed Figure last out when capturing the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

“It was great. Just a maintenance type of breeze on the dirt. He seems like a happy horse,” Pletcher said.

Initially campaigned on dirt, Up to the Mark was triumphant in his first two starts on turf this winter over the Gulfstream Park turf. He was then third in the Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile in April at Keeneland, three weeks prior to his Old Forester Turf Classic conquest.

“You could tell the first time we ran him at Gulfstream that he loved it,” Pletcher said.

Pletcher breezed Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House's reigning Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Nest, who went a half-mile in 49.25 seconds on the Belmont dirt training track.

The Curlin bay was initially targeting the Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps on Belmont Stakes Day, but could regroup and target the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis on July 1 at Churchill Downs. She has not raced since finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff in November at Keeneland and has recorded four breezes since.

“She worked well this morning, but we're probably running out of time for the Phipps,” Pletcher said.

Early look at G1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets

Probable: Angel of Empire (Brad Cox), Forte (Todd Pletcher), Hit Show (Cox), Il Miracolo (Antonio Sano), National Treasure (Bob Baffert), Raise Cain (Ben Colebrook), Red Route One (Steve Asmussen), Tapit Trice (Pletcher)

Possible: Arabian Lion (Baffert), Arcangelo (Jena Antonucci), Prove Worthy (Pletcher), Reincarnate (Baffert)

The Belmont Stakes headlines the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival that features a total of 16 stakes events from Thursday, June 8 through Saturday, June 10. For additional information on the 2023 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival and details on hospitality offerings, ticket packages and pricing, visit BelmontStakes.com.

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Saturday’s Insights: City Of Light Colt On Verge Of Churchill Debut

11th-CD, $120K, Msw, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, 5:58 p.m.
Consigned by Denali Stud at the '21 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling sale, CUSP (City of Light) went to OXO Equine for $725,000. Trained by Paulo Lobo, the bay colt's dam Swingit (Victory Gallop) also produced MGSW Travel Column (Frosted) and MGISP Neolithic (Harlan's Holiday).

He lines up opposite the widely-drawn WinStar homebred and Brad Cox trainee Paddington (Curlin), whose GISP dam Sea Island (Pulpit)–out of GISP Resort (Pleasant Colony)–counts GII Peter Pan S. hero Sightseeing as a full-brother. TJCIS PPS

5th-BEL, $90K, Msw, 3yo/up, f, 1 1/16thT, 3:03 p.m.
Peter Brant's Double Dream (Curlin), from Chad Brown's shedrow, is out of Enchanted Rock (Giant's Causeway), who is also responsible for Grade I & Group 1 winner Verrazano (More Than Ready) and GII Risen Star S. victor El Padrino (Pulpit). Second dam GISW Chic Shirine (Mr. Prospector), a full-sister to champion older mare & MGISW Queena, heads a female family which includes Grade I winners such as Serra Lake (Seattle Slew), Keen Ice (Curlin), Preservationist (Arch) and Olympiad (Speightstown). TJCIS PPS

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Tampa Steward Lima Passes Away

The racing community at Tampa Bay Downs is mourning the loss of former association steward Dennis Lima, who passed away Wednesday, May 24, at the age of 77.

“He was somebody you could always talk to, and you could trust him to give you good advice,” said Tampa Bay Downs racing official Jenn Moore. “And he treated everybody equally. He was so down to earth and never got riled up. [His passing] is just a huge loss for everybody.”

Some 60 years ago, Lima rode a train from Rhode Island with a shipment of horses bound for Tampa Bay Downs, then called Sunshine Park, and the barn of trainer Doc Canzano. After returning north in 1964, Lima trained horses in New England, was an assistant to Ned Allard and also worked as a jockey's agent. Lima worked on the Massachusetts fair circuit and at Suffolk Downs and at Rockingham Park as a paddock judge, placing judge and entry clerk. He was named an alternate steward at those tracks in 1987 and became a full-time steward three years later. He remained in that role at Rockingham from 1990 until the track's closure in 2002.

Lima was hired to work at Tampa in 1993 as an Association Steward and also worked as a State Steward at Delaware Park from 2003-2021.

“The most important thing is to be as fair and consistent as possible with our rulings and our judgment calls during the races,” Lima told a reporter 10 yeards ago. “For me, the most rewarding aspect of this job is when you finish a meet knowing you have done your part to keep it as safe as you can for the horses and the jockeys.”

During his time at Tampa, Lima struck up a friendship with former track announcer Richard Grunder, whose box was adjacent the stewards'.

“He was a very even-tempered guy who handled himself the same with all types of people, from grooms to Hall of Fame trainers,” Grunder said. “He had the perfect personality to be a steward. He read the films really good, knew the job inside-out and any tough situations that came up, he would take the reins and make the call. I've been in press boxes from the Pacific Northwest to Florida, and he was one of the best I've ever worked with.

“Plus, he was just a fun guy to be around. He was a witty, old New England son of a gun.”

Lima is survived by his wife, Celeste; their children, Monique and Shaun; several grandchildren; and a son, Dennis E. Lima. He was predeceased by a daughter, Melissa. Per his wishes, no service will be held. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Suncoast Hospice Foundation, 5771 Roosevelt Blvd., Clearwater, FL 33760.

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