Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas hasn't been shy to swing for the fences en route to surprising upset triumphs at top level. The 87-years-young conditioner will be doing just that on Saturday when he saddles multiple graded stakes winner Last Samurai in the 96th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney at Saratoga Race Course.
Owned by Willis Horton Racing, Last Samurai enters the prestigious nine-furlong test for older horses from a pair of fourth-place finishes in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on July 1 at Ellis Park and the Grade 2 Alysheba on May 5 at Churchill Downs. The 5-year-old Malibu Moon chestnut enjoyed a strong run of form earlier in the year at Oaklawn Park, capturing the Razorback on February 18 and the Essex on March 18 – both Grade 3 tests going 1 1/16 miles – before finishing second beaten a head in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap on April 22.
Last Samurai will be making his Saratoga debut in the Whitney, and Lukas said the multimillionaire horse could be even more effective over the Spa main track.
“I think he cares for a little deeper surface and I think he might do even better on this racetrack,” Lukas said. “He's in top form and you don't have any excuses other than the fact that he can't run fast enough, if that's the case. But I think he'll do very, very well.”
Lukas tipped his cap to 1-2 morning line favorite Cody's Wish, who enters the Whitney – which offers a “Win and You're In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic – from a six-race win streak, including four Grade 1 races, and expressed appreciation for the history and importance behind the Whitney.
“I thought our horse fits here and is very much worthy of having a shot in here,” Lukas said. “I have great respect for Cody's Wish and all of them. But given the prestige of the race and the amount of the purse, it would maybe be better to take that chance and see how close we can get to these other horses and better evaluate whether we're Breeders' Cup worthy down the line. To win a Whitney or to be one-two-three in the Whitney counts double to these other stakes. It has so much prestige.”
Since the inception of the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships in 1984, the Whitney has seen eight of its winners capture Breeders' Cup glory at the end of the year. Among these horses are 1986 winner and Lukas alumna Lady's Secret, who defeated males en route to a Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff triumph and, subsequently, Horse of the Year honors.
In 1990, Lukas captured the Whitney with Criminal Type who also earned Horse of the Year honors at the end of his campaign.
“When I won it with Lady's Secret against the colts, it made her Horse of the Year. That one race cemented her as Horse of the Year,” recalled Lukas. “So, I think the race is such a prestigious and important race that we're going to take a chance and lead him over there. The distance will fit him. He's a big, strong and sound horse, so why not?”
MyRacehorse's juvenile colt Seize the Grey broke his maiden on July 29 over a sloppy and sealed Saratoga main track. The gray son of Arrogate earned a 73 Beyer Speed Figure with a 1 3/4-length triumph over Dornoch – a full-brother to Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner Mage – and is possible for the Grade 2, $300,000 Hopeful going seven furlongs on September 4.
“That was a tough race. Everyone liked their horse. There were six or seven guys who told me they really liked their horse,” Lukas said. “He's come out of that race strong. I've had three or four Arrogates now and in my experience with them, they seem to get better as they get older. So, I'm counting on him to get a lot better on the First Saturday in May.”
Speaking of Arrogate progeny that blossom on the first week of May, Briland Farm's Kentucky homebred Secret Oath – the winner of last year's Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks – worked five furlongs over the Oklahoma training track Thursday in 1:00.45 in preparation for the Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign on August 25 at Saratoga.
The 4-year-old chestnut filly was a last out uncharacteristic fifth in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps on June 10 at Belmont Park after completing the exacta in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom on April 15 at Oaklawn Park and the Grade 1 La Troienne on May 5 at Churchill Downs.
“That's one that really thrives up here. I'm so looking forward to the Personal Ensign. I don't think she's ever been this good, frankly,” Lukas said. “She has an affinity for the Oklahoma track. She worked this morning in a minute flat, and she did it without taking a breath. I'm really looking forward to running her.”
Secret Oath is out of the multiple stakes winner and Grade 1-placed Quiet American mare Absinthe Minded. She sports a record of 17-6-4-3 and $2,344,767 in earnings.
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