Sunday Insights: 700k Into Mischief Filly Debuts For Courtlandt Farms

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

1st-AQU, $85K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, 12:20 p.m.

A $700,000 Keeneland September pick up last year, ALLAMERICANBEAUTY (Into Mischief) makes her afternoon bow Sunday for trainer Shug McGaughey and owner Courtlandt Farms. Out of a full-sister to MGSW Aurelia's Belle, this is the family of champion 2-year-old filly Althea (Alydar), MGSW Atelier (Deputy Minister), GISW Aldiza (Storm Cat), and GSW Altesse (A.P. Indy)-two of whom were also trained by McGaughey. Allamericanbeauty worked a near-bullet four furlongs from the gate in :48 (3/125) Nov. 20 and picks up jockey Jose Lezcano. TJCIS PPS

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Background Check: Del Mar Debutante

In this continuing series, we examine the past winners of significant filly/mare races by the lasting influence they've had on the breed. Up today is the GI TVG Del Mar Debutante S., a race with a surprising amount of repercussion on the sport.

First run the year before Queen Elizabeth II took the throne, the Del Mar Debutante has seen 72 winners, with D. Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert together combining for more than a quarter of those visits to the winner's circle. It's been run on Polytrack; it's been run in two divisions; and it's been run at seven-eighths since 1994 after stints at six and eight furlongs. The 2-year-old filly event was officially designated a Grade I in 1999.

With the storied history and sheer volume of big-league filly/mare contests focused at Saratoga over the summer, other tracks–even those as spectacular as Del Mar–can be overshadowed. But every now and then a race, like the Del Mar Debutante, has a list of past winners that pops up on the radar. While not all of the Debutante's victresses have been stellar broodmares, there have been a few that have more than held their own. The list may not be long, but it's top notch.

Following are the some of the most important Del Mar Debutante winners by what impact they have had on the breed through their sons and daughters.

Althea (1981, Alydar–Courtly Dee, by Never Bend): A champion 2-year-old who died at just 14 in a paddock accident, this mare–bred by the partnership of Helen Groves, Helen Alexander, and David Aykroyd–produced four stakes winners from her five foals, including Japanese champion Yamanin Paradise and GSW Destiny Dance. Her daughters and granddaughters have been responsible for GISW and influential sire Arch, U.S. champion Covfefe, UAE champion Festival of Light, and GISWs Acoma and Balletto (UAE). From an extended family that just keeps giving, it's all but a certainty that even more will bubble to the surface as time goes by from Althea's branch of her Broodmare of the Year dam.

Terlingua (1976, Secretariat–Crimson Saint, by Crimson Satan): There a substantial list of stakes performers who trace to this Tom Gentry-bred chestnut, including MGISW Ticker Tape (GB), English G1SW Crowded House (GB), and French G1SW Brando (GB), but it's her GISW son, Storm Cat, who launched a legacy. Christened the leading sire, broodmare sire, and juvenile sire in the U.S.–all multiple times–he simply redefined the breed. After standing for multiple years at $500,000 as the premier sire in the land, Storm Cat has left reverberations still felt today even though he was pensioned 14 years ago and died a few years later.

Brown Berry (1960, Mount Marcy–Brown Baby, by Phalanx): This C. V. Whitney-bred mare is a bit of an outlier, as it would be a challenge to find her in any top pedigrees of today. However, as one of history's rare broodmares to produce more than one Classic winner–and on each side of the Atlantic, to boot–she surely deserves a mention. Her son Avatar won the 1975 GI Belmont S. (and two other Grade Is) and another son, Hours After, won the 1988 G1 Prix du Jockey Club. She also produced two other major stakes winners, as well as five more stakes performers.

Tonga (1949, Polynesian–Tirl, by Tick On): Winner of the very first Del Mar Debutante, Tonga didn't have a single stakes winner among her five foals. However, one of her daughters produced three black-type winners and daughters who would beget, among others, GI Kentucky Oaks winner Gal in a Ruckus, MGISW Habibti, and Canadian Broodmare of the Year No Class, who would be the foundation mare of Sam-Son Farm. The long list of Canadian champions produced by No Class and her daughters include Classy 'n Smart, Sky Classic, and Regal Classic, while her granddaughter Dance Smartly was also a U.S. champion and her grandson Smart Strike was a two-time leading sire in the U.S. whose son, two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, is among the top sires in the U.S. Not a year goes by without the far-reaching effect on both sides of the border of No Class.

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Secret Oath Works for Arkansas Derby

Briland Farm's Secret Oath (Arrogate) had her final major work Friday ahead of an upcoming start in the Apr. 2 GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn. Sent out Friday morning by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas just after the track opened, the chestnut worked by herself from the five-furlong pole to the regular finish line, covering the distance in 1:01 under her regular pilot, Luis Contreras. According to the Oaklawn clockers, the homebred posted internal splits of :12.20 for an opening eighth and :37.60 for three furlongs before galloping out six panels in 1:15.

“It went exactly as a planned,” said Lukas. “We said, 'go 1:01, just let her catch her stride and take a couple of deep breathes.' Actually, it was so easy on her that I wonder if I should have done a little more.”

Secret Oath was breezing for the second time since her impressive 7 1/2-length triumph in the GIII Honeybee S. Feb. 26. Secret Oath previously posted a five-furlong bullet work (:59.40) Mar. 17.

Added Contreras, “She breezed really good–five-eighths in 1:01. That's what the Coach wanted.”

Lukas won the 1984 Arkansas Derby with Althea, a week after she finished second in the Fantasy S. Lukas also finished third in the 1986 Arkansas Derby with another filly, Family Style, a week after she was fourth in the Fantasy. Althea and Family Style were both Eclipse Award winners at two.

Secret Oath was among nine probables listed Friday morning by the Oaklawn racing department. Other horses pointing for the Arkansas Derby are Barber Road, Ben Diesel, Call Me Jamal, Chasing Time, Cyberknife, Doppelganger, Un Ojo and We the People.

Post positions for the Arkansas Derby will be drawn Sunday afternoon. The event will be open to the public, with a time and place to be announced by Oaklawn. The Arkansas Derby will offer 170 points–100-40-20-10, respectively– to the top four finishers for the May 7 Kentucky Derby.

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‘Oath’ No Secret, But Measuring Her Talent a Pleasant Conundrum

The Week in Review by T.D. Thornton

Secret Oath (Arrogate)'s big winning move despite trip trouble in Saturday's GIII Honeybee S. at Oaklawn Park launched the 3-year-old filly to the forefront of conversation just at the precise time the sport needs a little diversion from anything having to do with lawsuits, trainer banishments, and the GI Kentucky Derby.

There is no question that the D. Wayne Lukas trainee looms large atop the leaderboard for the GI Kentucky Oaks and that her 86-year-old conditioner isn't crazy for at least considering running her against males next time out in the GI Arkansas Derby.

But if you want to drill down for a more precise prognostication as to where Secret Oath truly ranks in the always-intriguing fillies vs. colts debate and if she might be good enough to run in the Derby instead of the Oaks, you're going to have to come up with a measuring stick that doesn't appear to be available at the moment.

Comparing her 7 1/4-length Honeybee romp against the performance of males in the GII Rebel S. three hours later on the same Oaklawn card is a non-starter. The Rebel rates as the “chaos race” of the season so far among Derby preps because the 4-5 favorite was a no-show in an otherwise so-so field, and the slowly-run race was won by an improbable one-eyed gelding who paid $152.80.

Likening Secret Oath to Althea, the champion filly for Lukas four decades ago who also raced at Oaklawn (and beat the boys in the Arkansas Derby) should also be a no-go, at least for the time being. Obviously, Althea is from a much different generation. But even then, she was such an anomaly that her past-performance block reads like that of a racehorse from an entirely different planet when you consider how often Lukas raced her and how early in her career she lined up in the starting gate against males.

We'll have to let the next few weeks be the chief determinant in how Secret Oath's story arc plays out, knowing that whichever path Lukas sends her down, her next start is going to have a “circle the date” aura surrounding it.

Secret Oath entered the Honeybee with a 3-for-5 record, having won a Dec. 31 allowance race and the Jan. 29 Martha Washington S., both at Oaklawn, by a combined 15 1/2 lengths. She got pounded to 3-10 favoritism Saturday and appeared content to be last away in the Honeybee, given her natural running style as a stalker/closer.

Jockey Luis Contreras allowed the Briland Farm homebred to creep closer down the backstretch through opening quarters of :23.15 and :23.92, a brisk pace that seemed to be working to Secret Oath's off-the-pace advantage. But by the far turn, Contreras's patience contributed to his filly getting pocketed behind the two caving speedsters while an advancing rival to the outside kept the favorite locked and blocked, forcing Contreras to snatch up the reins in a ride-the-brakes type of maneuver.

Five sixteenths out, Contreras realized he had no choice but to dive inside of the tiring leaders. And when Secret Oath saw a glimmer of daylight through that narrow gap, she kicked on like a pro at the head of the lane. Never seriously threatened through the stretch, she won while kept to task but never fully extended.

Secret Oath's final time of 1:44.74 for 1 1/16 miles translated to a Beyer Speed Figure of 92, one point shy of her career-best effort. It's worth noting she carried five pounds more than the second- and third-place fillies.

Lukas indicated post-race that Secret Oath is nominated to both the Arkansas and Kentucky Derbies. The GIII Fantasy S. on the Apr. 2 Arkansas Derby undercard would be the conservative against-fillies option if he opts not to take on the boys.

Advocates for running in the Arkansas Derby will point out that Secret Oath's clocking and speed number trumped what was to follow six races later in the companion stakes for 3-year-old males. Oaklawn's third race in its quartet of Kentucky Derby points-earning preps is usually a pretty intriguing affair. But this year it might go down as the aberrational “Rebel without a cause,” which is why it's best to hold off on any claims that Secret Oath would have crushed that field had she been entered in that spot instead.

Rain had moved into Hot Springs by the time the feature race arrived, and although the track was still listed as “fast” for the Rebel, it would soon require sealing and a downgrade to “sloppy” for the final race. The un-California-like conditions would be eventually cited as a possible excuse for trainer Bob Baffert's ship-in fave Newgrange (Violence), who appeared primed to pounce after a trouble-free stalking trip but instead retreated to sixth.

The 75-1 Un Ojo (Laoban) saved ground every step of the way, rallied briefly at the quarter pole, then appeared to regress. But Un Ojo re-awakened late with an out-of-nowhere spurt of energy to snatch victory from the 15-1 Ethereal Road (Quality Road), who had been ambitiously entered by Lukas off a 19-1 maiden win in career start number four. The final time was 1:45.69, nearly a full second slower than Secret Oath's clocking; the Beyer (84) was also eight points lower.

Ethereal Road gave up serious real estate while hooked four wide on both turns, yet led from the quarter pole until 50 yards from the wire. He certainly punched his ticket to the Arkansas Derby, leaving Lukas to ponder over the next month whether he wants both his top filly and top colt aiming for the same race.

In the meantime, expect those comparisons to Althea to percolate–even if they're still off the mark.

Althea broke her maiden on June 22, 1983 at Hollywood Park. She ran second 17 days later in the GII Landaluce S., then wheeled back two weeks after that, beating the boys by 10 lengths in the GII Hollywood Juvenile Championship. When the racing switched to Del Mar, Lukas continued the pattern of aiming Althea against both fillies and colts, and she responded by winning both the GII Del Mar Debutante (by 15 lengths) and the GII Del Mar Futurity, just 10 days apart.

After a mix of firsts and seconds against fillies at Santa Anita in the fall, Althea closed out her 2-year-old season by attempting the mixed-sex Grade I double of the Hollywood Starlet (first) and Juvenile (sixth). Althea started 1984 with Santa Anita stakes victories against fillies, then shipped to Oaklawn for the Fantasy, where she finished a fast second despite encountering significant trip trouble.

Back then, the Fantasy was run the week before the Arkansas Derby. Lukas spent most of that week saying he wouldn't enter Althea against the boys. He did anyway.

Althea toyed with the Arkansas Derby field, drawing off to win by seven lengths while equaling the track record at the time. Afterward, Lukas admitted he had planned all week to run his star filly in that spot, but that he had chosen not to tell anyone until the day the race was drawn.

Thirty-eight years later, on the day after Secret Oath's win, Lukas remained uncommitted to a plan beyond saying he'd take it one race at a time.

Sunday, Lukas at first told the Oaklawn notes team that “I don't know what we're going to do,” before later adding, “Right now, she would be in the Fantasy and Ethereal Road would be in the [Arkansas] Derby.”

But you never know. The man is entitled to change his mind.

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