Tag: arrogate

“I’d Like to Keep Training Her,” D. Wayne Lukas on Night of the Stars-Bound Secret Oath

Forty years after his first GI Kentucky Oaks win, D. Wayne Lukas relished his fifth appearance in that winner's circle this year alongside a special filly named Secret Oath (Arrogate – Absinthe Minded, by Quiet American).

“We've celebrated in that winner's circle a number of times already, but this one was a little bit better though, because when you're an old man you often wonder if you're going to get another one–one of those really special ones,” explained Lukas.

The Hall of Fame conditioner known as “The Coach” has a detailed recollection of what transpired immediately after the race on the first Friday in May this year.

As soon as Secret Oath crossed the wire, Lukas led her dazed owners Rob and Stacy Mitchell to the winner's circle. Meanwhile camera crews bolted about frantically to document such an important piece of history and a long line of Lukas's former pupils came forward to congratulate the legendary trainer. Then as soon as the photo was taken, Secret Oath made it known that she had no intention of wearing lilies after her hard-fought win and the garland was promptly removed.

It was chaotic, to say the least, but of course that's how it should be after such a victory.

“It was wild, just like it always is for the Derby or the Oaks,” Lukas said with a knowing smile. “Everybody loses their composure. It was a special day for me to put Rob and Stacy in the winner's circle and let them enjoy something that I had experienced before. They've really tried to raise one of this caliber and sure enough, they got it done.”

A second-generation homebred for the Mitchells' Briland Farm, Secret Oath has taken her owners on the ride of lifetime. In her eight starts this year, the gritty filly has been in the money in all but one of those contest.

After breaking her maiden at two, she began her sophomore season with two straight scores in the Martha Washington S. and GIII Honeybee S. and then ran third in the GI Arkansas Derby–a race that Lukas still considers a definite win had she gotten a different ride. After her Oaks victory, the filly ran a credible fourth in the GI Preakness S. and then placed in three Grade I contests within her own division.

“For the Mitchells, their heart says to keep her forever, but their business sense says that this is a valuable piece of property and whatever she brings is life changing in a lot of ways,” Lukas explained. “You've got to always keep a business sense because it's so easy to fall in love with these horses. I mean, the whole barn is in love with this one. I just hope the next people who get her enjoy her as much as we have and are as successful as we have been, both economically and emotionally.”

Secret Oath will sell as Hip 231 on the 'Night of the Stars' with the Bluewater Sales consignment. Fasig-Tipton's Boyd Browning said that the buyer of the uniquely-colored chestnut will be taking home a piece of history.

“It's unusual when you have the opportunity to buy the current Kentucky Oaks winner and Secret Oath provides buyers around the world an exceptional opportunity this November,” Browning said. “We all watched the Kentucky Oaks this year.  I think when we look back in history we're going to say it was a tremendous group of fillies, with champion Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) and Nest (Curlin), and Secret Oath defeated them in a very impressive fashion. She's a star on the racetrack and she's a star in the making as a broodmare prospect somewhere down the line.”

Another significant element of Secret Oath's story is that the filly was the first Grade I winner for the late Arrogate, whose abilities as a sire may just now be coming to the limelight (read more on that here).

“You've got what is almost like a historic pedigree here and the opportunities that she presents from a breeding standpoint are really unlimited,” Browning said. “Secret Oath is also out of a mare by Quiet American, who has had a tremendous impact on so many pedigrees of top-class horses that we've seen in the last 25 years.”

Lukas trained Secret Oath's dam, Absinthe Minded, and won several stakes contests with the Briland Farm homebred. The horseman said he believes that Secret Oath has all the potential to follow in her dam's success as a producer.

“The pedigree is there and things should fall into place, but let's not think that far ahead,” said Lukas with a wry grin. “Let's just stay in the moment.”

At the moment, Secret Oath is putting in her final preps for the Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs. She put in an eye-catching work there on Monday, going five furlongs in a blazing 58.80 over a fast track as she prepares for a rematch with rival Nest, who she had to settle for second behind in her last two outings against the Curlin filly in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks and GI Alabama S.

“Nest beat us fair and square, but we've gotten a lot out of that,” Lukas said. “Since then she has had a little break and has put on weight and filled out.  I think she looks better now than she has at any time. To win at Keeneland would be special, but they've all been special. I've had a few successful days in the Breeders Cup' and this one will be very special too, especially when you're 87.”

As Breeders' Cup week approaches, Lukas is confident in his trainee, who has now amassed earnings of over $1.7 million.

Asked what makes Secret Oath a great athlete, he responded, “Her efficiency of motion and her ability to accelerate. She can break their hearts in four strides.”

“One thing about Secret Oath is that she's a ham,” he added. “She will stand and look with her ears locked forward and pose like that for 15 or 20 minutes. You can take her in front of any crowd and into any paddock. Her temperament and her personality really compliment her ability to run.”

The Secret Oath-D. Wayne Lukas duo has been an easy one to cheer for this year and will undoubtedly be a focal point going into Breeders' Cup week.

“It's been a remarkable story to watch the development of Secret Oath as a racehorse and see Wayne back in the limelight as he has had the opportunity to enjoy and train such an exceptional filly,” Browning said. “I think that in many ways, Wayne Lukas has been one of the most influential people in the Thoroughbred sales business. His passion for the game and for his horses is remarkable. He's someone that I admire and respect very much.”

He continued, “I mean, you consider that Wayne is 87 years old and he's on the pony every morning. Try to beat him to the racetrack; it's virtually impossible to do. It's been really neat to watch the success that he's had with Secret Oath so far and hopefully there's more in their future.”

Once the Breeders' Cup has concluded and as Secret Oath prepares to go through the ring at the 'Night of the Stars' Sale, there is one message that Lukas hopes to get across to buyers.

“The only thing that I'd like to change about the whole thing is that if someone buys her, bring her back,” he said. “She's comfortable in her own stall. She's very sound and very efficient. I'd like to keep training her.”

The post “I’d Like to Keep Training Her,” D. Wayne Lukas on Night of the Stars-Bound Secret Oath appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The Legacy of Arrogate: Gone Too Soon, Yet Just Getting Started

It was a little over six years ago when Juddmonte Farms' Arrogate (Unbridled's Song), seemingly from out of nowhere, took the racing world by storm. Producing heroics, often in jaw-dropping, record-breaking fashion, in the GI Travers S., GI Breeders' Cup Classic, GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. and G1 Dubai World Cup in succession, the imposing gray quickly catapulted himself into the discussion of all-time greats.

Though his racing career fizzled somewhat when he finished off the board in two of his final three starts after returning from Dubai, the enthusiasm was hardly dampened for what he could do as a stallion. As the last great son of generational sire Unbridled's Song and hailing from a deep female family highlighted by champion and six-time Grade I-winning third dam Meadow Star (Meadowlake), the sky was the limit for Arrogate as he took residence at Juddmonte in 2018. Not long after, tragedy struck.

Nearing the end of just his third season at stud, Arrogate collapsed suddenly in his stall and was unable to get back up. After a draining four days of testing at the Hagyard Clinic attempting to diagnose and save him, he was euthanized on June 2, 2020 at only seven years old. The mystery illness was later determined to be a lesion to his spinal cord that rendered him a quadriplegic.

“We were completely gutted by how it happened, and still are scratching our heads a bit,” Juddmonte general manager Garrett O'Rourke said. “For such a young horse, it was totally unexpected. It was extremely gutting for that to happen.”

The legacy of Arrogate, once thought sure to be etched in stone, was entirely up in the air as recently as last year. Seemingly as quickly as he appeared, dazzling the sport with his blinding brilliance, he was gone, with a mere three crops of foals now tasked with ensuring his name would live on beyond the late 2010s.

It frankly didn't look hopeful from the early results that they were up to the challenge. It took until Sept. 6, 2021, roughly five months after 2-year-olds began racing in North America for the year, for Arrogate to record his first winner as a stallion when DJ Stable's Adversity captured a fairly slow New York-bred maiden special weight at Saratoga. Momentum started to build somewhat from there, and he finished 2021 with 13 winners–a respectable number, but not the freshman sire splash Arrogate was expected to make.

Then, on the first day of 2022, a filly named Alittleloveandluck belatedly planted Arrogate's flag in stakes territory, capturing the Ginger Brew S. on the Gulfstream turf. Little did anyone know then, but that victory would be the perfect lid-lifter for what has become a breakout season for Arrogate the stallion at the highest level, with stars Secret Oath, Cave Rock and And Tell Me Nolies giving him three Grade I winners from just 92 total starters. Juddmonte itself has campaigned an additional stakes winner for him in Curlin S. victor Artorius.

“As Bob Baffert says, and I think Cave Rock and Secret Oath are like this: they're cruising along and then you let them down and their head drops down about five or six inches and that's the way they run,” O'Rourke said. “It's a very effective and efficient action. That's all you want out of them. You don't need them to look like their sire as long as they can run like him, and they definitely do run like him.”

As a filly and potential future broodmare, Secret Oath charging to victory in the GI Kentucky Oaks provided hope that Arrogate's longevity in the Thoroughbred breed might yet endure. Same goes for And Tell Me Nolies, who so far has conquered the GI Del Mar Debutante S. and GII Chandelier, and figures to be among the favorites in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

But the greatest triumph for Arrogate's legacy from his first two crops is almost certainly the emergence of Cave Rock. The dark bay, bought for $550,000 at Keeneland September–just $10,000 shy of matching Arrogate's selling price at the same auction in 2014–has been devastating in three starts, following up a six-length debut romp with a pair of easy, 5 1/4-length victories in the GI Del Mar Futurity and GI American Pharoah S. He will be heavily favored in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile and is already guaranteed to be a sought-after stallion prospect regardless of what he does on the first Friday in November or, for that matter, next year's first Saturday in May.

Quick as this industry is to overreact to slow starts from freshman stallions, many were willing to write off Arrogate as a breeding influence early on. But in under a year, his progeny have completely turned that narrative around, and if you ask O'Rourke, he's not surprised.

“To say there was no doubt would be a little too cocky, but I had expectations of what he could and should be from experience of watching that sire line most especially,” he said. “A lot of people don't realize how slow a start Unbridled got off to with his 2-year-olds, and Unbridled's Song was that type as well. I likened [Arrogate] to a stallion like Curlin; you've got to let them be what they're bred to be and when they do get to that point in time, they're going to be very effective. Impatience just doesn't go hand in hand with those types of horses. Obviously, Unbridled's Song was a champion 2-year-old and maybe that came through with this year's 2-year-olds as well, but I think definitely the Secret Oath, Artorius types are exactly what we expected of Arrogate. It's brash to say that was a lock, but that's what we hoped for him and that's what they're doing.”

The surge in positive results on the racetrack has translated into the sales ring too. After 43 of 61 Arrogate yearlings offered from his first crop in 2020 sold for an average of $227,049, that average dropped precipitously to $142,519 in 2021 from 52 of 68 sold. This year, Arrogate's yearling average has jumped all the way back up to surpass his 2020 output at $241,400, with 56 of 61 changing hands.

“I was just feeling so sorry for the people that bred to him, that were so committed to him, that were left feeling a little bit empty on their investment,” O'Rourke said. “I was delighted to see him get the runners, but I was more delighted for the breeders who supported him to see their Arrogates sell so well at the sales this year, because it could've gone the other way for them. But everything fell into place and it happened at the right time, just before the sales.”

O'Rourke added that he thinks breeders adapting their mares to Arrogate's physical traits after his first season has aided his breakout, creating more harmonious matings for his second and especially third seasons at stud.

“The other thing about him is he probably had his best-looking crop of yearlings this year at the sales,” O'Rourke said. “He was a big horse and I always feel like breeders take a look at the first crop and they go, 'OK, well we bred a really good mare to him in the first year but maybe physically she wasn't the ideal type, so we'll tweak that in year two,' and then they really get it right in year three. I'm going to give the breeders all the credit for picking the right physical types of mares as opposed to pedigree crosses in year three, because you can see it in his sales averages. I saw them individually at the sales; they were a lovely crop of yearlings, and if they run according to their looks, it'll be really ironic that his third crop will quite possibly be the best of all three of his crops.”

If that turns out to be true, let there be no doubt that the legacy of Arrogate–the supernova who appeared in danger of being mostly forgotten just a year ago–will instead be undeniable for decades to come.

The post The Legacy of Arrogate: Gone Too Soon, Yet Just Getting Started appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Baffert Saddles Super as Cave Rock Dominates American Pharoah

Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Cave Rock (Arrogate) led home a one-two-three-four finish for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GI American Pharoah S. at Santa Anita. It was the 11th winner for Baffert in the race named in honor of his 2015 Triple Crown winner.

The eye-catching last-out GI Del Mar Futurity winner, off as the 2-5 favorite here, went straight to the front in this two-turn debut, led comfortably through fractions of :22.96 and :46.82 and seemed to play possum a bit on the turn. With a shake of the reins as they straightened, he opened up again when called upon by jockey Juan Hernandez and poured it on in the lane to score by 5 1/4 lengths.

Del Mar debut winner National Treasure (Quality Road), $3.55-million EASMAY topper and maiden Hejazi (Bernardini) and Los Al debut winner Gandolfini (Justify) followed home their stablemate in that order.

Cave Rock entered off a pair of flashy Del Mar wins, scoring on debut by six lengths Aug. 13 and added the Del Mar Futurity by 5 1/4 lengths last time Sept. 11.

Longtime Baffert clients and winning owners Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman also campaign unbeaten Speed Boat Beach (Bayern), who punched his ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint via Santa Anita's Speakeasy S.

“I can't remember running one, two, three, four, ever,” Baffert said. “The really good ones come around quicky and he's always been different, he's built a bit different than Arrogate. He's powerful, stronger and he's quick. He runs with his head sort of low like Arrogate. He just keeps improving, he trains easily. I really don't work him too fast, you have to count on their talent to get them there.

Baffert continued, “Today, those were some good horses behind him. Those colts, you are going to hear about them down the road. Right now, he's what you need, he's something that is right now and something that will be in for the next thirty days.”

Pedigree Notes:

Cave Rock, a $210,000 KEENOV weanling and $550,000 KEESEP yearling, is one of three graded winners–all Grade I winners–and the sixth black-type winner overall for the much-missed Arrogate. Like Arrogate's GII Chandelier S. heroine And Tell Me Nolies, Cave Rock was prepared for his first trip through the sales ring by Mulholland Springs, and like the Chandelier victress, the colt also hails from a Danzig-line dam. Cave Rock's yearling full-brother topped this year's Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Sale on a bid of $700,000 from Tom McCrocklin, agent for Champion Equine, and 2011 GIII Schuylerville S. winner Georgie's Angel produced an Improbable filly this year before being bred back to Connect. Georgie's Angel brought $75,000 from Longford Farm at the 2020 KEENOV sale.

Saturday, Santa Anita

AMERICAN PHAROAH S.-GI, $301,500, Santa Anita, 10-8, 2yo,
1 1/16m, 1:43.05, ft.
1–CAVE ROCK, 122, c, 2, by Arrogate
       1st Dam: Georgie's Angel (GSW, $129,564), by Bellamy Road
       2nd Dam: Lalka, by Dynaformer
       3rd Dam: Celmis, by Bold Ruckus
   'TDN Rising Star' ($210,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV; $550,000 Ylg '21
KEESEP). O-Michael Pegram, Karl Watson & Paul Weitman;
B-Anne and Ronnie Sheffer Racing LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert;
J-Juan J. Hernandez. $180,000. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0,
$408,000. Click for Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating:
   A++.
2–National Treasure, 122, c, 2, Quality Road–Treasure, by
Medaglia d'Oro. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE,
   1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($500,000 Ylg '21 FTSAUG). O-SF Racing
LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Masterson, Robert
E., Stonestreet Stables LLC, Schoenfarber, Jay A., Waves Edge
Capital LLC and Donovan, Catherine; B-Peter E. Blum
Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $60,000.
3–Hejazi, 122, c, 2, Bernardini–G Note, by Medaglia d'Oro.
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK
   TYPE. ($3,550,000 2yo '22 EASMAY). O-Zedan Racing Stables,
Inc.; B-Chester Broman & Mary R. Broman (NY); T-Bob Baffert.
$36,000.
Margins: 5 1/4, 3HF, 3 1/4. Odds: 0.40, 9.80, 2.90.
Also Ran: Gandolfini, Man Child, Skinner, Macnamara, Odonata.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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And Tell Me Nolies Gives Arrogate 2yo SoCal Stakes Sweep

In a replay of four weekends ago at Del Mar, juveniles by Arrogate swept the major 2-year-old stakes Saturday in Southern California. About an hour before Cave Rock doubled up on Grade I events in the American Pharoah S., And Tell Me Nolies posted a mild upset in the GII Chandelier S. at Santa Anita, a “Win and You're In” race for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 4 at Keeneland. Uncontrollable (Upstart) rallied late for second at 24-1, while Justique (Justify), the 6-5 favorite making her first appearance since a buzzed-about, 'TDN Rising Star'-garnering debut at Del Mar July 31, could only mount a mild bid and settled for a distant third.

“It's very exciting to have a filly that wants to run long like this so hopefully we get to the Breeders' Cup and I'm just thrilled with the way she ran today,” said winning trainer Peter Miller, who trains And Tell Me Nolies for Peter Redekop B. C., Ltd. out of San Luis Rey Downs.

Fresh off her head score in the seven-furlong GI Del Mar Debutante S. Sept 10, which followed a narrow neck maiden win at second asking Aug. 14 going 6 1/2 furlongs over the same track, And Tell Me Nolies was trying two turns for the first time in the Chandelier. The bay stumbled at the start, but was soon positioned in the clear while third from last behind a :22:85 first quarter. After a half in :46.71, she inched up, extended her stride, and looming threateningly in third on the turn. She entered the lane wide and took several extra strides to change to her proper lead, but the filly was clearly in her element as she comfortably held off a fast-closing Uncontrollable.

“She stumbled very badly at the break,” said winning rider Ramon Vazquez, who has been aboard the filly for all four of her career starts. “She did the same thing in the Debutante. We settled in, she knows not to move too early. She got a little tired late, but she knows what to do. She is getting better and better after every race. She can handle the distance. I think she is going to be a superstar later.”

It was the second win on the Santa Anita card Saturday for the trio of Vasquez, Miller, and Redekop with an offspring of Arrogate as they also took the second race, an optional allowance, with Apprehend. Redekop had purchased And Tell Me Nolies through agent Bryan Anderson for $230,000 as a 2-year-old at this April's OBS sale after she worked in :10 flat. D.J. Stable, who had purchased her for $70,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale, pinhooked her to OBS. D.J. Stable has their own “Win and You're In” contender for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, having captured Friday's GI Darley Alcibiades S. with Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief).

Pedigree Notes:

The late Arrogate is the sire of three Grade I winners from his two crops to race, as well as another three black-type winners. The Juddmonte stallion died at age seven in 2020 and has a final crop of yearlings still waiting in the wings. Interestingly, both And Tell Me Nolies and Cave Rock are by Danzig-line broodmare sires, while Secret Oath, Arrogate's GI Kentucky Oaks winner, is from a Fappiano-line broodmare sire. Exchange Rate, the Chandelier winner's damsire, has 25 stakes winners out of his daughters, including this year's GI New York S. winner Bleecker Street (Quality Road).

Be Fair, a half to 2009 GI Stephen Foster S. winner Macho Again (Macho Uno), has a yearling colt by Gun Runner and was bred to Mo Town for next term. Lara Run bred And Tell Me Nolies in Kentucky after purchasing her dam for $50,000 in 2018 at Keeneland November, then resold the mare at the 2021 OBS Winter Mixed Sale for $35,000 to Jim H. Ballinger. Ballinger sold that Gun Runner colt as a weanling last year at Keeneland November for $150,000 to McMahon & Hill Bloodstock.

Saturday, Santa Anita
CHANDELIER S.-GII, $201,000, Santa Anita, 10-8, 2yo, f,
1 1/16m, 1:46.15, ft.
1–AND TELL ME NOLIES, 122, f, 2, by Arrogate
     1st Dam: Be Fair (GSW & GISP, $313,517), by Exchange Rate
     2nd Dam: Go Donna Go, by Wild Again
     3rd Dam: Proud Nova, by Proud Birdie
($70,000 Ylg '21 KEEJAN; $230,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Peter
Redekop B. C., Ltd.; B-Lara Run, LLC (KY); T-Peter Miller;
J-Ramon A. Vazquez. $120,000. Lifetime Record: GISW,
4-3-0-0, $352,800. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus. Click
for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Uncontrollable, 122, f, 2, Upstart–Behavioral, by Include.
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($20,000 Ylg '21 FTKOCT; $130,000
2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Repole Stable; B-Fountian of Youth
Breeding, LLC (CA); T-Michael W. McCarthy. $40,000.
3–Justique, 122, f, 2, Justify–Grazie Mille, by Bernardini.
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. 'TDN Rising Star'
($725,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-C R K Stable LLC; B-John D.
Gunther & Eurowest Bloodstock (KY); T-John A. Shirreffs.
$24,000.
Margins: 3/4, 4 3/4, HF. Odds: 8.40, 24.20, 1.20.
Also Ran: Ice Dancing, Home Cooking, Naughty Lottie, Huntingcoco. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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