Tag: Boyd Browning

“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.”

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Spotlight on the Night of the Stars: Bellafina and Donna Veloce

Separated by just one year in age, Bellafina (Quality Road -Akron Moon, by Malibu Moon) and Donna Veloce (Uncle Mo – Coin Broker {Ire}, by Montjeu {Ire}) were both $800,000 2-year-old purchases for owner-breeder Kaleem Shah. Both were brilliant juveniles on the racetrack, with one becoming a 'TDN Rising Star' on debut and the other winning a pair of Grade I contests at two, and they each went on to achieve further graded stakes success throughout their careers. Retired from racing after their 2020 campaigns, they now both have one foal already on their produce records and are in foal to Coolmore's multiple Grade I-winning young sire Tiz the Law.

In just a few weeks, Bellafina and Donna Veloce will be offered along with their first foals at the Fasig-Tipton 'Night of the Stars' Sale. Their consignor Reiley McDonald of Eaton Sales is a firm believer that mares of this quality do not come around often.

“I've been doing this for 35 years and I can tell you that this is so exciting to me,” he said. “To be a part of it and sell mares like this really doesn't happen every day. My partner Ben McElroy was very instrumental in helping purchase these mares. You'll never see a horse that Ben has bought that is not stunningly beautiful and that is the case with these two mares.”

Kaleem Shah and his buying team landed both mares at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale. Bellafina sold for $800,00 in 2018 and the following year, Donna Veloce brought the same price after working the co-fastest breeze time in :9 4/5.

“It's rare in the Thoroughbred industry when a plan comes to fruition and is executed perfectly,” reflected Fasig-Tipton's Boyd Browning. “In back-to-back years, Kaleem and his team did that at the Gulfstream 2-Year-Old In Training Sale. Bellafina was one of the most brilliant performers that we had in the under-tack show that year and she looked beautiful on the end of a shank. Donna Veloce was another exceptional performer at the breeze show and back at the barn, she was a magnificent physical individual. Kaleem and his team accomplished what they set out to do, which was to buy the best fillies at the sale and achieve great success on the racetrack.”

Bellafina was the first of the pair to get her start with trainer Simon Callaghan. She broke her maiden at second asking in the GII Sorrento S., where the daughter of Quality Road bested the field by over four lengths, and she continued her win streak that year in the GI Del Mar Debutante S. and the GI Chandelier S.

Much of what made Bellafina such a juvenile success, McDonald said, was her outstanding physical.

“She was of good size as a 2-year-old,” he explained. “She was not a small, petite filly. She was a big filly with tons of speed. She had the hip and the shoulder to give her all the speed, but the leg and the length to carry her a distance. She won everywhere from six furlongs to a mile and a sixteenth.”

In 2019, Bellafina was the best of the West in her division, reeling off wins in the GII Santa Ynez S., GII Las Virgenes S. and GI Santa Anita Oaks, and later running a close second in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. At four, she claimed her seventh graded stakes score in the GIII Desert Stormer S. before retiring with over $1.6 million in earnings.

 

 

 

“I think what Bellafina had that set her apart was tactical speed,” McDonald said. “She had the ability to run fast, but also the ability to turn it off and on. That was Bellafina. She's also by a sire, Quality Road, that gives speed and heart to his racehorses. You put her pedigree together with that kind of physical and heart, that's what made her so special.”

Bellafina was bred to Uncle Mo and produced her first foal this year. That filly will sell as Hip 128 at the 'Night of the Stars' Sale while her dam will go through the ring later in the evening as Hip 264.

After that, Bellafina's former stablemate Donna Veloce will sell as Hip 281.

Donna Veloce joined the Callaghan barn in 2018 and turned heads soon after in her flashy debut at Santa Anita. The Uncle Mo filly took the lead early and looked the winner throughout, breaking away from the field in the stretch to win by over nine lengths.

“I remember watching that and thinking that this was not only a TDN Rising Star, this was a world-class rising star,” McDonald recalled. “The way she did it was like an older horse. I think we knew right then she was very special.”

Donna Veloce faced a tough task in her second start when she took on the best of her division in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, but she was impressive even in defeat when she fought to run second by a neck to British Idiom (Flashback). She was second in the GI Starlet S. to close out her juvenile season and then returned a winner at three in the GIII Santa Ysabel S.

Just as he described with Bellafina, McDonald said that Donna Veloce's physical strengths led to her achievements on the racetrack.

Donna Veloce against a Kentucky autumn backdrop | Sara Gordon

“She has a beautiful neck and shoulder set and plenty of length to carry that speed over a distance,” he explained. “She has a massive hip and quarter on her as well.”

McDonald described Donna Veloce's first foal, a filly by Justify, as a “magnificent foal.” That youngster will sell as Hip 159 at Fasig-Tipton.

He said he expects Donna Veloce, whose second and third dams are both Grade I winners, to draw interest from all types of buyers.

“She certainly hits our American market right between the eyes,” McDonald said. “She has the looks, the American pedigree, and she was a Classic distance horse. I think she has all the qualifications to be extremely attractive to buyers where there is dirt racing, but bred in any way you might wish, for turf racing as well. She has a ton of speed and that will be attractive to buyers all over the world.”

Both mares will be offered carrying foals by four-time Grade I winner Tiz the Law. Browning said he believes the son of Constitution has all the potential to be a leading sire once his foals hit the racetrack.

“I believe that Tiz the Law is one of the most underrated stallions prospects that we've come across in my professional career,” he said. “He had the misfortune of being brilliant on the racetrack in 2020 during the COVID year. He won the GI Champagne S. by open lengths in 2019 and his resume that he put together in 2020 was truly remarkable. He had four consecutive graded stakes wins and his average margin of victory was greater than three lengths in each of those races.”

“Tiz the Law's pedigree is very intriguing as well,” Browning continued. “He's by Constitution, who we're seeing emerge as one of the top stallions in North America. Interestingly, Tiz the Law is out of a graded stakes-winning mare on turf and she comes from the family of Favorite Trick, who was named Horse of the Year as a 2-year-old, so you get this great combination of precocity and stamina, turf influences and dirt influences. It's a really unique package.”

“Tiz the Law is a beautiful horse and I think he has every chance to make it in a big way,” McDonald echoed before adding that he is eager to get both mares out in front of buyers. “They're incredible mares, both extremely good 2-year-olds, and I think that when we put them in front of the public, that's when they will sell themselves.”

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Bell’s The One to Skip Breeders’ Cup, Now Prepares for Night of the Stars Sale

A few weeks before Bell's The One (Majesticperfection – Street Mate, by Street Cry {Ire}) made her career debut, her trainer Neil Pessin set aside a few dollars to place a wager on the promising juvenile. But in the days leading up to the race, he started to rethink the idea.

Every morning as Bell's The One went out to gallop, the juvenile would stop in the middle of the track, somewhere around the sixteenth pole, and refuse to move. Pessin would have to take to the track, red-faced with frustration, to lead her off to the barn.

He cut down his bet considerably the morning of her debut only to watch a few hours later as she won with ease at Arlington, paying $67.80 to win.

That was the last time Pessin had anything less than full confidence going into a race with Bell's The One. Four years since that first career victory, Bell's The One is now a five-time graded stakes winner with over $2 million in earnings and has collected stakes wins in each of her five seasons on the racetrack.

“Every time I lead her over, I expect her to win,” Pessin said. “If she gets beat, it's either human error or…well, usually it's human error. If she gets to run her race and she shows up, which she does most of the time, she's hard to beat. She gives you 110% every time. I'm as confident as anybody in the race when I put her bridle on.”

While Bell's the One was originally slated to run in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, Pessin and her connections made the decision on Tuesday to skip the championship meet.

“She had a minor setback that will prevent us from running,” her trainer said. “I've always said that if she's not 100%, we're not going. She could be 95% or 99%, but we're not taking that chance with her. It's just a timing thing. If we had three more weeks we would probably be able to run, but she has done right by me for five years so I've got to do right by her for this race. But she earned her right to be there. ”

While Bell's The One won't make it to the Breeders' Cup starting gate, she will be in the spotlight in a few weeks for the Fasig-Tipton 'Night of the Stars' Sale. Until then, she will remain at Pessin's barn at Churchill Downs.

“She's still in light training,” Pessin explained. “We want to keep her in her same routine. She'll train just to keep her looking good. She's doing great. She is six going on seven and she's getting better every year.”

Bell's The One, who is easily the most accomplished horse in Pessin's training career, has been a fixture at the conditioner's barn at Churchill Downs over the years. While the 6-year-old mare grew out of most of the obstinate tendencies she had as a juvenile, Pessin said that there has never been a question of who ruled the stable.

“Oh, she is the queen,” he said. “She tells us what to do. She tells me how to train her and when to run her. She probably gets, at minimum, 50 mints a day. But that's lowballing.”

Pessin picked out Bell's The One for Bob Lothenbach's Lothenbach Stables at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton July Sale. Drawn to the Bret Jones-bred filly for her athleticism and cat-like walk, they brought home the daughter of Majesticperfection for $155,000.

“We thought it was a pretty good deal at the time, but she turned out to be even more athletic than she was as a yearling,” Pessin said. “She has always shown ability from the first day we worked her.”

Undefeated in three starts including a stakes win at two and the winner of the GII Raven Run S. at three, Bell's The One got her signature victory at four with a photo-finish win over GISW Serengeti Empress (Alternation) in the 2020 GI Derby City Distaff S. on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

The achievement marked not only the first Grade I win for Bell's the One, but also for her trainer, who runs a boutique stable of about 15 horses.

“Winning that race was extremely satisfying not so much for me, but for her,” Pessin said. “I don't really care about all that stuff. I don't care if I get an award or get patted on the back. I care about the horses. When she won, it was satisfying for me because it just proved how much quality she has and how good of a mare she is.”

Bell's The One added two more graded scores to her resume at five in the GII Honorable Miss H. at Saratoga and the GII Thoroughbred Club of America S. This year, the 6-year-old ran second in the GI Madison S. and most recently won two lucrative stakes contests at Churchill Downs.

While the Bell's The One fan club has grown over the years, Pessin said that two of the mare's biggest admirers have been her jockey Corey Lanerie, who has been aboard for all but a handful of her 27 career starts, and her owner Bob Lothenbach.

“I can't tell you how great Bob has been to train for,” Pessin said. “He doesn't interfere with what we do on the day to day or the races we pick. He just loves the sport and he is a wonderful owner. He cares about the horses, too.”

When Bell's The One returns to Fasig-Tipton, the site where her story began back in 2017, for the 'Night of the Stars' Sale, she will sell as Hip 267 with Taylor Made Sales.

While the millionaire's outstanding race record speaks for itself, Fasig-Tipton's Boyd Browning said that the mare's pedigree will hold equal appeal for buyers. Her dam Street Mate (Street Cry {Ire}) was bred by successful owner-breeder Edward Evans and her produce record boasts six winners from as many to race including recent GIII Knickerbocker S. victor King Cause (Creative Cause).

“I think that Bell's The One really is a unique pedigree,” Browning said. “It's truly a reflection of the breeding program that was so important to Ned Evans. She typifies the type of horse that Ned wanted to breed-Grade I horse, durable, consistent and with heart.”

“Bell's The One has all the ingredients to be a successful producer,” he continued. “She tries hard every time. She's got pedigree. She's got heart. She's got the speed, but she also has the class in her pedigree that will allow her decedents to carry that speed a distance. She's just a tremendous prospect that will likely produce terrific racehorses for the next generation.”

While she will soon become an important addition to someone's broodmare band, Bell's The One will be sorely missed back at the Pessin barn and her empty stall overlooking Longfield Avenue at Churchill Down will not go unnoticed.

“When Bell leaves the barn, there will be a huge hole,” Pessin admitted. “It won't be a hole that will be filled. It'll just be a void for a while. I'll miss just walking down the barn and playing with her and giving her mints.  I'll miss leading her over there, knowing you're going to win the race. It's a special feeling, just having her here.”

Pessin may be soon parting with the most accomplished horse he has ever trained for now, but there is one thing he is sure of.

“I'll go see her wherever she goes,” he said. “Whatever farm she's at, I'll be there. If she goes to Japan, I'm going to Japan. They'll just have to get ready for me to come over. And if she throws off the athleticism that she has to her foals, I think she'll be a great broodmare.”

 

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Spotlight on the Night of the Stars: Gamine

John Velazquez wouldn't give a definitive answer on where Gamine (Into Mischief – Peggy Jane, Kafwain) ranks on the list of all-stars the Hall of Fame jockey has been associated with over the years, but he came pretty close.

Asked how the champion sprinter stacks up against a long line of high-class fillies he has ridden to Grade I success, he responded, “She's definitely one of the top ones. Like definitely one or two, I would say.”

That answer is high praise coming from the two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey, who said that he will never forget Gamine's authoritative way of going or how she could effortlessly switch gears coming down the stretch.

“What I will always remember about Gamine is how powerful she was,” Velazquez reflected. “Her stride and everything she did was so easy. For a horse as fast as she was, she was also really kind. She had a great mind on her and she had a big heart. She would give you everything she could at any time. That's what made her Gamine.”

Together, Gamine and Velazquez raced to five Grade I victories highlighted by a record-setting win in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland.

Now approaching exactly two years since that day, Gamine is carrying her first foal by Quality Road and in a few weeks, she will sell at the Fasig-Tipton 'Night of the Stars' Sale. There, she will be consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa as Hip 289.

Gamine is no stranger to the Fasig-Tipton sales ring. The flashy bay made her first of many headlines there when she topped the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Old Sale, selling to Michael Lund.

“Gamine has always been special to us at Fasig-Tipton ever since her breeze at the Timonium Sale,” said Fasig-Tipton's Boyd Browning. “She had one of the co-fastest breezes, working an eighth of a mile in :10 flat, but she looked like she was just galloping. She had a beautiful stride on her and beautiful mechanics. When you went back to the barn to see her, she never turned a hair. She had the class. She had the elegance. I think we all knew that she was poised to do something special in that sales ring.”

Bob Baffert can quickly recall his first encounter with Gamine at that sale. Standing alongside agent Donato Lanni, it took the trainer less than 10 seconds to know he wanted the filly in his barn.

“It's very rare that I have horses that I just look at and see something magic in them,” Baffert said. “Gamine had me at hello. I walked away and told Donato that we needed to call Michael Lund, who was just getting in the business, and tell him he needs to buy this filly. Michael said, 'Well Bob, how far should I go?' And I said these fillies are hard to find. You stop when you own her. He stepped up and she went for $1.8 million. It was incredible.”

Gamine made quick work of justifying her sales price the following year as she completed a near-perfect, Eclipse Award-worthy sophomore campaign. A 'TDN Rising Star' on debut, the brilliant filly took the GI Acorn S. by almost 19 lengths and the GI Test S. by seven before her spectacular Breeders' Cup victory.

“I think history will reflect the fact that Gamine's 2020 racing campaign was one for the ages when you take into consideration not only that she won, but the dominant, brilliant way in which she won,” Browning explained. “She was a horse that when you watched her on the racetrack, she gave you goose bumps. You knew you were watching something special when Gamine broke from the starting gate and got into that poetic motion that she ran with.”

 

 

Just as much of a force to be reckoned with at four, Gamine added four more graded victories to her resume including the GI Derby City Distaff S. and the GI Ballerina H. She retired with only two losses in her 11 career starts.

“Gamine was probably the grandest, smartest, kindest and most beautiful filly I ever trained,” her conditioner said. “I would always look forward to watching her run because I knew she was going to 'wow' us and that's what she did.”

Browning said that he believes one of the most remarkable aspects of Gamine's career was that she fulfilled expectations every step of the way.

“The bar has always been set very high to begin with for her and she has always exceeded those expectations, so I think she'll likely do that as a broodmare as well,” he said. “She certainly has the opportunity to be a once-in-a-multigenerational type of opportunity. Gamine has been part of the Fasig-Tipton team since she walked through the sales ring for the first time and we're delighted and honored to have the opportunity to sell her in foal on behalf of Michael Lund this November.”

“She's the whole package,” Baffert said. “She is a generational talent. That's what you need in this business. That's why we always refer to her as Queen Gamine.”

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