Tag: d. wayne lukas

Lukas Tops Protege Pletcher in Spa Maiden

The student or the teacher? It was going to come down to one or the other as the second race at Saratoga Saturday, a six-furlong maiden special weight, developed into a stretch battle between the Wayne Lukas-trained Just Steel (Justify) and the Todd Pletcher-trained Be You (Curlin).

At the wire, it was Just Steel who had his nose in front, showing once again that the 87-year-old Hall of Famer still knows how to get it done.

“You can't let the kids beat you,” Lukas said. “You've got to get them out there. They're awful tough. Todd's horse ran beautifully. I would have given an extra $1,000 for the post position (the ten post). I love the post position, but then we ended up on the inside and it wasn't that great. He wears blinkers and it took a little while for them to get together, but they were banging around a little in the stretch. I don't know that we wouldn't have got it anyhow, but I'm glad we didn't have that decision to make. I think he's going to come around to be a good one.”

Just Steel, showed little in his debut when fifth at Ellis Park in June, but woke up in a July 15 maiden at Saratoga, finishing second. It was a promising sign for the $500,000 Keeneland September purchase, who is owned by BC Stables LLC. BC Stables is a partnership of John Bellinger and Brian Coelho, a pair that has showed unwavering confidence in Lukas and given him the type of budget that should allow him to bring home some promising talent from the yearling sale.

“We will try to build up a strong stable and try to capitalize on Wayne's expertise,” Coelho told the TDN last year.
Last year's group of BC Stables LLC-Lukas two-year-olds included TDN Rising Star Summer Promise (Uncle Mo), who broke her maiden at Churchill Downs and then was second in the GIII Schuylerville S.

The team got even more aggressive last fall at Keeneland, buying five yearlings for a combined $3,515,000. The most expensive purchase was Lady Moscato (Quality Road), a filly who went for $1,150,000. She has started twice, finishing second both times. Cowboy Code (Into Mischief), a $1 million buy, has been unplaced in two starts. The other two from the Keeneland Class of 2022 have yet to make their debut.

The betting public chose the Pletcher horse, sending Be You off at 3-2 in his career debut. Ozone (Mitole), making his second career start for Steve Asmussen, broke quickest and led by a half-length down the backstretch. Just Steel tracked him from the three path and took a narrow lead at the top of the stretch. Be You, in the six path on the turn, drew even with Just Steel in the stretch and briefly put his head in front. There was little separating the top two in the final 100 yards, but Just Steel fought back and managed to stick his nose in front at the wire.

Joel Rosario was aboard the winner, who paid 12.80 and covered the distance run over a fast track in 1:10.22.
It was the second winner at the meet for Lukas and both of them came in maiden special weight events. The first was Seize the Gray, a winner of a July 29 maiden.

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Valentine Candy Flashes Impressive Speed to Win Loaded Saratoga Maiden

by Bill Finley & Patrycja Szpyra

On paper, Saturday's seventh race at Saratoga looked wide open and loaded with talent. All the major players had horses in the race, Wayne Lukas, Chad Brown, Steve Asmussen, Brad Cox , Bill Mott and Todd Pletcher, who had two starters in the six furlong maiden special weight event. The race figured to be fought all the way to the wire.

Instead it was the Asmussen horse, Valentine Candy (Justify), who ran them off their feet right out of the gate. Sent off at 5-2 and ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr. he exploded off the blocks and was three lengths in front in what announcer Frank Mirahmadi called “the blink of en eye.”

The fractions were 22.10 and 45.94, but Valentine Candy was still cruising on the lead as the field turned into the stretch. The Todd Pletcher-trained Protective (Medaglia d'Oro) made a solid late bid to cut into the winning margin, but it was a case of too little too late. The final time for the six furlongs run over a fast track was 1:11.74 and Valentine Candy won by three-quarters of a length.

“I had a good talk with Steve two days ago,” Santana said. “He said he really liked this horse. When the gate opened, he broke so fast. Then I just sat chilly with him. When turning for home, I asked him and he gave me a good kick. I have a lot of respect for Steve. Basically, he and his family are part of my family. Thanks to him, I am Ricardo Santana.”

Valentine Candy is owned by Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt in partnership with Jackpot Farm, Whispering Oaks Farm, and Keith and Ginger Myers. He was purchased for $250,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale.

“I love 2-year-olds and I loved the way he ran,” said Bill Heiligbrodt. “He ran like a Heiligbrodt, Asmussen, Santana horse, especially with the way he broke out of the gate. This is a really nice horse.”

“This was very exciting and we are excited about his career. We thought he would win and he did,” said Corrine Heiligbrodt.

 

Valentine Candy's dam is Taste Like Candy (Candy Ride {Arg}), who won the GI Hollywood Starlet S. in 2013. The 2-year-old was bred by Pine Creek LP. He is her first to race in the States behind lone, elder half-brother King Happy (Street Sense), who campaigned in Europe. The mare most recently had a 2023 Mitole colt and hails from the extended female family of GSW Wonderwherecraigis (Munnings); MGISW Affirmed Success; GISW & G1SP Exbourne; and GISW Expelled.

The Heiligbrodts, Asmussen and Santana have gone down this road before with a quick, classy horse. After he broke his maiden in his third start at Oaklawn, the same connections went on quite the roll with Mitole (Eskendereya), a four-time Grade I winner who wrapped up the 2019 sprint championship with a win in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Daily Grind (Medaglia d'Oro), a $1.35 million Fasig-Tipton August finished eighth for trainer Wayne Lukas and BC Stables LLC.

7th-Saratoga, $105,000, Msw, 7-22, 2yo, 6f, 1:11.74, ft, 3/4 length.
VALENTINE CANDY (c, 2, Justify–Taste Like Candy {GISP, $286,205}, by Candy Ride {Arg}) Sales history: $250,000 Ylg '22 FTKOCT. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $57,750. O-L. William and Corinne Heiligbrodt, Jackpot Farm, Whispering Oaks Farm LLC,  Keith and Ginger Myers; B-Pine Creek LP (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Skipping Shuvee, Secret Oath Targets Personal Ensign

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas rarely passes on big stakes opportunities, he is skipping the GII Shuvee S. Sunday with Secret Oath (Arrogate).

After she turned in an uncharacteristic dull performance in the June 10 GI Ogden Phipps S., Lukas and the 4-year-old filly's breeder-owners Robert and Stacy Mitchell are using a little-bit-less-is-more approach at Saratoga Race Course.

“She's really, really doing well,” Lukas said Wednesday morning, “but we have made a decision to run here only once. We're trying to space her program so it leads to the Breeders' Cup. What we've got mapped out is the [Aug. 25 GI] Personal Ensign and then the [GI] Spinster at Keeneland. [The Mitchells] live in Louisville, so the Spinster is like the Kentucky Derby to them, and then the Breeders' Cup. That's the program that they have asked me to follow and that's not bad.”

Lukas, who will turn 88 on Sept. 2, brought 19 horses–10 of them 2-year-olds–to Saratoga this summer. Typically, he has been active at the entry box. Through the first four days of the meet, he has three seconds from five starters.

It's a very safe bet that by the time Secret Oath goes into the gate for the Personal Ensign, the other 18 horses in the stable will have made at least one start. Lukas said that Saratoga is the ideal spot for Secret Oath to get ready for the Personal Ensign, where she is likely to re-engage with standouts Clairiere (Curlin), Nest (Curlin) and Played Hard (Into Mischief), who are headed to the Shuvee.

“She thrives here because we don't have an opportunity to graze for an hour every afternoon like we do here,” he said. “We've got a chance to get her out every afternoon.”

Last year, Secret Oath won the GI Kentucky Oaks and finished fourth in the GI Preakness S. At Saratoga, Nest avenged her loss in the Kentucky Oaks and trounced Secret Oath in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks and the GI Alabama S. Secret Oath was third in the GI Cotillion S. and fifth in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff.

Beginning this season at Oaklawn Park, Secret Oath beat Clairiere by 2 3/4 lengths in the GII Azeri S. and was beaten a neck by that foe in the GI Apple Blossom. On Oaks Day, May 5 at Churchill Downs, Secret Oath and Tyler Gaffalione were second by a neck to Played Hard. In the Phipps on June 10 at Belmont Park, she never was able to muster her off-the-pace run. It was just the fourth off-the-board finish in her 17-race career.

“The other day, I definitely think it was the track, and so does Tyler, that she had a sub-par race,” Lukas said. “He said it was rolling underneath her. Every time he gathered her up, she moved. Every time he asked her to run, he said she didn't get a hold of it. What happens here in the Personal Ensign, who knows?”

Lukas saddled his first starters at Saratoga in 1984, launching a run of 36 consecutive years at the track. He skipped 2020 and 2021 because of Covid-19 and a downturn in the quality of his stable. With Secret Oath as the centerpiece of the stable, he returned last summer and compiled a 7-6-2 record from 31 starts. He picked up his 61st stakes win at Saratoga with Naughty Gal (Into Mischief) in the GIII Adirondack S.

Secret Oath breezed five furlongs in 1:01 Monday over the Oklahoma training track in the midst of her longest break between races this season.

“I think it helps her,” Lukas said. “She's a better horse this year. If you want to know the truth, she can probably take more, but we're not going to test that. We're just going to space it out and come into the Breeders' Cup. We're skipping the Shuvee. It would be pretty easy to drop into the Shuvee, test the waters and see how she handles the track. We're going to just go for broke in the Personal Ensign.”

The Mitchells had planned to sell Secret Oath last fall, though Lukas urged them to keep her in training as a 4-year-old. He said he told them Secret Oath could earn millions more in purses this season and still bring a multi-million price at auction. They did pull her out of the sale and she has earned $576,350 this year.

“Well, if she never did anything more that would be pretty good,” Lukas said, “but she's going to get more. Three more and they're all big [purses].”

Lukas picked up a pair of seconds with his 2-year-olds on opening day–Lady Moscato (Quality Road) in a maiden special weight and Saratoga Secret (Arrogate) in the GIII Schuylerville S. His third second came Sunday with Just Steel (Justify), a $500,000 yearling purchase, making his second career start.

An easy winner in her debut at Ellis Park, Lukas said that BC Stable's Saratoga Secret showed in the Schuylerville that she is a promising filly.

“I thought her race was good,” he said. “She's another Arrogate and she's very immature, even more so than Secret Oath was. She's small and slight. She will benefit from the time. She's going to go in the [Sept. 3 GI] Spinaway.”

Lukas never lacks enthusiasm for his young horses and he is high on this crop.

“I think it's the best bunch we've had since probably the mid-'80s or '90s when we were a lot stronger than most,” he said.

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Thursday Insights: High-Priced Colts Do Battle At Ellis

2nd-ELP, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:14 p.m.
Two high-priced maidens will kick off their careers at Ellis Park Thursday. BC Stables paid $1.35 million for DAILY GRIND (Medaglia d'Oro) at last year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling sale. Trained by D. Wayne Lukas, the bay colt is out of SW Walk Close (Tapit), who also produced his full-brother Anneau d'Or, second-place finisher in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Lambo (Uncle Mo), trained by Steve Asmussen, brought $950,000 from the Heiligbrodts and Jackpot Farm at OBS March after posting a :10 flat move during the under-tack show. He previously brought $360,000 as a KEENOV weanling and RNA'd for $575,000 as a FTSAUG yearling. His unraced dam Sunshiny Day (Bernardini) is out of champion 2-year-old filly & MGISW Storm Song (Summer Squall), who produced Another Storm (Gone West), dam of MG1SW Order Of St George (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). TJCIS PPS

1st-BEL, $90K, Msw, 3yo/up, 7f, 1:05 p.m.
COALVILLE (Into Mischief), a $675,000 KEESEP yearling purchase by William H. Lawrence, Jeff Drown, Don Rachel, Don Alberto Stable and Bridlewood Farm, makes his first start for Chad Brown with Jose Ortiz in the irons. The bay gelding, bred in Kentucky by Don Alberto Corp. and Bridlewood Farm, is out of GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Cathryn Sophia (Street Boss). TJCIS PPS

4th-ELP, $120K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1 1/16mT, 2:13 p.m.
DAI VERNON (Good Magic), a $500,000 KEESEP graduate, debuts for Besilu Stables and Brad Cox. His dam is a half-sister to GSW and late sire Laoban (Uncle Mo). This is also the female family of Canadian champion 2-year-old colt Mr. Hustle (Declaration of War) and MGISW I'm A Chatterbox (Munnings). TJCIS PPS

5th-BEL $90K, Msw, 2yo, 5fT, 3:10 p.m.
Repole Stable purchased NOTED (Cairo Prince) for $200,000 at last year's KEESEP sale. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the gray colt's dam counts GIII Peter Pan S. hero Mark Valeski (Proud Citizen) as a half brother. Also entered are a pair of Wesley Ward-trained firsters–Dark Vintage (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) (320,000gns TATOCT yearling) and Culprit (Justify) ($675,000 KEESEP yearling). The latter, favored at 5-2 on the morning line, has been working bullets on the grass over Saratoga's Oklahoma training track. TJCIS PPS

 

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