geovanni franco | Horse Racing Free Tips

Bullet Drill for Secret Oath

Briland Farm's Secret Oath (Arrogate), preparing to take on the boys in the Apr. 2 GI Arkansas Derby, worked a bullet five furlongs in :59.40 (1/34) Thursday at Oaklawn Park. Clockers caught Secret Oath covering her first eighth of a mile in :12, a quarter-mile in :23.80 and three furlongs in :36 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.40.

“The filly, that's a running machine, man,” said jockey Geovanni Franco, who was aboard for the work. “She was nice. That's a great experience for me. I was the work rider for [D. Wayne] Lukas and I'll do it again if he needs me. She felt good. That's a good feeling, man.”

Franco was deputizing for Secret Oath's regular rider Luis Contreras, who was out of town.

“Luis went home for a couple of days to be with his family and I know he'll be sick that I worked her without him,” Lukas said. “But having said that, the day came up and I thought he was going to be back, but he doesn't get in until 10 o'clock this morning. Geovanni did a beautiful job. He did a good job. He filled in nicely. I told Franco, I said, 'Luis owes you one now.'”

The five-furlong drill marked the second work for Secret Oath since her 7 1/2-length victory in the Feb. 26 GIII Honeybee S.

“We let her finish a little bit,” Lukas said. “I think she went the last quarter in :23 and change, so you know we saw her skip through there. But she did it the right way. It was a really solid work. These are ways of measuring where you're at and it's a measuring stick, these works. We're not concerned at this point on conditioning. We're trying to find out how sharp we've got her and everything showed up that way. So, now we just have to keep her happy.”

Franco was also aboard Call Me Jamal (Malibu Moon), who worked five furlongs in 1:00.00 (7/34) Thursday and is under consideration for the Arkansas Derby.

“I think he keeps improving and today I felt like he worked good,” said Franco, aboard for both of the gelding's victories at the meeting. “Hopefully, he keeps improving and keeps on getting his heart bigger.”

Trained by Mike Puhich, Call Me Jamal was a maiden winner over the Oaklawn oval last December and, after finishing eighth in the Jan. 29 GIII Southwest S., won a 1 1/16-mile optional claimer Feb. 26.

Moments after the work, Puhich said that Call Me Jamal remains under consideration for the Arkansas Derby and the Apr. 9 GI Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland.

“I'm leaving the door open both ways, but I'm probably leaning more towards here,” Puhich said. “The Blue Grass is going to come up just as tough. I think Lukas's filly is the best 3-year-old I've seen run all year, in my opinion, from a fan's standpoint.”

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Maiden Winner Call Me Jamal Bringing Veteran Trainer Puhich To Southwest Stakes

Recent Oaklawn maiden special weights graduate Call Me Jamal is pointing for Oaklawn's $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles Jan. 29, the gelding's trainer Mike Puhich said Friday morning.

Owned by prominent Pacific Northwest heart surgeon Mark Dedomenico, Call Me Jamal was a front-running winner Dec. 18 under Geovanni Franco. In the 1 1/16-mile race, Call Me Jamal surrendered the lead in deep stretch before battling back to win by a head. It was his third career start and first around two turns.

“If he's as good in two weeks as he is today, he's definitely going,” Puhich said, referring to the Southwest. “He's ready.”

A chestnut son of the late Malibu Moon, Call Me Jamal is named after Seattle Seahawks All-Pro safety Jamal Adams.

The Southwest is Oaklawn's second of four Kentucky Derby points races. The series began with the $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 1.

Other locally based horses pointing for the Southwest include Dash Attack for trainer Kenny McPeek, Barber Road (John Ortiz), Ben Diesel (Dallas Stewart) and Osbourne (Ron Moquett).

Dash Attack, Barber Road and Ben Diesel finished 1-2-7, respectively, in the 1-mile Southwest. Osbourne finished second in the $400,000 Springboard Mile Stakes Dec. 17 at Remington Park in his last start.

All four horses recorded workouts over a fast track Friday morning. Dash Attack (:49.80), Ben Diesel (:49) and Osbourne (:49.20) went a half-mile. Barber Road (1:03.60) went 5 furlongs.

Smarty Jones third-place finisher Ignitis is under consideration for the Southwest, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said.

Like the Smarty Jones, the Southwest will offer 17 points to the top four finishes (10-4-2-1) toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby. Post positions for the Southwest will be drawn Jan. 24.

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Hall Of Famer Gary Stevens Back At Oaklawn As Jockey’s Agent

In addition to Calvin Borel, there's now another Hall of Fame jockey roaming Oaklawn's barn area.

Gary Stevens, who permanently retired from riding in 2018, returned to Hot Springs Dec. 1 to begin laying the groundwork for the 2021-2022 Oaklawn meeting as the agent for Southern California-based jockeys Geovanni Franco and Tiago Pereira.

Stevens, 58, said he represented Corey Nakatani “during one of my retirements” and most recently had the book of Hot Springs native Drayden Van Dyke.

“So, not new at it,” Stevens said.

Stevens rode 46 career winners at Oaklawn, the first coming in the $500,000 Arkansas Derby (G1) in 1985 aboard Tank's Prospect for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Stevens' last major Oaklawn victory came in the $400,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) in 2018 aboard Sassy Sienna for trainer Brad Cox. Stevens retired for a third and final time later in 2018 because of a neck injury. He represented Van Dyke earlier this year and continued to work as a racing analyst for Fox Sports and the New York Racing Association.

Now, he'll be wearing two hats (agent and analyst) the next few months in Hot Springs.

“Tiago and I had been thinking about getting together for a long time,” Stevens said Dec. 3, opening day of Oaklawn's meet. “He was wanting to make a change, get out of California. I got a phone call from here at Oaklawn that they were running kind of short of riders, that some of the guys who normally rode here decided to stay in Kentucky. Geovanni, I know he had some real good success here in 2017, won some stakes and rode for the right people. Geovanni was wanting to make a new start. Just a good opportunity to come out here with two guys that can really ride and are hard workers.”

Franco, who missed opening weekend to ride in Puerto Rico, is named on five horses Friday, Day 4 of Oaklawn's scheduled 66-day live meeting that ends May 8. Stevens said Pereira is taking care of “some personal stuff” in his native Brazil and will arrive in Hot Springs Dec. 26. He will begin accepting mounts Dec. 31, Stevens said.

Franco rode regularly in 2016 and 2017 at Oaklawn, amassing 61 victories, including four stakes, and $2,573,621 in purse earnings. He rode 16 winners in his 2016 debut and 45 in 2017 to tie for third in the standings.

Franco capped his 2017 meeting by guiding Inside Straight ($41.40) to an upset victory in the $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses for trainer Robertino Diodoro. Franco won three other stakes races in 2017 at Oaklawn – $125,000 King Cotton for older sprinters aboard Storm Advisory for Diodoro, $125,000 Gazebo aboard for 3-year-old sprinters aboard Rockshaw for trainer Ron Moquett of Hot Springs and the $150,000 Purple Martin for 3-year-old female sprinters aboard Golden Mischief for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

A native of Mexico, Franco relocated to Southern California shortly after the 2017 Oaklawn meeting ended. He won the $400,000 Beholder Mile Stakes (G1) for fillies and mares aboard Secret Spice for trainer Richard Baltas in 2019 at Santa Anita and finished second aboard Lieutenant Dan for trainer Steve Miyadi in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) Nov. 6 at Del Mar.

Pereira won the $10 million Dubai World Cup (G1) in 2010 aboard Gloria de Campeao. He also won the $1 million Pacific Classic (G1) Aug. 21 at Del Mar aboard Tripoli for trainer John Sadler.

Stevens and the still-active Borel were members of the 2018 Oaklawn riding colony. Stevens rode 26 winners to finish sixth in the standings. Stevens said he's tentatively scheduled to work for Fox throughout the expanded 2021-2022 Oaklawn meeting, adding Franco and Pereira also plan to stay until the end.

“We'll be here until they chase us out,” Stevens said.

Stevens won more than 5,000 races in his career, including nine Triple Crown events. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1997 and won an Eclipse Award in 1998 as the country's most outstanding jockey. Injuries led to his three retirements.

Stevens' son, T.C. was an exercise rider for Diodoro at the 2020 Oaklawn meeting.

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McAnally Trainee Disqualified Over CBD Positive; Separate Hearing To Determine Sanctions

Roses and Candy, winner of the third race at Del Mar on Nov. 22, 2020, has been disqualified by the California Horse Racing Board after testing positive for a metabolite of the Class 1 drug 7-Carboxy-Cannabidiol, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News. A separate hearing will be held to determine whether any sanctions will be handed down to the mare's trainer, Hall of Famer Ron McAnally.

Better known as CBD – and marketed widely for a variety of health benefits to humans – Cannabidiol is found in a number of equine products, including tincture oil, pellets, liniment spray and poultices. While it is believed to work as an anti-inflammatory there is limited research on the possible benefits of CBD in horses and its use remains controversial. Because it is not included in the CHRB's classification list of drugs, it becomes a Class 1/Penalty Class A by default, according to CHRB spokesman Mike Marten.

The TDN reports that under CHRB rules, first-time violations of penalty class A can lead to a minimum one-year suspension or maximum three-year suspension, with a maximum fine of $25,000, absent mitigating circumstances.

The Association of Racing Commissioners International lists Cannabidiol as a Class 2/Penalty Category B substance, and the CHRB began the process of changing CBD's classification in early 2021. On Jan. 21, the CHRB pushed back the proposed rule change to make Cannabidiol a Class 3/Penalty Category B drug to the February meeting, at which point it went out for public comment.

The complaint was not made public until May 17, 2021.

CBD is now listed as a Class 3/Penalty Category B drug, for which first-time violations can result in a fine of no more than $10,000 and a minimum 30-day suspension, absent mitigating circumstances.

According to a report in Daily Racing Form, jockey Geovanni Franco, who rode Roses and Candy to victory Nov. 22, admitted to McAnally assistant Dan Landers that he used a product containing CBD the day of the race. Roses and Candy won the day's third race. Geovanni rode another winner on the same card three hours later that did not test positive.

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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