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Oaks Prep: Optionality Faces Secret Oath In Martha Washington

If the linemaker is correct, it will be a Hall of Fame exacta in the $200,000 Martha Washington Stakes for 3-year-old fillies Saturday at Oaklawn.

Multiple stakes winner Optionality is the 9-5 program favorite for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Secret Oath is the early 2-1 second choice for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

Probable post time for the Martha Washington, which goes as the fourth of 11 races, is 1:32 p.m. (Central). First post Saturday is 12:02 p.m.

The 1 1/16-mile Martha Washington is Oaklawn's first of three Kentucky Oaks points races and will offer 17 to the top four finishers (10-4-2-1) toward starting eligibility for the country's biggest event for 3-year-old fillies.

While Optionality will be making her Oaklawn debut Saturday, Secret Oath may be the most impressive winner to date during the 2021-2022 meeting that began Dec. 3. Combining style and substance, Secret Oath demolished an allowance field by 8 ¼ lengths Dec. 31 under Luis Contreras to earn a Beyer Speed Figure of 93, among the highest in the country for a 2-year-old in 2021. The 1-mile race also marked the most lopsided victory in Oaklawn's brief history of running routes for 2-year-olds.

Paired for the first time with Contreras, Secret Oath raced well off the early pace and waited briefly in traffic reeling in the leaders on the second turn. Secret Oath moved three-wide turning for home and drew off in the final furlong to become the first female Oaklawn winner sired by the late champion Arrogate.

“If we can get that repeat performance, we'll be in pretty good shape,” Lukas said. “That was impressive. It was absolutely textbook. If I'd drawn it up on paper and got the other seven or eight or nine that were in there to cooperate, that's the way I would like it. I'd like to have her inside like that, catching dirt in her face and then angling out and opening up on them like that. That was textbook.”

A homebred for Briland Farm (Robert and Stacy Mitchell), Secret Oath returned with a half-mile bullet workout (:46.80) Jan. 11 in advance of her 3-year-old debut.

Lukas and Briland teamed to win three Oaklawn stakes ($100,000 Bayakoa in 2011 and 2012 and $75,000 Pippin in 2012) with Absinthe Minded, who is Secret Oath's dam.

Secret Oath's task now, Lukas said, is to record consecutive victories for the first time in her brief career. Secret Oath was coming off a fifth-place finish in the $400,000 Golden Rod Stakes (G2) at 1 1/16 miles Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs. After finishing third in her career debut, Secret Oath broke her maiden by 5 ¼ lengths at 1 1/16 miles Oct. 31 at Churchill Downs.

“Some days these fillies are like your wife,” Lukas said. “They're a little temperamental and you can't always depend on them giving the same performance every day, so we'll look past that one, though, and look for a little improvement. I think she'll be one of the choices.”

Lukas is seeking his record-tying third Martha Washington victory, having won the race in 2010 with Decelerator and 2015 with champion Take Charge Brandi.

Asmussen also is seeking his third Martha Washington victory after winning the first division in 2008 (Sky Mom) and 2013 (Sister Ginger).

The rapidly improving Optionality, a homebred daughter of 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner for Winchell Thoroughbreds (Ron and Joan Winchell), has won her last three starts by a combined 21 ½ lengths.

Optionality won the $50,000 Zia Park Princess Stakes by 6 ½ lengths Nov. 23 at Zia Park and closed 2021 by winning the $100,000 Trapeze Stakes by 8 ¼ lengths Dec. 17 at Remington Park in her two-turn debut.

“She hasn't done anything wrong,” said David Fiske, the Winchells' longtime farm and racing manager. “Her speed figures keep increasing every time she goes out. We thought maybe she was just a sprinter, but going around two turns at Remington didn't seem to bother her that much. Won by a big margin, so we thought she deserved her chance to kind of step up on the big stage.”

The projected six-horse Martha Washington field from the rail out: Hypersport, Tiago Pereira to ride, 115 pounds; 8-1 on the morning line; Princess Pauline, Francisco Arrieta, 115, 8-1; Como Square, John Velazquez, 122, 5-2; Optionality, Ricardo Santana Jr., 122, 9-5; Cupid's Music, Luis Quinonez, 115, 20-1; and Secret Oath, Luis Contreras, 122, 2-1.

All six entrants will remove Lasix, owing to a ban on the anti-bleeder medication in Kentucky Oaks points races.

Unbeaten Como Square (2 for 2) will be making her seasonal, stakes and two-turn debut for trainer Brad Cox and breeder/owner John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs. Como Square was a 4 ¾-length winner of her Nov. 11 career debut at Indiana Grand and came from well off the pace to clear her first allowance condition Dec. 19 at Oaklawn, while her more highly regarded stablemate, Marr Time, a half-sister, to, among others, champion Beholder and super sire Into Mischief, finished last after becoming fractious in the gate.

“She got a good setup that day,” Cox said. “She's been a little surprising, I'll admit it. She's been a little surprising that she's 2 for 2, but you can't take anything away from her heart and determination. She's a very tough filly.”

Cox and Anthony teamed to win the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes and run second in the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) last year at Oaklawn with Como Square's half-brother, Caddo River. Como Square is by Into Mischief.

The speedy Hypersport figures to set the pace from the rail for trainer Ingrid Mason. Hypersport was a sharp opening-day maiden winner sprinting before finishing a leg-weary fourth, beaten 12 ¾ lengths by Secret Oath, in her two-turn debut New Year's Eve. Cupid's Music ran ninth in the Dec. 31 allowance race for breeder/owner/trainer Danele Durham. Supplemental nominee Princess Pauline is a four-race maiden for Asmussen.

The Martha Washington, which was inaugurated in 1979, is being run for the first time at 1 1/16 miles after previously being a mile.

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Baffert Saddles Southwest Favorite

Bob Baffert has a chance to sweep Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby preps as he saddles three of the five runners in Santa Anita's GII San Vicente and the morning-line favorite in Oaklawn's GIII Southwest S. in Newgrange (Violence). A debut winner at Del Mar Nov. 28, the dark bay wired Santa Anita's GIII Sham S. next out Jan. 1, earning a field's-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure.

Smarty Jones S. top three Dash Attack (Munnings), Barber Road (Race Day) and Ignitis (Nyquist) rematch here. Opening his account with a 1 1/4-length score here Dec. 5, Dash Attack rallied from well back to take a sloppy renewal of the Jan. 1 Smarty Jones by two lengths.

Barber Road graduated at second asking when dropped from a maiden special weight to a maiden $30,000 and extended to two turns at Keeneland in October. Romping in a starter allowance at Churchill Nov. 10, the gray was second in the Lively Shively S. beneath the Twin Spires 17 days later and was next seen in the Smarty Jones.

After a quartet of in-the-money efforts, Ignitis earned his diploma at Keeneland Oct. 14, but could only manage sixth in the Lively Shively prior to the Smarty Jones.

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Unbeaten California Shipper Newgrange Takes On Dash Attack In Oaklawn’s Southwest

Trainer Bob Baffert has the 2-1 program favorite in unbeaten Newgrange (2 for 2) for Oaklawn Park's second Kentucky Derby points race, this Saturday's $250,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds. Baffert bids for a record-tying fifth victory in Saturday's Grade 3 Southwest, now worth $750,000.

“Glad to be running at Oaklawn again,” Baffert said in a text message Tuesday night. “I think he's a nice horse. Training well.”

The 1 1/16-mile Southwest will mark the first start outside California for Newgrange, who exits a front-running victory in the $100,000 Sham Stakes (G3) at one mile Jan. 1 at Santa Anita. (Baffert trainees are not eligible for Kentucky Derby points, due to a ban by Churchill Downs.)

Oaklawn conducted its first Kentucky Derby points race New Year's Day, with the Kenny McPeek-trained Dash Attack splashing home to a two-length victory in the $250,000 Smarty Jones at 1 mile.

Six other Smarty Jones starters are entered in the Southwest, which goes as the ninth of 11 races. Racing begins Saturday at 12:02 p.m. (Central), with probable post for the Southwest 4:22 p.m.

The projected 12-horse Southwest field from the rail out:

Ben Diesel, Jon Court to ride, 117 pounds, 10-1 on the morning line;
Dash Attack, David Cohen, 122, 7-2;
Don'tcrossthedevil, Ramon Vazquez, 117, 30-1;
Kavod, Francisco Arrieta, 117, 12-1;
Costa Terra, Tiago Pereira, 117, 12-1;
Osbourne, David Cabrera, 117, 8-1;
Ignitis, Luis Contreras, 117, 10-1;
Barber Road, Ricardo Santana Jr., 117, 5-1;
Classic Moment, Martin Garcia, 117, 12-1;
Newgrange, John Velazquez, 122, 2-1;
Call Me Jamal, Geovanni Franco, 117, 30-1; and
Vivar, Florent Geroux, 119, 12-1.

Dash Attack collected 10 points for his Smarty Jones victory and ranks ninth on the official Kentucky Derby leaderboard released last Sunday by Churchill Downs.

The Kentucky Derby is limited to 20 starters, with starting preference given to horses with the highest point totals earned in designated races like the Smarty Jones and the Southwest, which also offers 17 to the four finishers (10-4-2-1).

Newgrange, like all Baffert horses, is ineligible for Kentucky Derby qualifying points because of a Churchill Downs suspension, stemming from a possible medication violation involving his 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit.

Dash Attack is also two for two, breaking his maiden Dec. 5 at Oaklawn and returning to win the Smarty Jones in his first start against winners. Both of Dash Attack's victories have come at one mile and over an off track.

“It looks like a good next spot for him,” McPeek said. “Baffert's horse coming in from California, obviously, looks like he's got a lot of raw talent. There's some others in there that have run well. Look, it's never easy, but our colt's doing good.”

Also returning from the Smarty Jones are Barber Road, Ignitis, Kavod, Vivar, Ben Diesel and Don'tcrossthedevil, the 2-3-4-5-7-12 finishers, respectively.

Barber Road is seeking his first stakes victory after also finishing second in the $200,000 Lively Shively Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs to conclude his 2-year-old campaign. The speedy Barber Road, who was farther back than expected in the Smarty Jones, switches to eight-time Oaklawn riding champion Ricardo Santana Jr. after regular rider Reylu Gutierrez picked up the mount on Chess Chief for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

“We've competed against them and know where we stand,” said John Ortiz, who trains Barber Road for former Walmart executive William Simon. “I think the horse has improved since (the Smarty Jones), and I think with the added distance he's going to improve more. We'll just let him come out of the gate and put Ricardo in a good spot and just go from there. With a fast track, I expect him to be a little closer and more involved.”

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas produced an upset in the 1992 Southwest with Big Sur, who wired a field that included two future Triple Crown race winners in Lil E. Tee (Kentucky Derby) and Pine Bluff (Preakness). Lukas bids for his second Southwest victory with Ignitis, who was beaten three lengths in the Smarty Jones at odds of 31-1.

“I think he earned the right to run in this next race in the 3-year-old series,” Lukas said. “He finished up. He's still a little bit green. He still hasn't learned exactly all the little things we'd liked to have a 3-year-old learn, but that's true of so many of them at this time of year. We're going to evaluate him. We're going to run him in there and hope for an improved race. He finished really strong the other day, so maybe the mile and a sixteenth will help him a little bit, too.”

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New shooters include Osbourne for trainer Ron Moquett of Hot Springs and Costa Terra for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, a three-time Southwest winner. Osbourne will be making his 3-year-old debut after passing the Smarty Jones in favor of the $400,000 Springboard Mile Stakes Dec. 17 at Remington Park. A gelded son of Asmussen's 2014 Southwest winner Tapiture, Osbourne finished second, beaten a half-length, in the Springboard Mile.

“I like our chances,” said Moquett, who won the 2015 Southwest with Far Right. “I think it's a good shot to see where we're at. There are some nice horses in here, obviously. You hang $750,000 up and there's going to be some people show up wanting it.”

Costa Terra, a homebred son of 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner for Winchell Thoroughbreds (Ron and Joan Winchell), hasn't started since finishing fifth in the $500,000 Breeders' Futurity (G1) Oct. 9 at Keeneland. Costa Terra is a half-brother to Pneumatic, who won his first two career starts at the 2020 Oaklawn meeting for Asmussen and the Winchells before running fourth in the Belmont Stakes later that year.

“He's always shown some talent,” longtime Winchell racing/farm manager David Fiske said of Costa Terra. “I thought he ran well in the Breeders' Futurity, just, obviously, not well enough. He was another guy that was kind of down the depth chart behind some of the other 2-year-olds that we had last year, but he seems to be picking it up since the calendar turned.”

Late-running Vivar adds blinkers for trainer Brad Cox after being beaten only 3 ¼ lengths in the Smarty Jones. Vivar, a homebred for John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs, broke his maiden at a mile on the turf Sept. 5 at Kentucky Downs and was a first-level off-the-turf allowance winner at 1 1/16 miles Oct. 29 at Keeneland.

“Vivar should be better with a little more stretch,” said Cox, who won last year's Southwest with champion Essential Quality.

Call Me Jamal and Classic Moment, another Asmussen trainee, remove Lasix because the anti-bleeder medication is banned from Kentucky Derby points races. Classic Moment adds blinkers following a fourth-place finish in the Springboard Mile. Call Me Jamal broke his maiden Dec. 18 at Oaklawn in his two-turn debut for trainer Mike Puhich.

Normally run in late February, the Southwest will be contested in January for the first time. All of Oaklawn's 2022 Kentucky Derby points races were moved up on the calendar in conjunction with its earliest in history (Dec. 3). The Arkansas Derby, April 2, falls five weeks before the Kentucky Derby. It had been three weeks since 1996.

“It's a little odd,” Moquett said. “But once you get into it, it's just like anything else. You're just looking at the day in front of you. Later, you might think about that stuff. But right now, we're just thinking about how do we get through the next couple of days of training to get into the paddock and the gates and let's go.”

The Southwest was inaugurated in 1968.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Commitment To Learning Paying Off For Upstart Trainer Lindsay Schultz

Connecticut native Lindsay Schultz wasn't exactly sure what her future held when she arrived in Louisville, Ky., as a college student. Enrolled in the Equine Industry Program at the University of Louisville, Schultz knew only that she liked horses. Aside from that, she was willing to be open to where the experience would take her.

On Jan. 8, 2022, just over three months after taking out her training license and just over a decade after her graduation from UofL, Schultz found herself exactly where she wanted to be: the winner's circle at Oaklawn Park.

“It was a pretty neat experience,” said Schultz, who saddled her first winner, an 8-year-old Scat Daddy gelding named Capture the Glory, to victory in a one-mile claiming race at the Arkansas track. “He went to the lead and beat the rest of the horses easily. It was great to see. It's nice when horses show you in the afternoon what they show you in the morning.”

Schultz's road to the training ranks has been an indirect, if educational one that began its realization back in Louisville, when she found herself gravitating towards the study and the business of racing. A lifelong horsewoman who had grown up competing hunter/jumpers and eventers, the breadth of opportunities available to young professionals looking to make a start in the industry appealed to Schultz off the bat.

“When I was at Louisville and we went to the Breeders' Cup that first year, I saw that this was an industry where I could have a career,” Schultz said. “I started prepping yearlings at Lane's End, and then I walked for Nick Zito in Saratoga. After I'd worked for Nick I had already been on the backside and I was more comfortable, so I began working before classes while I was still in school helping out his stable.”

Determined to expand her industry experience after graduation, Schultz took her business degree and her passion for racing to the barn of Tom Proctor. She would work for the Breeders' Cup winner only a handful of months in Saratoga before she was selected for the prestigious Darley Flying Start management training program.

For two years Schultz traveled the world with Darley. But when all roads led back home, Schultz returned to Proctor when he called and offered her a job.

“Tom called me when I was finishing and offered me a job. I came and worked for him as an office manager, foreman, and traveling assistant,” said Schultz. “I got my assistant trainer's license quickly so I got to go with some of the stakes horses and saddle them in their races, so that was fun. After a couple of years I had my own string at Arlington, then I was at Fair Hill Training Center for a couple years. It was about that time that Tom and I started talking about me going out on my own.”

But despite her serious mind to start her own string, the industry had other plans. Glen Hill Farm's Craig Bernick, a client of Proctor's, approached Schultz and asked her to move to Ocala, Fla. to manage his farm.

“That wasn't something I had had on my radar, but it was a relationship that I wanted to keep,” said Schultz. “It was a really good job and opportunity so I went. I was down there for about three years.

“It was a lot of breaking and pre-training as well as managing a 250-acre farm. We also set up the sales consignment while I was there, which was neat. We sold some really nice mares that way. But I wanted to get back to the track.”

Schultz's timing proved to be opportune. In the fall of 2020, trainer Shug McGaughey was looking for a new assistant, and Schultz fit the bill. She would spend almost a year with the Hall of Famer before the opportunity to start training on her own finally came back around.

That opportunity came in the form of Ten Strike Racing founding partner, Marshall Gramm. It was a contact Schultz had made and fostered through her former UofL roommate and good friend, Liz Crow.

In addition to being a partner in both the BSW/Crow Bloodstock and ELiTE Sales—both top-tier operations in the Thoroughbred industry—Crow also serves as the racing manager for Ten Strike Racing.

“When Liz went out on her own, Marshall Gramm was someone who really helped her do that, and Liz had introduced me to him maybe 6 years ago when I was at Fair Hill,” said Schultz. “At the time, Tom Proctor told me, 'If you want to train one or two horses by yourself while you're still working for me, feel free.' And Marshall had a horse he wanted to send to me.

“After leaving Tom I kept in touch with Marshall. He was nice enough to let me know that when I wanted to go out on my own that he had horses he wanted to send to me and that he wanted to help me get my start. That was my push to start.”

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In addition to Ten Strike, who remains Schultz's primary owner, the budding trainer also runs horses for Allen Schubert and Scott Galloway, clients she met by way of her connection to Proctor.

With Oaklawn Park her base for the duration of the meet, Schultz now has eight horses in her barn including Capture the Glory, who races in the Ten Strike Racing colors.

“Capture the Glory was pretty neat, because the trainer I claimed him from, Will Gallagher, has been a friend since I claimed the horse,” said Schultz. “He's been great and he's helped me out at Churchill Downs and he called me after the horse won to congratulate me, which was so nice. The horse is so sound and he loves to train. He's 8-year-old by Scat Daddy, so it's neat to just have one of those in the barn.”

With her barn still in flux and plenty of time left in the year to make decisions, Schultz is happy to call Oaklawn home for the moment. Her forward-looking plans lie ahead with the 2-year-old sales, where she hopes to source new talent and new clients, building her stable and her business with equal conviction.

“Scott, Allen, and I tried in November to buy a couple horses of racing age and got outbid,” said Schultz. “I also tried this past January to get another one as well, but I was also outbid. So I will go to the 2-year-old sales to shop for them. Liz and I did put together a little syndicate to buy a Midnight Storm yearling in September and Liz picked her out so she will be my first official 2-year-old. That is something that's really fun to look forward to.

“I'll have to see where the best opportunities are for racing this summer. I love being in Kentucky, but I've also been on the East Coast as an assistant so I will see how it goes and then decide.”

As the latest leg of her journey builds on its opening success, Schultz credits much of her success to her friends and colleagues, who act as both support structure and cheerleading squad. But she finds her greatest lesson to be the one she brought with her to the equine industry program at UofL; remain open to the experience and to the people who can teach you all the lessons you need to know.

“I didn't grow up in this industry so I really did try to immerse myself in every aspect of this as much as I could,” said Schultz. “I think a lot of it is learning to pay attention to what the people around you are doing, and how the people you respect especially do things. You have to try and learn from everyone that you think is doing a good job. A lot of it is common sense and keeping it simple, but you have to learn from everyone around you, all the time.”

Capture the Glory winning at Oaklawn for trainer Lindsay Schultz

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