optionality | Horse Racing Free Tips

Secret Oath Looks Imposing in Honeybee

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas won the first four runnings of the GIII Honeybee S. starting way back in 1988, and after picking up another trophy in 2007, sits tied with fellow Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen at a record five wins in Oaklawn's penultimate GI Kentucky Oaks prep. Lukas looks well positioned to break that tie with Asmussen as he sends out expected heavy favorite Secret Oath (Arrogate) in Saturday's renewal.

Briland Farm homebred Secret Oath was a second-out romper around two turns at Churchill on Halloween before finishing a distant fifth in that venue's GII Golden Rod S. Nov. 27. She took a dramatic step forward when airing by 8 1/4 lengths in a local allowance on New Year's Eve–good for a 93 Beyer Speed Figure–and justified 1-2 odds when dominating the track-and-trip Martha Washington S. Jan. 29.

Asmussen trainee Optionality (Gun Runner), previously an easy winner of stakes at Zia Park and Remington, was 7 1/2 lengths behind Secret Oath while completing the Martha Washington exacta after setting the pace. Asmussen makes a rider switch from Ricardo Santana, Jr. to Tyler Gaffalione this time.

Yuugiri (Shackleford), piloted by Gaffalione in all three starts last season, will be ridden this time by Hall of Famer John Velazquez and seems the main danger on paper to Secret Oath. A 7 1/4-length debut romper sprinting at Churchill in September, she was a well-beaten second in the Oct. 31 Rags to Riches S. and then turned the tables on that race's winner when second in the Golden Rod. While Secret Oath has certainly flattered the form of the Golden Rod, no others have, including the winner, who was sixth in last weekend's GII Rachel Alexandra S.

The post Secret Oath Looks Imposing in Honeybee appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

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.

The post Oaks Prep: Optionality Faces Secret Oath In Martha Washington appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Optionality Gets Third Consecutive Win In Trapeze Stakes At Remington

Optionality has turned into a machine, winning her third race in a row, all by more than six lengths. Her win Friday night was trainer Steve Asmussen's second in the last three years in the $101,100 Trapeze Stakes for 2-year-old fillies going one mile at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Asmussen also won this race in 2019 with Princesinha Julia. It was the first win in the Trapeze for jockey Jose Ortiz and owner Winchell Thoroughbreds (Ron Winchell) of Las Vegas.

On Friday night, Optionality got home a city block in front of everyone. She cruised to the lead just past the half-mile marker in the race and the rest of the field never heard from her again as she drew off to an impressive 8-1/4 lengths victory.

This daughter of the prolific sire Gun Runner, out of the Pulpit mare Simplify, broke her maiden at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville, Ind., two races back on Oct. 26, a victor by 6-3/4 lengths. Her subsequent start was on Oct. 26 at Zia Park in New Mexico in stakes company. She won the $50,000 Zia Princess Stakes also by daylight, checking in 6-1/2 lengths in front.

“She's a very versatile filly,” said the country's all-time winningest trainer Steve Asmussen. “I'm so proud to have another Gun Runner that can do this. She's won at three tracks, at two distances with three different jockeys. This was a good effort at one mile.”

Ortiz was equally impressed. His brother, Irad Ortiz, No. 2 in the nation in earnings in 2021, was in the saddle for the Zia win.

“She broke good,” Jose Ortiz said, “and Steve really had her ready. She started looking around at the end with it being nighttime and the lights and the shadow at the wire, but she got the job done.”

Optionality was the second betting favorite in the race at 2-1 odds and paid $6.20 to win, $3.20 to place, and $2.80 to show. Golden Sights, a distant runner-up, was the 6-5 favorite, three-quarters of a length ahead of Hits Pricey Legacy (4-1) in third. Running time for the mile was 1:41.10 over the fast track, a tad faster (.13) than the Springboard Mile a race later. Interior fractions for the race were :23.91 for the first quarter-mile, :48.49 for the half-mile, 1:13.87 for three-quarters of a mile and 1:27.13 for seven eighths.

The remaining order of finish in the Trapeze was Ring Me Darling (4th), Rollin Chrome (5th), Morning Twilight (6th), Diamonds N Aces (7th), Lilly's Bidness (8th), and Brodie Baby (9th).

It took Optionality four tries to win for the first time, but she hasn't lost since. Her record improved to six starts, three wins, one second, and two thirds for $124,000 earned. She won $60,000 for the trip to the winner's circle in the Trapeze. She is a Kentucky home-bred for the Winchells.

The post Optionality Gets Third Consecutive Win In Trapeze Stakes At Remington appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Park On The Nile, Golden Sights Lead Field For Friday’s Trapeze At Remington

Trainer Ken McPeek has stamped his ticket in the Triple Crown races, winning the Preakness in 2020 with the filly, Swiss Skydiver, beating the boys.

McPeek, who regularly races at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.; Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.; Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.; and Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., now ships Park On the Nile, one of his promising fillies, into Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla., for the $100,000 Trapeze Stakes, at one mile, on the season's closing night, Friday, Dec. 17. McPeek will be trying to win this race for the second year in a row and third time overall. He won last year with Oliviaofthedesert. He also won the Trapeze with Perfect Wife in 2016.

Park On the Nile, a 2-year-old daughter of Cairo Prince, out of the Majesticperfection mare Park in Back, has been made the lukewarm 3-1 morning-line favorite in the Trapeze after breaking her maiden at Churchill Downs by 7 1/4 lengths on Nov. 27, in a race at 1 1/16 miles.

Park On the Nile had been working forwardly for her career debut, putting up a 1:00.80 breezing at Churchill before shocking her competition with a daylight victory at 21-1 odds. Jockey Corey Lanerie was up for that victory, but it is Julien Leparoux who has been named for the mount in the Trapeze. Leparoux is a multiple graded stakes-winning rider whose horses have earned just shy of $180 million in his career. He rode Tepin to victory in the 2015 Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile on the turf. He also rode Classic Empire to the win in the 2016 G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. In all, Leparoux has seven Breeders' Cup wins.

McPeek's claim to fame came in the early 2000s when he won the Belmont Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown in 2002 with Sarava, the longest shot ever to win the Test of a Champion. He went off at 70-1 odds with Medaglia d'Oro at 16-1 in second. That $2 exacta was worth $2,454.

Park On the Nile's sire, Cairo Prince, currently sits seventh among top sires for 2-year-olds. Cairo Prince was precocious early as a racehorse, winning his first two starts, and Park on the Nile will try to emulate that effort. Cairo Prince won the G2 Nashua Stakes in his second start. Park on the Nile will try to add the black type to her resume if she can repeat her father's effort.

Park On the Nile was purchased in the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase Sale of 2020 for $110,000 by current owners Bret Jones and Cold Press Racing. She was bred in Kentucky by Brereton Jones and had earned $69,460 in her only race.

The second choice in the Trapeze morning line odds is Golden Sights out of the barn of the country's leading trainer, Brad Cox. This 2-year-old daughter of Goldencents, out of the Eskendereya mare Celestial Sighting, took four tries to win for the first time, but when she did last time out it was by 5 1/2 lengths over a sloppy track at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. Chris Landeros rode her that day, but Florent Geroux will get a leg up from Cox for the Trapeze. Geroux is seventh in the country among jockeys with his horses pocketing $18,377,044 this year. Geroux has ridden Horse of the Year Gun Runner and multiple G1 winning mare Monomoy Girl.

Golden Sights' record is four starts, one win, two seconds, and $99,880 earned. She was bred in Kentucky by Taylor Made Stallions and is owned by September Farm, Union Park Thoroughbreds, Jonathan Wilmot, Rick Howard, and Black Fern. She was purchased for $100,000 by September Farm at the Ocala (Fla.) Spring Breeders Sale of 2-year-olds in training.

Cox currently sits atop the nation's earnings standings with $30,929,031 in his bankroll this year. Trainer Steve Asmussen, who sits behind Cox nationally with $30,426,747 earned, has two fillies entered in the Trapeze. He has Optionality, a Gun Runner filly, out of the Pulpit mare Simplify as the third choice in the morning line at 5-1 odds. She has won her last two in a row, including her first stakes win in the $50,000 Zia Princess Stakes on Nov. 23 at Zia Park in Hobbs, New Mexico. She drew off to win by 6 1/2 lengths with Irad Ortiz in the irons, the second-leading rider in the country. It will be his brother, Jose Ortiz, however, riding for Asmussen in the Trapeze. Optionality is owned and was bred by Winchell Thoroughbreds (Ron Winchell of Las Vegas).

Asmussen's other filly is Morning Twilight, who has won two and run second in the other. An Oklahoma-bred, she won the $100,000 Oklahoma Classics Lassie Stakes at Remington on Oct. 15, then ran second to another filly in this field, Hits Pricey Legacy, the winner of the $75,000 Slide Show Stakes on Nov. 12. The latter is 8-1 in the morning line and Morning Twilight is 10-1. That Asmussen filly, owned by West Point Thoroughbreds (Terrence Finley), Edwin Barker, and Titletown Racing (Paul Farr of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) was a $310,000 buy for West Point at the same Ocala sale from which Golden Sights came.

[Story Continues Below]

Here's a look at the Trapeze filed from the rail out with post position, horse, jockey, trainer, and odds:

Lilly's Bidness, Lane Luzzi, Ronnie Cravens III, 30-1
Brodie Baby, Leandro Goncalves, Ray Ashford, Jr., 15-1
Point Two, Ken Tohill, Don Von Hemel, 12-1
Rollin Chrome, Luis Quinonez, Alejandro Baldillez, Jr., 20-1
Ring Me Darling, Iram Diego, Genaro Garcia, 10-1
Park On the Nile, Julien Leparoux, Ken McPeek, 3-1
Hits Pricey Legacy, Jose Alvarez, C.R. Trout, 8-1
Holy Justice, Carlos Montalvo, Genaro Garcia, 12-1
Golden Sights, Florent Geroux, Brad Cox, 7-2
Morning Twilight, Stewart Elliott, Steve Asmussen, 10-1
Diamonds N Aces, Weston Hamilton, Michael Whitelaw, 20-1
Optionality, Jose Ortiz, Steve Asmussen, 5-1

There are four other stakes races on Dec. 17, including the cornerstone 2-year-old race of the meeting, the $400,000 Springboard Mile which includes Kentucky Derby points toward the 2022 run for the roses:

Race 8, $70,000 Jim Thorpe Stakes, 3 year olds, 1 mile (Oklahoma-breds)

Race 9, $70,000 Useeit Stakes, 3 year old fillies, 1 mile (Oklahoma-breds)

Race 10, $100,000 She's All In Stakes, fillies and mares, 3 and older, 1 mile-70 yards

Race 12, $400,000 Springboard Mile, 2 year olds, 1 mile

The total closing day card will have 13 races, beginning at 5 pm and ending around 11 pm. All times are Central.

The post Park On The Nile, Golden Sights Lead Field For Friday’s Trapeze At Remington appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post