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FOY Contenders Breeze in South Florida

The South Florida worktab was dotted with several horses tuning up Saturday morning for a possible start in the GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park Mar. 5.

WinStar Farm and Siena Farm LLC's 'TDN Rising Star' Emmanuel (More Than Ready) will be in search of a third win in as many starts in the Fountain of Youth and tuned up for the 8 1/2-furlong test with a bullet half-mile in :48.05 (1/32) Saturday morning at trainer Todd Pletcher's base at Palm Beach Downs.

He worked great, I was very pleased with it,” said the conditioner, who also breezed GII Remsen S. hero Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo, 4f, :49.37) and GII Iroquois S. hero Major General (Constitution, 5f, 1:02.29). Both are under consideration for the Fountain of Youth.

“I don't know for sure. I have to talk to Jerry Crawford about Mo Donegal tomorrow,” Pletcher said. “I talked to [WinStar's] Elliott [Walden] a little bit this morning. One of my concerns is that it looks like it's going to be a big field. You might enter and draw a bad post. We might take a look at entering both Mo Donegal and Major General. All things being equal, Major General will probably go to the [Mar. 12 GII] Tampa Bay Derby.”

Rattle N Roll (Connect), winner of last year's GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity, prepped for his seasonal debut in the Fountain of Youth by drilling five-eighths of a mile in :58.67 Saturday morning over the Gulfstream Park main track.

“It went really well. The horse worked super,” trainer Ken McPeek said. “He worked fantastic and came out of it good. We're going to do a little gate work Wednesday, and he's all set.”

Howling Time (Not This Time), unraced since his fifth-place effort to Smile Happy (Runhappy) in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. in late November, went five furlongs in :58.54, while his Dale Romans stablemate Giant Game (Giant's Causeway) covered a similar distance in :59.04.

Simplification (Not This Time), an excellent second in the GIII Holy Bull S., went five furlongs in 1:02.66 at Gulfstream Park for trainer Antonio Sano.

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Report: UAE Oaks Winner Shahama To Join Pletcher Barn

'TDN Rising Star' Shahama (Munnings), who ran her career record to a perfect four-for-four with an easy two-length victory in the G3 UAE Oaks at Meydan Feb. 18, is reportedly set to give the Mar. 26 G2 UAE Derby a miss and will instead be shipped to trainer Todd Pletcher to prepare for a start in the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks May 6. The news was reported in a tweet from Dubai Racing Channel's Michael Adolphson.

A $425,000 purchase out of the 2021 OBS April Sale, the bald-faced chestnut, bred by SF Bloodstock, debuted with a nine-length victory in a seven-furlong event at Meydan Dec. 9 and was accorded 'Rising Star' status off a visually impressive 2 1/2-length score in a Jan. 1 allowance. Victorious in the Listed UAE 1000 Guineas Jan. 28, she met with some adversity in the 9 1/2-furlong UAE Oaks, but managed to overcome a poor start and a bit of a wide trip to remain undefeated.

Owned by KHK Racing and trained in Dubai by Fawzi Nass, Shahama is a half-sister to two-time Eclipse Award winner Lookin At Lucky (Smart Strike) and to two-time graded-stakes winner Kensei (Mr. Greeley). Connections paid the $200 nomination fee to make Shahama eligible for the Oaks at its first closing stage Feb. 19.

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California to Honor Either Suspension or Stay of KY Baffert Ruling

As had been anticipated, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) will honor the 90-day suspension meted down to trainer Bob Baffert by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) if the trainer's legal efforts to block the suspension aren't successful in the interim, confirmed a CHRB spokesperson Saturday morning.

Likewise, the CHRB will reciprocate any stay on the KHRC's ruling “if granted by a court,” the spokesperson confirmed in an email.

Earlier this month, the KHRC handed Baffert a 90-day suspension and a $7,500 fine after Medina Spirit (Protonico) tested positive for an elevated amount of betamethasone, a Class C anti-inflammatory corticosteroid, after last year's GI Kentucky Derby.

If enforced, the suspension will run March 8 through June 5.

On Friday, the KHRC denied Baffert's request for a stay on the suspension. In the immediate aftermath of that decision, Baffert's legal team stated that they would seek legal intervention in court.

“Denial of the stay is consistent with arbitrary and capricious manner in which the stewards have ignored the facts and law in this manner,” said Baffert attorney, Clark Brewster. “Fortunately, we will soon procedurally eclipse the biased actors and have the ear of adjudicators that adhere to the rule of law instead of man.”

The basis of the CHRB's actions is rule 1484, pertaining to “Evidence of Unfitness for License.”

The rule 1484 states: “If any applicant for a license or any licensee is under suspension, set down, ruled off, excluded from the inclosure, or otherwise barred from any racing occupation or activity requiring a license, it is prima facie evidence that he or she is unfit to be granted a license or unfit to hold a license or participate in racing in this State as a licensee during the term of any suspension or exclusion from racing imposed by any competent racing jurisdiction.”

When it comes to what will happen to the horses in Baffert's care for the duration of the 90-day suspension, the KHRC ruling states that, “Entry of all horses owned or trained by Mr. Baffert is denied pending transfer to persons acceptable to the stewards.”

The TDN emailed and texted Marc Guilfoil, the executive director of the KHRC, for clarification on who the Kentucky stewards deem acceptable, and whether that includes Baffert's assistants, but hasn't yet received a response.

The relevant rules in Kentucky appear unclear on the specifics of the horse transfer process in this particular scenario.

The TDN also asked the CHRB for clarification on what would happen to the horses in Baffert's care in California if the stay is denied in court. “We are currently working through the legal analysis with respect to whether reciprocation requires enforcement of the terms of suspension under California rules or Kentucky rules,” the CHRB spokesperson wrote, in response.

The CHRB's spokesperson did, however, highlight language in the CHRB's rules guiding disciplinary actions in cases where licenses are revoked through medication violations.

The CHRB prohibits a trainer whose license is revoked because of a medication violation from being able to benefit financially through the period of their suspension.

“This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring that horses are not transferred to licensed family members or to any other licensee who has been an employee of the licensee whose license is revoked within the previous year,” the rules state.

Furthermore, trainers suspended 60 days or more are banned from all CHRB premises, for example, and must forfeit their stalls and remove from their barn areas all “signage, colors, advertisements, training-related equipment, tack, office equipment, and any other property.”

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Secret Oath Stings Rivals in Honeybee

Briland Farm homebred Secret Oath (Arrogate) laid down yet another marker on her march toward the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks, streaking clear of her foes for a fluent 7 1/2-length romp in Saturday's GIII Honeybee S. at Oaklawn Park.

Prohibitively favored, with GII Golden Rod S. runner-up Yuugiri (Shackleford) the only other one the bettors wanted, Secret Oath had to be re-balanced after breaking a bit inward at the start and was a joint-last into the clubhouse turn as Optionality (Gun Runner) and Yuugiri matched motors up front. A fraction keen and racing with her mouth open as they reached the backstretch, the chalk settled better approaching the three-eighths pole, but was hemmed in for several strides as Ice Orchid (Super Saver)rolled up three wide to enter the fray. With Optionality beginning to retreat at the fence, Luis Contreras grabbed hold of Secret Oath, guided her around her weakening foe, shot through an opening at the inside left by Yuugiri and widened under a left-handed stick to crush.

“I got a great break and good position,” Contreras reported. “I just sat right behind and at [the three-eighths pole], she tried to pull me again. I just waited and waited. My thinking was to go outside, but I had another horse right there, so I stayed a little longer. When I saw the rail open and asked her to go, she made a tremendous move.”

For his part, Lukas was not ruling out swinging for the fences over the coming weeks.

“She's nominated here [GI Arkansas Derby] and the [GI] Kentucky Derby,” he said. “You know what's really good here? The thing that I'm most happy about is that [Oaklawn] has changed [the date of the Arkansas Derby] from [three] weeks in front of the Kentucky Derby to five. Boy, if you're training a good filly, that's another little caveat that I like. I like it if I have a colt. I like that five-week break. But if you have a filly, you'd have to say, 'Wow!' You're going to get a little extra time.”

A 5 1/2-length maiden winner at second asking while trying two turns for the first time at Churchill on Halloween, Secret Oath was only fifth in the Nov. 27 Golden Rod, but atoned in no uncertain terms with an 8 1/4-length allowance romp going the short-stretch mile at this venue Dec. 31. Sent off at 1-2 in the Jan. 29 Martha Washington S., she had better than seven lengths on Optionality on the wire and was similarly dominant Saturday.

Pedigree Notes:

The first graded winner for the late Arrogate, Secret Oath is one of three winners from four to the races for her dam–also trained by Hall of Famer Wayne Lukas–to a half-dozen victories from 35 career starts. Five of Absinthe Minded's career tallies came over this track, including the 2011 and 2012 runnings of the Bayakoa S., the 2012 Pippin S. and top-three finishes in the GI Apple Blossom H. Secret Oath has an unnamed 2-year-old half-sister by Medaglia d'Oro and Absinthe Minded is expecting a foal by Unbridled's Song's son Liam's Map this season.

Saturday, Oaklawn
HONEYBEE S.-GIII, $300,000, Oaklawn, 2-26, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:44.74, ft.
1–SECRET OATH, 122, f, 3, by Arrogate
1st Dam: Absinthe Minded (MSW & MGISP, $607,747), by Quiet American
2nd Dam: Rockford Peach, by Great Above
3rd Dam: Strawberry Skyline, by Hatchet Man
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Briland Farm and Robert &
Stacy Mitchell (KY); T-D. Wayne Lukas; J-Luis Contreras.
$180,000. Lifetime Record: 6-4-0-1, $465,167. Werk Nick
Rating: D. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Ice Orchid, 117, f, 3, Super Saver–Singlet, by Real Quiet.
1ST BLACK-TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK-TYPE. O/B-Shortleaf
Stable (KY); T-John Alexander Ortiz. $60,000.
3–Yuugiri, 117, f, 3, Shackleford–Yuzuru, by Medaglia d'Oro.
O/B-Sekie & Tsunebumi Yoshihara (KY); T-Rodolphe Brisset.
$30,000.
Margins: 7HF, 1 3/4, 7HF. Odds: 0.30, 13.90, 3.60.
Also Ran: Free Like a Girl, Red Queen, Optionality. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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