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Will’s Secret Headlines Probables For Remington Park Oaks

Will's Secret, a Dallas Stewart-trained filly, headlines a field of likely runners in this year's Grade 3, $200,000 Remington Park Oaks, scheduled as a part of a multi-stakes day that includes the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby.

Also on that Sunday, Sept. 26, the all-time winningest horse in Remington Park history, Welder is expected to go for his 28th career win all-time and his 17th victory in Oklahoma City in the $150,000 David M. Vance Stakes.

Will's Secret, a daughter of Will Take Charge, out of the Giant's Causeway mare Girls Secret, began the year by winning the $200,000 Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., for owner Willis Horton Racing. She followed that with a victory in the Grade 3, $300,000 Honeybee Stakes, also at Oaklawn. She raced in the biggest race of the year for 3-year-old fillies in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs. Will's Secret finished a respectable third behind the top 3-year-old filly in the country – Malathaat. It was the second third-place finish for her behind that monster, also losing in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes.

Will's Secret was bred in Kentucky by her owner. Her lifetime record is 10 starts, three wins and four thirds for $536,300 in earnings. Her trainer, Stewart, has made a name for himself by finishing second in back-to-back Kentucky Derbies with longshots. He ran second to Orb in 2013 with 34-1 shot Golden Soul and then second to California Chrome in 2014 with Commanding Curve at 37-1.

Stewart also was in charge of a string of D. Wayne Lukas world-class runners that included Horse of the Year Lady's Secret, Kentucky Derby winners Winning Colors (1988) and Thunder Gulch (1995).

Also expected to make the trip to Remington Park for the Oaks is Moon Swag, a filly by Malibu Moon, out of the Put It Back mare Yara, trained by Brendan Walsh. Moon Swag's best race this year came in the Grade 3, $200,000 Indiana Oaks at Indiana Grand racetrack. She lost by only a neck in that race, finishing well ahead of Will's Secret.

Moon Swag was bred by Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky and is owned by Brad King, Jim Cone, Scott Bryant and Stan and Suzanne Kirby. She has won two of nine starts with one second and three thirds for $163,400 earned.

Another filly confirmed for the Oaks is Crazy Beautiful, a daughter of Liam's Map, out of an Indian Charlie mare, Indian Burn. She is trained by Kenny McPeek and owned by Phoenix Thoroughbred III. She was bred in Kentucky by Carolyn Vogel. This filly has won two of her last three starts and would come in from Saratoga where she last raced in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes. She had won the Grade 2, $200,000 Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita and the Grade 3, Delaware Oaks at Delaware Park. She took the Summertime Oaks by 1-3/4 lengths before blowing away a field at Delaware by six lengths. Among McPeek's superstar trainees have been Take Charge Lady, Swiss Skydiver and Harlan's Holiday. He has trained eight horses that have surpassed the $1 million mark in earnings and has conditioned horses that have won $91 million-plus in his career.

Crazy Beautiful has had 11 starts, five wins and three seconds for a bankroll of $709,865. She would be the top earner in the Remington Park Oaks should she enter.

Another with a graded stakes win on her resume expected for the Oaks is My Girl Red. Owned by Erich Brehm of Weatherford, Texas and trained by Steve Asmussen, My Girl Red won the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar as a 2-year-old in 2020.

A daughter of Texas Red from the Fusaichi Pegasus mare Morakami, My Girl Red has been searching for consistency most of 2021. She has just one win, in allowance company at Lone Star Park this summer. She started in a five-furlong sprint over the turf on the opening night of this Remington Park season, finishing last in a field of eight. The Remington Park Oaks would be just the second start on a main track, around two turns, for My Girl Red.

The Oklahoma Derby and Oaks headline a big stakes afternoon on the only Sunday scheduled during the Remington Park season. The total stakes card includes:

Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby
Grade 3, $200,000 Remington Park Oaks
$150,000 David M. Vance Stakes
$100,000 Remington Green Stakes
$75,000 Ricks Memorial Stakes
$75,000 Kip Deville Stakes
$50,000 Flashy Lady Stakes
$50,000 E. L. Gaylord Memorial Stakes

Remington Park Stakes Coordinator Don Thompson says Keepinmind, Team Merchants, King Fury, Warrant and Fulsome are all possible starters for the Oklahoma Derby.

Racing continues this week with an eight-race card Thursday night and a pair of nine-race cards Friday and Saturday. First post time is 7:07 p.m. each night.

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Calumet Will ‘Take A Chance’ With Longshot Full Charge In Indiana Derby

Full Charge is 12-1 in the Indiana Derby's morning and comes into the 1 1/16-mile stakes off victory in a 1 3/16-mile maiden race. But owner-breeder Calumet Farm in the Brad Kelley era has no problem taking a shot at big races and doesn't get caught up in the horses' odds. Indeed, several notable Calumet upsets have been the 2021 Wood Memorial with Bourbon winning at a whopping 72-1 odds, 2020 Personal Ensign with 9-1 Vexatious over champion Midnight Bisou and the 2018 Pat Day Mile with 39-1 Funny Duck.

“It's a big step up in class,” said Jack Sisterson, private trainer for Calumet, though the farm uses other public trainers as well. “It is a short field. It's that time of the year where if your horse is doing well, which he is, you've got to take the opportunities where they come with these big 3-year-old races.”

Full Charge, also by Will Take Charge, has improved dramatically with each of his four starts.

“He's a 3-year-old who has improved with each start we've had him,” Sisterson said. “He was a lovely 2-year-old, just sort of immature and needed to grow into his frame. Thanks to Calumet for allowing me to back off him as a 2-year-old.

“We got him started down at Gulfstream going three-quarters of a mile. He finished last, but when he hit the wire, Corey (Lanerie) gave him a slap on the shoulder and he galloped out in front. We were optimistic that he'd move forward as we stretched him out, would put his best foot forward. And he hasn't disappointed us since, really. We'll let him tell us whether he's good enough or not.”

In his three maiden races in Kentucky, Full Charge finished third, then second, then won by five lengths at 1 3/16 miles at Churchill Downs.

“We don't win first time out,” Sisterson said. “We train to where the horse is going to improve with racing and hopefully not regress with racing. We like to have a two- or three-year good campaign with horses. He doesn't have a flashy way of going. He might come off the bridle at the three-eighths pole, but he's a grinding type that seems to get better as the distance gets farther for him. If we can hit the board with a homebred, it helps the mare and the progeny. I've got his 2-year-old brother. It's fun to see him progress in the direction he's going.”

Adam Beschizza, aboard for Full Charge's past three races, has the return mount.

“He's still a very young, unvarnished horse,” Beschizza said. “He's a horse where you have to squeeze the lemon on him the whole time. He's still very green and raw. If you saw his maiden win at Churchill, I had to get to working on him at the three-eighths. Once he gets the message, he seems to knuckle down, still very workmanlike. Mr. Kelley likes these big challenges, and he's never been too far wrong before with some of these maiden (winners). He'll take his chance.”

Full Charge “has had plenty of shots at the dart board now,” the jockey said.

“He's got plenty of experience,” Beschizza added. So, let's hope he's got it together and can take that next step forward. You've got to be in it to win it, and we'll take a chance. I think he'll run well, anyway.”

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Will Take Charge, Midshipman Shuttling To Uruguay For Southern Hemisphere Season

A pair of Eclipse Award-winning sons of Unbridled's Song will shuttle to Haras Phillipson in Uruguay for the upcoming Southern Hemisphere breeding season, in Will Take Charge and Midshipman, the South American publication Turf Diario reports.

Will Take Charge, an 11-year-old son of Unbridled's Song, will ship to Haras Phillipson for the second consecutive year. He is wrapping up his seventh Northern Hemisphere season at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky., where he stood for an advertised fee of $5,000.

From four crops of racing age, Will Take Charge has sired 132 winners and he's compiled progeny earnings of more than $10.4 million. His runners are led by Grade 3 winner Will's Secret and Grade 1-placed Manny Wah. In South America, his offspring include Peruvian Group 2 winner Esidio.

Will Take Charge earned the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male in 2013 on the strength of a campaign that included wins in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes and Clark Handicap, the G2 Rebel Stakes and Pennsylvania Derby, and the G3 Smarty Jones Stakes, along with a runner-up effort in the Breeders' Cup Classic. At four, he won the G2 Razorback Handicap and ran second in the G1 Santa Anita Handicap, Donn Handicap, and Stephen Foster Handicap.

Midshipman is a veteran of the South American breeding ranks, having previously shuttled to farms in Brazil and Chile. The 15-year-old stands at Darley America in Lexington, Ky., where he was advertised in 2021 for $7,500.

With eight crops of racing age, Midshipman has sired 310 winners with combined progeny earnings of more than $28.4 million. Domestically, his highlights at stud include Grade 2 winner Princess Warrior, and Grade 3 winners including Lady Shipman and Sassy Sienna.

Midshipman has seen his greatest success in the Southern Hemisphere, including Brazilian 2,000 Guineas winner Royal Ship, who later shipped to the U.S. and became a Grade 2 winner. Other Southern Hemisphere runners of note include Brazilian Group 1 winners Tanganyka and Tweet, as well as Chilean Group 1 winner Succeso.

Midshipman was named champion 2-year-old male of 2008, after winning that year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile and the G1 Del Mar Futurity.

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Japan’s France Go De Ina ‘Moved Really Well’ In Final Breeze For Belmont Stakes

In his final piece of preparation for Saturday's Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, France Go de Ina breezed five furlongs over a fast main track at Belmont Park.

Under mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-60s, Yuji Inaida's son of third crop sire Will Take Charge took to the track under exercise rider Masaki Takano at 7:30 a.m., and registered his final move for the 'Test of the Champion' while running off eighth-mile splits of 13.12, 25.78 and 49.23 before completing his breeze in 1:02.62.

Trainer Hideyuki Mori was on site to watch his two-time winner train for the final leg of the Triple Crown.

France Go de Ina, who was seventh last out in the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course, shipped to Belmont Park two days following the second American Classic and has been getting acclimated to his new surroundings.

“He moved really well. We were really happy with the work this morning,” Mori said through translator Kate Hunter. “The extra time between this race and shipping in from Japan gives him time to build his body up some more and add condition.”

France Go de Ina will be the first Belmont Stakes starter for Mori, whose first contender in an American Classic dates back to 1995 when Ski Captain finished 14th to Thunder Gulch in the Kentucky Derby.

“I would be very happy to add a Triple Crown race to my portfolio,” Mori said.

Ricardo Santana, Jr. will pilot France Go de Ina from post 5.

Godolphin's Essential Quality, the 2-1 morning-line favorite for the Belmont Stakes and reigning Champion 2-Year-Old Male, visited the Belmont main track for the first time at 5:30 a.m.

Trainer Brad Cox said the four-time graded stakes winner appeared to move well over Big Sandy.

“He stood for a minute and then jogged off the right way and galloped about a mile and three-eighths and he seemed to get over the ground really well,” said Cox. “My assistant, Dustin Dugas, was on him. It went very smooth. Dustin came back and said he's a very smooth-going horse and intelligent. That's what you want to hear from the guy on his back.”

Cox said Essential Quality, who will exit post 2 under Luis Saez on Saturday, will visit the starting gate on Thursday ahead of his regular gallop.

Also visiting the main tack Wednesday morning for Cox was Grade 1, $1 million Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap contender Knicks Go.

A multiple Grade 1-winner with more than $4.5 million in purse earnings, Knicks Go appeared to relish his daily exercise.

“He has the draw reins on and he's definitely a horse who grabs the bridle and does a little more,” said Cox. “That's him. That's his style. Essential Quality is a little more laid back.”

John and Diane Fradkin's Rombauer continued preparations for the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes when galloping 1 ½-miles over the main track after the break at 8:45 a.m.

Trained by Michael McCarthy, the Grade 1 Preakness-winner will break from post 3 under Hall of Famer John Velazquez in the Belmont.

The son of Twirling Candy shipped to Belmont Park the Monday following his Preakness triumph and has been stabled with trainer Jonathan Thomas.

“He's been here for nearly three weeks, so nothing is new to him at this point. He's been settling in nicely,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy, a former assistant to newly minted Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, expressed his appreciation for his time spent under the veteran conditioner.

“If I don't put the time in there with him, maybe I don't get to do this,” said McCarthy. “He's got an incredible amount of responsibility and has a lot going on. It's nice to follow what they do, even though I'm not there, I always pay attention to what's going on [with Pletcher's team].”

Roadrunner Racing, Boat Racing, Strauss Bros Racing and Gainesway Thoroughbreds' Hot Rod Charlie, trained by Doug O'Neill, also visited the main track after the break under exercise rider Jonny Garcia.

“He got out there and he jogged about five-eighths and galloped a mile and a quarter,” said O'Neill. “It was very similar to what we do back home, but the mile and a half circumference here makes it a little different.”

Hot Rod Charlie, a front-running winner of the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, quickened down the lane.

“Jonny is so good. Once he gets him in that comfortable leg stretch, he doesn't move his hands or ask him for more or try and slow him down,” said O'Neill. “He just lets him be comfortable out there, especially the last part of the gallop. He looked great and did it easy. One day at a time, but so far so good.”

Flavien Prat will pilot Hot Rod Charlie from post 4.

Hronis Racing and David Michael Talla's Rock Your World, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in April, visited the main track near 7 a.m.

“He went for a routine gallop, about a mile and a quarter. He did it just easy,” said Juan Leyva, assistant to trainer John Sadler. “He's doing well. He's happy. He comes off the track with good energy.”

Rock Your World finished 17th in the Kentucky Derby after a troubled start, but Leyva said the colt is thriving heading into Saturday's test. The Candy Ride bay posted a bullet 58.40 five-furlong breeze on May 28 at Santa Anita.

“If you saw his work last week, the gallop out was super impressive. He went 1:40 for the mile and he did it all on his own,” said Leyva, a former jockey who guided Musical Romance to victory in the 2011 Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. “He's a big, lanky colt. I don't think the distance will be a problem for him at all.”

Rock Your World will exit post 7 under Joel Rosario.

Sadler will also be represented at the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival by Flagstaff in Friday's Grade 2, $300,000 True North, a 6 ½-furlong sprint for older horses; and by Campaign, who takes a second attempt at the Grade 2, $400,000 Brooklyn presented by Northwell Health, a 12-furlong test for older horses on Belmont Stakes Day, after finishing fourth in 2019.

“Flagstaff is doing great. I think we know he's a seven-furlong specialist but I think the 6 1/2-furlongs is well within his range,” said Leyva. “Campaign ran here two years and he got stuck inside and wasn't able to get through and make his run, but he still finished well. He's coming into the race well.”

Pletcher sent his trio of Belmont Stakes contenders – Known Agenda, Bourbonic and Overtook, to the main track at 6 a.m. to gallop 1 ½-miles. The veteran conditioner said all are in good order.

The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival runs from Thursday through Saturday, June 5, culminating with the 153rd running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets. The festival will encompass 17 total stakes, including eight Grade 1s on Belmont Stakes Day, capped by the “Test of the Champion” for 3-year-olds in the 1 1/2-mile final leg of the Triple Crown.

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