Willis Horton Racing LLC's Will's Secret secured a place in the starting gate for the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) with her third straight victory in Saturday's $300,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark. The triumph was worth 50 points towards eligibility in the Oaks and put her at the top of the leaderboard with 60 total points following her other stakes win in the Martha Washington Stakes Jan. 30.
Updated Kentucky Oaks leaderboard
Will's Secret and Tabor Hall were within a half-length of each from the start, with the later having the lead through an opening quarter mile in :24.25 before the eventual winner took over after a half mile in :49.70. Will's Secret continued to widen her lead through the stretch and finished three-quarters of a length in front of the fast closing Pauline's Pearl. The winning time was 1:44.61 over a fast track.
“She broke really well today and we weren't pressured early on,” winning jockey Jon Court said. “She was comfortable on the front end and able to dictate a moderate, easy pace. Therefore, I was able to have plenty of horse to finish with and when I called on her, she was full of run down the stretch. It just worked out very favorably today. I want to thank the Hortons and trainer Dallas Stewart.”
Sun Path was third and was followed by Oliviaofthedesert, Coach, Tabor Hall and Willful Woman. Absolute Anna was scratched. Pauline's Pearl received 20 points toward Oaks eligibility for second, Sun Path received 10 and Oliviaofthedesert received five.
Will's Secret, a homebred by Horton's champion Will Take Charge, improved her overall record to three wins from six starts and she has now earned $343,300. She returned $6.20, $4.40 and $3 as the 2-1 favorite.
Live racing resumes Sunday with a 1 p.m. first post.
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