HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – He sent out Winning Colors to win the Kentucky Derby, making her one of three fillies to wear the roses. Four years before that, he won the Arkansas Derby with the filly Althea. Lady’s Secret, Serena’s Song, Terlingua. The list of fillies with whom trainer D. Wayne Lukas beat the boys in major stakes is an all-star cast. On Saturday at Oaklawn Park, Lukas will try to add another notch to that big belt when Secret Oath faces eight males in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Arkansas Derby. She will try to emulate Althea’s victory here. But whether she gets a chance to equal Winning Colors is another matter. Lukas is not ruling out the Derby, but he’s far from committing to it. Lukas, who trains Secret Oath for her breeders, the Briland Farm of Robert and Stacy Mitchell, in an interview at his barn this week said, “I’ve seen it all, sung ‘My Old Kentucky Home,’ saddled with celebrities.” In other words, he’s won it four times, doesn’t have to be in it again. If it’s warranted, sure, Secret Oath will be there. Lukas’s first priority, he said, is to give the Mitchells “the ultimate experience,” whatever that may be the first weekend in May. :: DRF's Arkansas Derby Day headquarters – Previews, past performances, picks, and more “We’re thinking Oaks,” he said, as in the Kentucky Oaks, exclusively for fillies, run the day before the Derby, and for which Secret Oath already has sufficient points. “If she runs well here and the Oaks, you could look at the Preakness.” So why here? Why now? The answer: Why not? Secret Oath has the home-court advantage, with romping victories in three races already this meet against fillies, most recently the Honeybee Feb. 26. Her winning time for 1 1/16 miles was faster by nearly one second than that of Un Ojo in that day’s Rebel, the traditional prep for the Arkansas Derby. She has the fastest last-out Beyer Speed Figure, a 92. Because she’s a filly facing males, she carries less weight than her rivals. The Arkansas Derby’s purse is more than twice that of the Fantasy, the race for fillies earlier on the card, and it’s a Grade 1 compared to the Fantasy’s Grade 3. And, significantly, the Arkansas Derby this year is five weeks in front of the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby, as opposed to three weeks in recent years, giving Secret Oath plenty of time to recover if this race is demanding. The risk/reward ratio penciled out for Lukas. “This will be a good test for her,” he said. “The five weeks unquestionably was a good decision by Oaklawn. That was a huge factor for me as a trainer. Even if we run in the Oaks, I love the five weeks. To me, it’s a pivotal thing.” The 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby – worth 170 points overall toward the Kentucky Derby, with 100 to the winner – is race 12 of 13 on a card that begins at 12:10 p.m. Central. It is preceded by the Fantasy, race 10, for Oaks aspirants whose connections must be thrilled Secret Oath isn’t in there, and the Grade 3 Oaklawn Mile, race 9, for older runners. The warm-up stakes is race 5, the Carousel, for female sprinters. Ideal conditions are forecast, with a high temperature of 73 degrees under mostly sunny skies. This will be the toughest assignment yet for Secret Oath, but many of the males she’s facing are untested at this level. Un Ojo and Barber Road, first and third in the Rebel, must run faster. Doppelganger is making his first start since being transferred to Tim Yakteen. Cyberknife has been a work in progress. We the People is unbeaten but inexperienced. Against that group, she’s the morning-line favorite. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2022: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Barber Road was third in the Rebel, finishing fastest of all. “He had to steer through traffic, needed racing luck,” said his trainer, John Ortiz. Un Ojo was a 75-1 upset winner of the Rebel, which came up light, an 84 Beyer. “Most exciting thing I’ve ever experienced,” Clay Courville, the son of trainer Ricky Courville, said Thursday morning. Courville, his father’s assistant, gallops Un Ojo, too. “I’m a one-man band,” he said. Three others exit the Rebel. Kavod, fourth, looks like this race’s controlling speed. Chasing Time was fifth, Ben Diesel eighth. As with Secret Oath, it’s the newcomers to this series who could be the major players Saturday. Doppelganger is in from California following a second-place finish to Santa Anita Derby-bound Forbidden Kingdom in the San Felipe, in which he got a Beyer of 89. “He’s a developing horse. Hope he continues to develop,” said Yakteen, who has taken over from previous trainer Bob Baffert. Cyberknife, highly regarded by trainer Brad Cox, has won two of his last three and made a good impression galloping Thursday morning with exercise rider Katie Tolbert, showing no signs of the immaturity that has hindered his development. We the People, who starts from the outside, has won both his starts in runaways. He’s untested, but is right there on figs, having earned an 89 Beyer against allowance company last time out.