Secret Oath eyes Martha Washington after allowance romp
Secret Oath has announced herself as a 3-year-old filly to reckon with this meet at Oaklawn Park.
She won a no-conditions allowance by 8 1/4 lengths on Dec. 31 at the Hot Springs, Ark., track. Secret Oath covered a mile in 1:37.38, and the Beyer Speed Figure of 93 that she earned tied for fifth-highest among all 2-year-olds in 2021.
“Didn’t she look good?” said D. Wayne Lukas, who trains Secret Oath for her breeder, Briland Farm.
Secret Oath is a daughter of Arrogate and the mare Absinthe Minded, who was a three-time stakes winner at Oaklawn for Briland and Lukas. Absinthe Minded earned more than $600,000.
“I like this one,” Lukas said Tuesday. “I think she can outdo her mother.”
Secret Oath won a maiden special weight over 1 1/16 miles in her second start Oct. 31 at Churchill Downs. She then ran fifth in the track’s Grade 2 Golden Rod on Nov. 27.
“She had a real troubled trip, got boxed in, got nothing out of it,” Lukas said of the Golden Rod. “I’ve been real keen to get her back on track. She sure did get back on track. She rated so kind the other day, and when angled out she just exploded.”
Luis Contreras was aboard for the win, which could send Secret Oath back into stakes competition.
“I think we’ll take a long look at the Martha Washington,” Lukas said of the Jan. 29 stakes at Oaklawn. “The series for 3-year-olds here, the colts and the fillies, I think there’s no reason to go anywhere.”
The $200,000 Martha Washington is for 3-year-old fillies at a mile and offers Kentucky Oaks eligibility points on a scale of 10-4-2-1.
Ignitis points to Southwest
Lukas has gotten off to a solid start at Oaklawn, where he is 3 for 16. He’s also had three third-place finishes, among them with Ignitis in the $250,000 Smarty Jones on Jan. 1.
Ignitis picked up 2 points for the Kentucky Derby, and Lukas said Tuesday he will make his next start in the Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest Stakes on Jan. 29 at Oaklawn. The race also offers points for the Kentucky Derby.
Ignitis closed from eighth in the Smarty Jones.
“He’s a solid horse, a horse that’s getting better,” Lukas said. “He’s a little immature, but the last 100 yards he made up his mind to run. Up to that point, he was just kind of hanging. He finished very strongly in that race.”
Ignitis is a son of Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist. He races for Holy Cow Stable. The horse won a maiden special weight over seven furlongs last October at Keeneland.
Contreras was aboard Ignitis in the Smarty Jones.
Dash Attack, who won the Smarty Jones by two lengths, and runner-up Barber Road, who finished a length in front of Ignitis, also are being pointed to the Southwest, according to their respective trainers, Ken McPeek and John Ortiz
The Lukas-trained Atoka was placed first in a Dec. 19 allowance at a mile at Oaklawn after the disqualification of neck winner Caddo River.
Atoka races for Lukas and his wife, Laurie, as well as Jim Heird and Eleanor Green.
Lukas said Atoka will run in the $150,000 Fifth Season for 4-year-olds and up at a mile here on Jan. 15.
Groupie Doll daughter entered
Tap for Me, a 4-year-old daughter of Tapit and the champion racemare Groupie Doll, makes the second start of her career in the seventh race Friday at Oaklawn.
Tap for Me finished a troubled second in her debut, which came in a maiden special weight on Nov. 7 at Churchill Downs. Florent Geroux was aboard and has the mount again in Friday’s maiden special weight for breeder Whisper Hill Farm and trainer Steve Asmussen.