Thoughts of Secret Oath's return help relieve Lukas's pain

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas was nursing five freshly fractured ribs on Thursday, but the pain could not dampen his excitement about Secret Oath.

The Kentucky Oaks winner, Secret Oath is set to return to the races next year at 4. She is in light training and will likely resume racing in March at Oaklawn.

“What we’ve done is a little bit of a tentative plan - penciled in, not in stone,” Lukas said Thursday. “We’re pointing her for the Azeri and the Apple Blossom. That will be her two outs here. We’ve got some time in front of us.”

The Grade 2, $350,000 Azeri is March 11 and the Grade 1, $1 million Apple Blossom is April 15.

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Secret Oath, who is owned by breeder Briland Farm, rose to prominence last season at Oaklawn, where she ran third against males in the Arkansas Derby following blowout wins in an allowance, the Martha Washington and the Grade 3 Honeybee. She is part of a 40-horse stable Lukas has based at Oaklawn.

Lukas was injured when he was thrown from a stable pony. Lukas recounted the rodeo-like incident, which was the result of a spooked mount and his spurs catching fur.

“I got bucked off, fractured five ribs in my back,” he said. “It wasn’t pretty. I only made it seven seconds. I don’t think I made the full eight. The judges gave me no points. I don’t think I’ll make the National Finals.”

Lukas said he’s been looking for tips on healing fractured ribs fast, and checked in with a friend who was a prominent coach in the NFL.

“I called Bill Parcells and said, ‘How in the heck do those guys break five ribs and play two weeks later?’” Lukas said. “You’re going to have to give me formula.”

Lukas has found the formula for success with Secret Oath, and is excited about the upcoming season with the daughter of Arrogate.

“Her mother, who I trained, Absinthe Minded, never really got good until she was 4,” he said, “and this filly looks like her mother in a lot of ways, too. Big, rangy. I think she’ll be better as a 4-year-old than she was as a 3-year-old.

“I think she’s going to take them to the woodshed.”

Absinthe Minded won three route stakes for fillies and mares and earned $607,747.

Lukas said Secret Oath’s training schedule would pick up in January. She last raced Nov. 5, finishing fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Keeneland.

“I backed up, put her on a light jogging program, and boy it has been working,” Lukas said. “She’s filled out, put on weight and is maturing and filling out. She just absolutely looks better than ever.”

Pretty soon, Lukas should be feeling better than ever.

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