As Briland Farm's homebred Secret Oath began her lethal late kick May 6 in the $1.25 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs, the grandstand began to roar.
Even connections of the other competitors started yelling: "Look at Lukas!" "There comes Lukas!" and a collective cheer arose from both the horsemen on the track and the crowd in the stands as the gritty chestnut filly streaked across the finish line.
The journey to the winner's circle was like old homecoming week for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who at 86 collected his fifth Kentucky Oaks score. Dallas Stewart enthusiastically shook his old mentor’s arm during the running of the race, and in the aftermath—once he checked on runner-up Nest—Todd Pletcher made sure to greet Lukas with a warm embrace.
For those associated with the remaining 13 fillies that finished behind Secret Oath, sentiments of disappointment were outweighed by the simple notion that there was no shame in losing to one of the most revered figures on the racetrack in Lukas and his budding superstar.
A chestnut daughter of the late Arrogate, Secret Oath handed Lukas his first Kentucky Oaks score since Seaside Attraction stole the show in 1990.
"The real satisfaction is when you can put these people that work with these horses and raise them and so forth in that position," said Lukas. "...The real joy of doing this is to let these owners have the opportunity to enjoy this and get that thrill."
Secret Oath is the first Kentucky Oaks winner for owner/breeders Rob and Stacy Mitchell of Briland Farm. The Mitchells, whose program has been producing Thoroughbreds for the last two decades on their 90-acre farm outside of Lexington, are a throwback to the classic horse breeders of yesteryear.
"Look at that—I have 69 messages on my phone, I didn't think I had this many friends," Rob Mitchell joked after the Kentucky Oaks. "We're just small country people."
Managing the farm is a full-time job for Rob and his wife, Stacy, who is always the first one in a mare's stall to help with foaling. It never crossed the couple's mind that the fruit of their efforts would blossom into a filly capable of winning at the highest echelons of the sport.
"To be here today, we've worked so hard," said Mitchell. "My wife has worked so hard. We're, like, on the farm. We live on the farm. We fix the fence, mow the fields.
"Every foal that we have ever raced was born on our farm. I have nothing against the syndicates. I think the syndicates are good for horse racing, but we have never bought a racehorse, ever. Every horse we've raced was born on our farm. We bought some broodmares, raised their fillies, and their fillies. Other people have other ways (of doing it). That's fine. But if we race a horse, we foaled it and we delivered the foal itself."
Despite captivating the public imagination back on the first weekend of April with a bold bid against the males in the Arkansas Derby (G1), Secret Oath, third that day after a wide trip and explosive ground-eating move left her leg weary in the final sixteenth, virtually flew under the radar in the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Oaks. Lukas never wavered in his faith in the filly, and could only chuckle when he watched Churchill oddsmaker Mike Battaglia give her odds of 6-1 on the morning line behind Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1) heroine Nest, undefeated 2-year-old champion filly Echo Zulu, and two-time graded stakes winner Kathleen O..
Coasting beneath the media spotlight suited Lukas just fine, and Secret Oath bounced back from her Arkansas Derby performance with two serious works over the Churchill surface. She was fleshed out beautifully, dapples aglow, as she pranced with renewed energy beside her handler in the paddock before the race.
The final result of the Oaks was a surprise only to those who didn't know her.
On a sealed track, slick from the sheets of rain that hailed upon Louisville earlier in the afternoon, Secret Oath lined up as the co-third choice, with Nest closing the windows as the 2-1 favorite. Fantasy Stakes (G3) winner Yuugiri rocketed to the lead, quickly pursued by Echo Zulu as the field leapt from the gate. Luis Saez, up for the first time and replacing regular rider Luis Contreras, nursed the filly along in mid-pack three-wide down the backstretch, clear from the fray of contenders vying for position in the first flight.
"I thought the race unfolded pretty much like what we expected," said Lukas. "Being in the one hole, we didn't have a lot of options. But down the backside, I told Luis (Saez) not to get too creative on the turn and make his move if he was going to get in position on the backside."
Yuugiri sped through opening fractions of :22.45 and :46.51 before Echo Zulu ranged up beside her to challenge into the run for the final turn. As the field wheeled into the bend after three-quarters clocked in 1:11.44, Saez pressed the "go" button on the advancing Secret Oath. Traveling widest of all into the turn, the filly launched her trademark closing kick, roaring past Echo Zulu and lengthening her stride to the wire. Nest, angled into the sixth path down the lane under Irad Ortiz Jr., closed gallantly but to no avail, finishing two lengths behind the victorious Secret Oath.
"I’m really happy for Wayne," said Pletcher. "If I couldn't win this race, I was rooting for him. Irad told me that he couldn't get out the whole race. He had to wait and wait. When he finally got loose, (Nest) ran big."
The surprise Santa Anita Oaks (G2) captress Desert Dawn, given a 50-1 chance by the betting public, proved her stunning upset was perhaps not a fluke after all, weaving her way through horses to secure the show for small-time Arizona owner/breeders H and E Ranch.
"(Desert Dawn) ran her heart out for us," said trainer Phil D’Amato. "She even gave us a goosebump moment. But, in the end, it didn't quite work out. We're really proud of her."
Echo Zulu, making only her second start since the NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) last November, suffered the first defeat of her career in the Kentucky Oaks, checking in a half-length behind Desert Dawn in fourth. Trainer Steve Asmussen expressed nothing but admiration for Lukas and Secret Oath.
"Congratulations to the winner. Lukas winning the Oaks was far better than anything I could ever do. It is a beautiful moment for Wayne, unbelievably deserving with a great mare," he said.
Secret Oath stopped the timer in 1:49.44 for the 1 1/8 miles. She paid $10.80 for the win with a $2 ticket.
"A few weeks ago my agent (former Lukas assistant and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin) told me we were likely going to ride Secret Oath," said Saez. "Then, when he told me one day that I need to work her, I drove here from Keeneland and she blew my mind. I've ridden a lot of good fillies, but none in my life like this one. I'm so glad to be here and blessed to win my first Kentucky Oaks."
The product of a carefully selected mating, Secret Oath best exemplifies what Rob Mitchell refers to as "reverse sex cross breeding." Mitchell's mare, the grade 1-placed, multiple stakes winner Absinthe Minded, was bred to Arrogate because he has two crosses of stallion Intentionally’s best son, In Reality, while Absinthe Minded, a daughter of Quiet American, supplies to him a cross of Intentionally’s best daughter, Ta Wee.
"These are all classic Tartan Farm bloodlines," said Mitchell. "So that’s a sex-balanced mating through prominent sons and daughters of Intentionally. In Reality is a son of Intentionally out of a Rough'n Tumble mare while Great Above is by a son of Rough'n Tumble out of a daughter of Intentionally. Reverse sex cross. It doesn't always work, but it's something I use a lot in breeding horses."
Absinthe Minded has an unnamed 2-year-old filly by Medaglia d'Oro and was bred to Liam's Map for the 2022 breeding season.
As fate would have it, Secret Oath had been entered in the 2020 Keeneland September Sale as a yearling, but was withdrawn due to a lack of interest from buyers.
Earlier in the morning on Friday, Lukas scratched Julie Gilbert and Aaron Sones' Ethereal Road out of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) in favor of the Preakness Stakes (G1), which would give the Quality Road colt some downtime in between races. He most recently finished fourth in the April 16 Stonestreet Lexington Stakes (G3) in a quick week turnaround from a seventh-place effort in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1).
Black-eyed Susans could also be in the near future for Secret Oath.
"(The Preakness Stakes is) an option. The George E. Mitchell Black‑Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) would be an option," said Lukas. "All of these things are out there for us all the time. When you got a talented horse, you need to look at everything, try to develop their career, and get them to a championship level. So it's been done before with Rachel Alexandra and some of these other horses, so it's not totally out of the question.
"Rob and I and Stacy will get together. Like Stacy said, we'll let her get her feet underneath her a little bit and see how it was," added Lukas. "She wasn't blowing very hard even though it was a wet track and probably pulled a little bit out of her. But I like what I saw today in the winner's circle."
Lukas has trained 15 Eclipse Award-winning fillies, and he may now have a 16th, and the chance to only add to his legend with Secret Oath.
