The electrifying move around the far turn that propelled Secret Oath to Kentucky Oaks (G1) glory that first Friday in May last year had failed the Arrogate filly in her last five starts. As valiant as she tried, her patented kick fell short each time. And so when the Briland Farm homebred began to ramp up past the three-eighths pole in the $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) March 11 at Oaklawn Park, all in the grandstand watched with a collected breath—would her trademark move fail her again?
#1 SECRET OATH ($4.80) makes her 2023 debut a winning one by taking the Azeri Stakes (GII) at Oaklawn Park. @Tyler_Gaff was aboard for D. Wayne Lukas. Congrats to all the connections! Watch more on @fandueltv. pic.twitter.com/51um5aCfiz
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) March 11, 2023
As the field wheeled into the lane and Secret Oath, widest of all, bulldozed past every last one of her rivals, the spectators got their answer: Secret Oath would not be denied. She decisively won by 2 3/4 lengths over favored Clairiere.
Secret Oath was a last-minute withdrawal from The November Sale last year at Fasig-Tipton November Sale when Robert and Stacy Mitchell of Briland Farm elected to keep their prized filly in training as a 4-year-old with Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas.
A four-month freshening and a return to Oaklawn Park proved the recipe for success for team Secret Oath. The Oaks winner, who returned to the site of her Honeybee (G3) and Martha Washington Stakes victories, had been breezing strongly for her 4-year-old debut, exuding fitness with a series of seven straight five-furlong works heading into the 1 1/16 mile Azeri.
There would be two more obstacles. Secret Oath’s regular jockey Luis Saez, who has been lighting up the Gulfstream Park circuit all winter long, opted to ride in Tampa, where he piloted promising sophomore and Todd Pletcher trainee Tapit Trice to an impressive win in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3). No fear, rising star jock Tyler Gaffalione was given the mount.
The final obstacle—Clairiere. The Azeri would also be the return race for the multiple grade 1-winning daughter of Curlin . An earner of over $2 million, Clariere had finished in front of Secret Oath when Clairier was a valiant third in a three-way blanket finish with Malathaat and Blue Stripe in a memorable running of the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1). Secret Oath was fifth.
When it came to race time, those obstacles mattered not to Secret Oath, who Gaffalione acknowledged following the Azeri was one of “the easiest horses to ride.” Making her 14th start on Saturday, Secret Oath and Gaffalione raced far behind the early splits of :23.63 and :48.39, behind every horse except Clairiere, who trailed at the back of the pack. Secret Oath passed horses one by one until she plowed to the front with a furlong to go.
“I know what kind of kick she has, so I just let her kind of find herself in the place she wanted to be,” Gaffalione said. “Going into the (second turn), she tried to go about the three-eighths pole. Just took a little hold of her, and she came right back to me. Swung her out coming down the stretch. Showed her the whip once, and she finished the job well.”
The produce of the Mitchell’s hardy stakes-winning mare Absinthe Minded (Quiet American) stopped the timer in 1:43.26 on a fast main track. She returned $4.80 for a $2 win ticket as the second favorite.
Clairiere, in early stretch traffic, weaved and pushed her way through foes but fell short of catching Secret Oath. She was a head better than Interstatedaydream to be second.
“She came running,” jockey Joel Rosario said of Clairiere. “The other filly (Secret Oath) ran a good race today. She came moving forward, but it looked like the winner got the jump in the clear outside. That’s how it goes.”
Secret Oath, the leggy dark copper filly that riveted the racing world last spring with her string of thrilling triumphs and Arkansas Derby (G1) third, had once again found the winner’s circle. Eighty-seven-year-old Lukas already has Secret Oath’s next target mapped out.
“She’ll be in the Apple Blossom (G1, April 15 at Oaklawn) if everything goes good,” Lukas said. “I don’t think we’ll change anything. Tyler gave her a picture-perfect ride (today)—exactly how we drew it up.”
