D. Wayne Lukas

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas indicated Secret Oath (Arrogate) may take another shot against the boys in the GI Preakness S. at Pimlico May 21 following tilt at the May 6 GI Kentucky Oaks. Secret Oath finished third in the GI Arkansas Derby in her first start against males. "We had no intention of running in the [GI Kentucky] Derby; running a mile and a quarter, in a 20-horse field," Lukas said. "Whether you could make a case or not that she's one of the better 3-year-olds in...

We live in a world where change is routinely mistaken for progress, draped in the cheap frills of "modernization"—a word that needs treating with extreme suspicion, implying as it does that any who challenge innovation are obstructing our species in some otherwise inexorable journey to fulfilment.

With the GI Ashland S., the GII Santa Anita Oaks and the GIII Gazelle S. topping last week's action, all the preps have been run and the field for the GI Kentucky Oaks is all but set. Who will be the favorite? Who is the filly to beat? In a year where the division is overrun with quality, those aren't easy questions to answer. It should be a heck of a race. 1) SECRET OATH (Arrogate--Absinthe Minded, by Quiet American) O-Briland Farm; B-Briland Farm, Robert & Stacy Mitchell (KY); T-D....

They call it "pilot error." It's just that you have all the correction of perspective, right there, that anyone could possibly require. If a jockey makes a mistake, the consequences obviously tend to be a good deal less drastic than for a guy flying a plane.

They call it "pilot error." It's just that you have all the correction of perspective, right there, that anyone could possibly require. If a jockey makes a mistake, the consequences obviously tend to be a good deal less drastic than for a guy flying a plane. Besides, I have never liked the kind of blame culture that unites handicappers and horsemen in casting jockeys as the villains of their woulda-coulda-shoulda world. To be fair, perhaps that's rather more common in my native environment, racing on turf in Europe, where the...

No matter how talented a horse might be, going from a maiden win into a race like the GI Curlin Florida Derby is supposed to be too much to ask. You're not seasoned, experienced or battle tested, and those things matter. That's why I thought 3-1 was a ridiculous price on Charge It (Tapit) in Saturday's Florida Derby. Was I ever wrong. After finishing second in his debut in January, the Todd Pletcher-trained colt returned Feb. 12 to win a Gulfstream maiden by 8 1/2 lengths. It was a big...

Gold Square LLC's Cyberknife (Gun Runner) exited his win in Saturday's GI Arkansas Derby in fine shape and is expected to ship to Louisville Tuesday to continue preparations for the May 7 GI Kentucky Derby. The colt, who was making his second stakes appearance after a sixth-place effort in the Jan. 22 GIII Lecomte S., continued a trend of frisky behavior Saturday at Oaklawn when dumping jockey Florent Geroux in the post parade. "I was too far away to do anything about it, but Florent was able to jump up...

Having proven heads and shoulders above the local 3-year-old filly contingent, Briland Farm homebred Secret Oath (Arrogate) takes on the boys in Saturday's $1.25-million GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park. The chestnut figures a warm favorite to become the first of her gender to win the race since her Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas saddled Althea (Alydar) to score by seven lengths in the 1984 renewal, with future GI Belmont S. runner-up Pine Circle (Cox's Ridge) and GI Preakness S. hero Gate Dancer (Sovereign Dancer) noses apart in...

There was a time when you would load as much experience and conditioning as possible into a Kentucky Derby horse, as a mere adolescent required to jostle with 19 others through 10 furlongs. Nowadays, however, trainers are trying to reach Churchill Downs across a highwire stretched to a thread by two diametrically opposed imperatives. One is their conviction, whether through perception or presumption, that the typical, commercial-bred Thoroughbred of today can only stand up to a much lighter schedule. The other is to secure enough gate points in the trials....

Though Secret Oath (Arrogate) will meet males Saturday in the GI Arkansas Derby, Hall of Fame trainer Wayne Lukas has been saying all along that the main goal for her remains the GI Kentucky Oaks. That's starting to change. "First of all, we have to assume she is going to run a top race in the Arkansas Derby," Lukas said. "(Owner-breeder) Rob Mitchell and I were talking three weeks ago and he said he wanted to go in the Oaks. Since then, he's brought up the Derby two or three...

Briland Farm's Secret Oath (Arrogate) had her final major work Friday ahead of an upcoming start in the Apr. 2 GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn. Sent out Friday morning by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas just after the track opened, the chestnut worked by herself from the five-furlong pole to the regular finish line, covering the distance in 1:01 under her regular pilot, Luis Contreras. According to the Oaklawn clockers, the homebred posted internal splits of :12.20 for an opening eighth and :37.60 for three furlongs before galloping out...

Ever-popular retired Hall of Fame jockey and current television analyst for Fox Sports and the New York Racing Association Gary Stevens joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday afternoon for an expansive discussion on an array of racing topics and issues. Sitting down with Joe Bianca and Bill Finley as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Stevens gave a huge personal endorsement to star 3-year-old filly Secret Oath (Arrogate) as she prepares to take on males, analyzed the shuffling of the California jockey colony, talked about his...