BALTIMORE, Md.—The groundwork to run Briland Farm’s filly Secret Oath in the Preakness began in the days after she won an Oaklawn Park allowance race by 8 ¼ lengths on Dec. 31. The deadline to make horses early nominees for the Triple Crown at a cost of $600 was Jan. 29, vs. $6,000 by March 28 for late nominations.
“Wayne said, ‘We ought to nominate her to the Triple Crown series,’” said Rob Mitchell, who bred and co-owns Secret Oath with his wife, Stacy. “I said, ‘Eh, I don’t think so. She’s not going to be a Derby horse.’ He said, ‘No, no. But if she’s really good, then we could shoot for the Oaks and the Preakness.’ I said, ‘Let me think about it. Will people think we’re crazy to nominate a filly to the Triple Crown trail?’ Then I started doing the Google thing and saw that every year seven, eight, nine, 10 fillies are nominated. I thought this was a very rare thing. But no, it’s not. Once I realized that, I said, ‘Let’s go ahead and do it.’ Then of course she wins the Martha Washington (by 7 ¼ lengths) and she wins the Honeybee (by 7 ½).”
After those impressive stakes victories at Oaklawn, Secret Oath was routed to the Arkansas Derby (G1).
“We were thinking a Grade 1, $1.25 million purse and then the Oaks and then see how we think about the Preakness,” Rob Mitchell said in a phone interview. “I just view it as horse vs. horse. She looks really good. Really strong, perky, muscled up. I just think it’s the right race at the right time. But after this is over, Wayne and I have talked – I don’t care if she wins or comes in last – she’s getting a break for eight or nine weeks.”
Lukas will try to win his second Triple Crown race with a filly, the first being 1988 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Winning Colors, who finished third in the Preakness.
“We’ll step outside of the box within reason,” Mitchell said. “I really felt like we should have won the Arkansas Derby, but we didn’t. I can see stepping out of the box a little bit. But I’m not thinking Travers, Haskell, Belmont.” He added with a laugh, “Maybe out of the box, but I don’t want to step out of the area code.
“I think the Preakness suits her as far as timing. I don’t think it would have been good to wait until the Coaching Club Oaks [July 23]. That would be quite a wait if we didn’t do anything. And she came out of this much better than she came out of the Arkansas Derby. She was really tired the next day after the Arkansas Derby.”
Mitchell said he didn’t need to be convinced to take on the boys again, but rather be convinced that the Preakness wasn’t too soon after the Oaks.
“But I saw her the day after the Oaks and I saw her Friday,” he said. “Totally different horse than after the Arkansas Derby. She started her move so soon in the Arkansas Derby that she was totally depleted with half a furlong to go. Then you go all out that last half-furlong when you have no gas in the tank. She was really washed out for a few days. But that wasn’t the case with the Oaks. If anything, it might have made her stronger.”
A week after their biggest victory as an owner or breeder, Mitchell said: “We watched the replay 10 times to convince ourselves we won. It’s still kind of hard to believe, a bit of a blur. I saw when she was coming around that turn and into the stretch; I had a really good feeling. I saw her do that three times in Arkansas – actually four times. I saw her do it in the Arkansas Derby; she just did it at the wrong time.”
Secret Oath had another good-looking gallop Sunday morning under Danielle Rosier shortly after the Churchill Downs track opened at 5:30 a.m. Lukas said she will leave early Monday for Baltimore, along with stablemate Ethereal Road, who is scheduled to run in Saturday’s $100,000 Sir Barton for horses that have never won an open stakes.
Maryland Jockey Club Press Release
Secret Oath scoring her second win, fourth start, in an Allowance at Oaklawn Dec. 31, 2021. She would bag two more wins, stakes wins, in a row including the G3 Honeybee. (Coady Photography)
