Main menu

Pages

Ignoring him, Secret Oath is no longer mysterious after the Kentucky Oaks victory

 Secret Oath was the filly nobody needed. She pulled in so little consideration before the 2020 Keeneland yearling deal that Dr. Robert Mitchell pulled her from the closeout the day preceding the offering was to start.

Ignoring him, Secret Oath is no longer mysterious after the Kentucky Oaks victory




She was a little girl of Arrogate, the top-procuring pony of both 2016 and 2017, yet something about her affirmation provided potential purchasers the opportunity to stop and think. She was for such a long time thus slender that the absolute most keen eyes in pureblood hustling couldn't understand where they were going wrong: a filly everybody would ultimately care about.


"I got so many offers, an affluent man would have sold her," said Mitchell, a University of Louisville prepared specialist. "Be that as it may, I'm utilized to not having any cash, so I didn't sell her."


Under two years after Mitchell scratched Secret Oath from a sale for indifference, the 3-year-old filly outperformed $1 million in professional income Friday with a two-length win in the Kentucky Oaks. The triumph was a demonstration of the persevering through astuteness of 86-year-old coach D. Wayne Lukas and additional verification of how irregular dashing can be.


How the race was won: Secret Oath destroys Nest, leads mentor D. Wayne Lukas to fifth Kentucky Oaks win

Ignoring him, Secret Oath is no longer mysterious after the Kentucky Oaks victory


The champs' circle after jockey Luis Saez rode Secret Oath to win the 148th running of the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. on May 6, 2022. Secret Oath wouldn't have the Garland of Lillies put on her.

The filly nobody needed has now won't two reviewed stakes, run a decent third against the yearlings in the Arkansas Derby, and arose out of the Oaks as a potential Preakness competitor.


"So (the Preakness) has been done before with Rachel Alexandra and a portion of these different ponies, so it's not feasible.


"I didn't think it was a regularly hard race on her today. I think it was more systematic, all the more a laborer-like race. She wasn't blowing exceptionally hard although it was a wet track and presumably hauled a tad out of her. Be that as it may, I like what I saw today in the victor's circle."


More on Lukas: Bob Baffert was cautioned. This is what D. Wayne Lukas educated him regarding battling his suspension


There was, to be sure, a ton to like; significantly beyond what Mitchell and his better half Stacy might have envisioned when they originally went to the races at Churchill Downs while he was concentrating on medication at U of L.


"I didn't fantasy about claiming a pony," Robert Mitchell said. "Never seemed obvious to me. It wasn't similar to something I was taking a stab at. Also, to be here today, we've buckled down. My significant other has buckled down. We live on the ranch. We fixed the wall, cut the fields."


Among the examples, the Mitchells have learned in rearing pure breeds are proprietors end up dashing by "default." Though they sell the greater part of the foals they have raised at Lexington's Briland Farm, some of them produced so little interest that several have barely had a choice yet to keep them.


Guide: What time is the Kentucky Derby? Here is your finished manual for the 2022 race


Theirs is a limited scale activity. Secret Oath is the main Briland Farm pony to have hustled for this present year. Whenever one of their horses is going to conceive an offspring, Stacy Mitchell will rest in the animal dwelling place and supervise the conveyance. However he says organizations are great for dashing, Robert Mitchell invests wholeheartedly in never having purchased a racehorse; that each foal raised on his homestead is homebred.


"That is only our approach to making it happen," he said. "Others have alternate ways. That is fine. In any case, on the off chance that we raise a pony, we foaled it and we conveyed the actual foal."


"We have put our entire being into that pony," Stacy Mitchell added, located adjacent to her better half during a post-race public interview at Churchill Downs.


Their venture was reimbursed Friday with a victor's acquisition of $705,250. The filly nobody needed ended up being fine.

Comments