By Bill Finley
Secret Oath (Arrogate–Absinthe Minded, by Quiet American), whose accomplishments include a win in the 2022 GI Kentucky Oaks, has been retired due to a minor problem with her right front ankle, reports trainer Wayne Lukas.
She will sell at the Fasig-Tipton November sale.
The story was first reported by Ron Flatter of Horse Racing Nation.
Owned by Rob and Stacy Mitchell, Secret Oath came down with the injury after working five furlongs in :58.60 on Sept. 28 at Churchill Downs. Lukas said that the injury caused him to keep her out of Sunday's GI Spinster S. at Keeneland and with her missing that race he did not think she could make the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff.
“She's fine and she's sound,” he said. “But she was not going to make the Spinster. Rather than try to get her back together we decided to just go ahead and sell her.”
Secret Oath, a homebred, flourished as a 3-year-old. After she won the GIII Honeybee S., Lukas ran her against males in the GI Arkansas Derby, where she finished third. The Oaks was up next and she won that race by two lengths over eventual Eclipse Award winner Nest (Curlin).
“There are about 10,000 female horses born every year and she's the only one among them who won the Oaks,” Lukas said. “Those are the one-of-a-kind accomplishments every trainer strives for.”
After the Oaks, Secret Oath lost five straight but rebounded with a decisive win in the GII Azeri S. to kick off this year's campaign. She ran four more times, a stretch that included second-place finishes in the GI Apple Blossom H., the GI La Troienne S. and the GI Personal Ensign S.
“She was a picture of consistency,” Lukas said. “She showed up every time. Whenever I ran her she was right there. Secret Oath was good every time we started her. She always hit the board.”
A year ago, the Mitchells announced that Secret Oath would be sold in the Fasig-Tipton November sale, but they changed their minds and withdrew her so that they could race her one more year.
“She's going to bring some serious money,” Lukas said. “They still own the mother and a half-sister to Secret Oath. They are a small breeding operation so she has been a real blessing for them.”
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