Oaklawn Park

Having already displayed considerable versatility in her young career, Shortleaf Stable homebred Bubble Rock (More Than Ready) faces yet another test as one of the expected market leaders in Saturday's GIII Fantasy S. at Oaklawn, a race with an open feel owing to the absence of Secret Oath (Arrogate) and the early scratching of morning-line favorite Eda (Munnings). After posting a pair of visually impressive victories over turf sprint trips--including the GIII Matron S. at Belmont--Bubble Rock was asked to stretch out to two turns for the GI Breeders' Cup...

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...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 8th-OP, $108K, Alw/OC, 4yo/up, f, 1 1/16m, 5:39 p.m. GIW MARACUJA begins her 4-year-old campaign Friday against an allowance field at Oaklawn Park. She returns off a six-month freshening following a fourth-place effort behind Clairiere (Curlin) in the GI Cotillion S. Sep. 25 at Parx, where she seemed poised to strike but ultimately weakened down the stretch. The gray/roan daughter of Honor Code makes her first trip to Oaklawn after racing exclusively on the East Coast in her career thus far. Her crowning achievement came...

4th-Oaklawn, $106,000, Alw (NW1$X)/Opt. Clm ($100,000), 3-25, 3yo, 6f, 1:09.44, ft, 4 lengths. COGBURN (c, 3, Not This Time--In a Jif {SW, $203,382}, by Saintly Look) fourth on career debut Aug. 21 at Saratoga, and then scoring a maiden breaking victory Sept. 16 going six panels beneath the Twin Spires over the main track by 4 1/4 lengths, was not seen again until this victorious 3-year-old seasonal bow. Going off a heavily supported 4-5 favorite at a familiar distance with first-time Lasix, the $310,000 FTKSEL pinhook turned $150,000 OBSAPR graduate...

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...

In an era where most every trainer has grown way too cautious and overly patient, 86-year-old Wayne Lukas has emerged as a breath of fresh air. Lukas announced last week that he was going to run his star filly Secret Oath (Arrogate) in the Apr. 2 GI Arkansas Derby against the colts instead of in the safer pick, the GIII Fantasy S. run the same day. It's not just a bold choice, it is a smart choice. With the contingent of males heading to the Arkansas Derby an unusually weak...

A familiar face will be leading the post parade Saturday for the GIII Whitmore S.--the race's namesake. Oaklawn announced in early September that Mar. 19 would be christened as 'Whitmore Day,' renamed the Hot Springs S. after the gelding, and even renamed his longtime home at the track, formerly the Count Fleet barn, after him. Saturday's script calls for Whitmore to follow the field from the barn area to the track, then head into the horseshoe-shaped hedge infield winner's circle, traditionally used for stakes contests, as the horses are being...

Briland Farm's Secret Oath (Arrogate), preparing to take on the boys in the Apr. 2 GI Arkansas Derby, worked a bullet five furlongs in :59.40 (1/34) Thursday at Oaklawn Park. Clockers caught Secret Oath covering her first eighth of a mile in :12, a quarter-mile in :23.80 and three furlongs in :36 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.40. "The filly, that's a running machine, man," said jockey Geovanni Franco, who was aboard for the work. "She was nice. That's a great experience for me. I was the work rider...

Gold Square LLC's Cyberknife (Gun Runner) will make his next start in the $1.25-million GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park Apr. 2, trainer Brad Cox told the Oaklawn press office. A $400,000 acquisition by owner Al Gold out of the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Showcase, the chestnut is unbeaten in two starts going long outside of stakes competition, having graduated in his first route attempt at the Fair Grounds Dec. 26 before tacking on a three-length allowance victory at the New Orleans oval Feb. 19. In between those efforts, he...

Briland Farm's Secret Oath (Arrogate), who soundly defeated fillies to win the Feb. 26 GIII Honeybee S., will take on the boys in the Apr. 2 $1.25-million GI Arkansas Derby, trainer D. Wayne Lukas confirmed Sunday. "We don't make these decisions, meaning the owners and myself, we don't make these decisions easily," Lukas said. "We consider all the things. First of all, you want to absolutely think that you are as good as any of the other 3-year-olds that might show up and you don't really know who is going...

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.--Dave Basler sees betting on table tennis in Asia and envisions it being replaced with horse racing in America's burgeoning sports books. "We can fill that void a lot of times during the day so that they don't have to play table tennis from China or cricket from Australia--things that people have no idea about," Basler, the executive director of the Ohio HBPA, said Thursday during a morning session of the National HBPA Conference at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort. "That's not just attractive to sports books, that's attractive...

Trainer Rob Atras reports that GI CCA Oaks upsetter Maracuja (Honor Code) is training nicely at Oaklawn Park, but will miss an intended engagement in next Saturday's GII Azeri S. and will likely be trained up to an appearance against the likes of Eclipse Award winner Letruska (Super Saver) in the GI Apple Blossom H. Apr. 23. "She's doing really well but we had setbacks with how the weather has gone and we're not anticipating making the Azeri," Atras told the New York Racing Association notes team. "We've played it...