SECRET OATH AND CLAIRIERE RENEW RIVALRY IN APPLE BLOSSOM; TEJANO TWIST FAVORED IN COUNT FLEET SPRINT

By Jennifer Hoyt —-

SECRET OATH AND CLAIRIERE RENEW RIVALRY IN APPLE BLOSSOM

HOT SPRINGS, AR (Friday, April 14, 2023) – There’s a reason the $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) drew only four entrants. Two reasons, actually – Secret Oath and Clairiere, the millionaire Grade 1 winners who meet for the third time in the Apple Blossom, the 1 1/16-mile prize for older fillies and mares, Saturday at Oaklawn.

Probable post time for the Apple Blossom, which goes as the 11th of 12 races, is 6:12 p.m. (Central). Racing begins at 12:35 p.m. The card includes the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) for older horses at 6 furlongs.

If the field remains intact, it will equal the smallest in Apple Blossom history. Gorgeous beat three rivals, including heavily favored Bayakoa, the defending champion and future National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame inductee, in 1990.

“Kind of been watching it all winter long,” said Norm Casse, trainer of 2023 Apple Blossom entrant Hot and Sultry. “Kind of had a feeling. You’ve got two really nice fillies in there that scared everybody away.”

The Apple Blossom field from the rail out: Secret Oath, Tyler Gaffalione to ride, 123 pounds, 4-5 on the morning line; Hot and Sultry, David Cabrera, 117, 5-1; I Feel the Need, Chel-c Bailey, 114, 20-1; and Clairiere, Joel Rosario, 122, 6-5.

Secret Oath, the Apple Blossom program favorite, and Clairiere split their first two meetings. Clairiere finished third, beaten two noses, in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at 1 1/8 miles Nov. 5 at Keeneland. The razor-thin loss cost Clairiere, a homebred for Stonestreet Stables (Barbara Banke), an Eclipse Award as the country’s champion older dirt female of 2022. Secret Oath, facing older horses for the first time, finished fifth, beaten 5 ½ lengths.

Both horses, racing for the first time since the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, met again in the $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) at 1 1/16 miles March 11 at Oaklawn. Secret Oath, ridden for the first time by Gaffalione, beat Clairiere by 2 ¾ lengths in the final major local Apple Blossom prep. Each horse carried 119 pounds under allowance conditions. Secret Oath and Clairiere were high weights among the 12 Apple Blossom nominees.

Secret Oath has logged three five-furlong workouts at Oaklawn since the Azeri, the last a bullet (1:00) April 7 under her regular breeze rider, French jockey Mickaelle Michel.

“We’ve done everything we’ve liked to do with her,” said D. Wayne Lukas, Secret Oath’s Hall of Fame trainer. “She’s absolutely, as always, thrived down here. We could have run this week, last week, week after. She’s, I think, on her game. We’ve just got to get her over there happy.”

Secret Oath, who races for her breeder, Briland Farm (Robert and Stacy Mitchell), was a finalist for an Eclipse Award as the country’s champion 3-year-old filly of 2022 after winning Oaklawn’s $200,000 Martha Washington Stakes and $300,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) and the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs. The Azeri marked the 4-year-old debut for Secret Oath, who has a 6-2-3 record from 14 lifetime starts and earnings of $1,982,267.

Tactically, Secret Oath has an advantage over late-running Clairiere and figures to be tracking Hot and Sultry, the Apple Blossom’s likely controlling speed after finishing fourth in the Azeri.

“The thing with Secret Oath, though, is that she can dictate the race as much as she wants to,” Lukas said. “She can stay close. She can relax back. She’s pretty versatile. The thing that she does is she changes the game right when she wants to. She has that move that she makes that is really, really tough for a horse to handle that’s running against her. Just depends if he (Gaffalione) wants to sneak up behind them and then make his move or whatever he wants to do. And Tyler knows her now. That’s the other thing. Tyler’s going to be more seasoned on her, too.”

Clairiere finished second in last year’s Apple Blossom before winning the $500,000 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park in her next start for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. A 5-year-old daughter of Curlin, Clairiere has a 6-5-3 record from 17 lifetime starts and earnings of $2,181,392. The 2022 Apple Blossom drew only five entrants, but possessed much more speed with the likes of Eclipse Award winners Letruska and Ce Ce.

“Don’t love the race setup, the race shape for a filly that comes from as far back as Clairiere,” Asmussen said. “But I’m obviously very happy with how she’s training. Kind of feel like she’s up against it a little bit with somebody as good as Secret Oath. No pace in the race at all.”

Hot and Sultry made her two-turn debut in the Azeri and was beaten 3 ¼ lengths after pressing the pace. She captured the $150,000 American Beauty Stakes for older female sprinters Jan. 21 at Oaklawn and was a front-running winner of a 1-mile entry-level allowance race last July at Churchill Downs for Asmussen.

“I think there’s one way that we can win the race and, thankfully, it’s our greatest attribute,” said Casse, who trains Hot and Sultry for prominent Arkansas owners Alex and JoAnn Lieblong. “We’re excited to see her run. I think we would have felt like we would have had a really big chance regardless, but now we feel like we have a really good hand.”

I Feel the Need, at odds of 40-1, finished fourth in the $600,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles last April at Oaklawn. She had been claimed out of her previous start for $50,000 by trainer Burl McBride. I Feed the Need exits a third-place finish in a 1 1/16-mile starter allowance March 30 at Oaklawn.

“I am surprised,” Lukas said, when asked about the Apple Blossom’s miniscule field size. “Burl McBride’s filly, I don’t blame him. That’s what, $50,000 to the fourth-place horse? But everybody conceding him the fourth-place horse, strange things happen. I don’t blame him for dropping in there.”

Lukas is seeking his record fourth Apple Blossom victory after winning the race in 1983 (Miss Huntington), 1987 (North Sider) and 2004 (Azeri). Asmussen won the Apple Blossom in 2015 (Untapable) and 2019 (Midnight Bisou).

Asmussen has an Oaklawn record 99 career stakes victories. Lukas ranks third with 52.

TEJANO TWIST FAVORED IN SATURDAY’S COUNT FLEET SPRINT

HOT SPRINGS, AR (Friday, April 14, 2023) – Trainer Chris Hartman said he claimed Tejano Twist with the thought of a late-running grass horses. Instead of grass, the late-running Tejano Twist has excelled on dirt.

Tejano Twist can pad his main-track resume again Saturday at Oaklawn in the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) for older horses at 6 furlongs. Probable post time for the Count Fleet, which goes as the ninth of 12 races, is 4:58 p.m. (Central). Racing begins at 12:35 p.m. The card is highlighted by the $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) for older fillies and mares.

The projected 10-horse Count Fleet field from the rail out: Edge to Edge, Mitchell Murrill to ride, 118 pounds, 10-1 on the morning line; Skelly, Ricardo Santana Jr., 117, 4-1; Pirate Rick, Gabriel Saez, 115, 20-1; Candy Man Rocket, Junior Alvarado, 122, 6-1; Tejano Twist, Francisco Arrieta, 124, 5-2; Radical Right, Cristian Torres, 117, 15-1; Surveillance, James Graham, 119, 6-1; Cogburn, Joel Rosario, 116, 15-1; Payne, Keith Asmussen, 115, 20-1; and Strobe, Florent Geroux, 119, 7-2.

The Count Fleet brings back program favorite Tejano Twist, stablemate Edge to Edge, Pirate Rick and Cogburn, 1-3-6-8, respectively, in the $200,000 Whitmore Stakes (G3) for older horses at 6 furlongs March 18. The Whitmore, the final major local prep for the Count Fleet, marked Tejano Twist’s fourth victory since Hartman claimed the now-4-year-old Practical Joke gelding for $80,000 last June at Churchill Downs.

“I really thought he was going to be an OK turfer, myself, maybe a late-closing sprinting turf horse,” Hartman said. “He turned the page for us and I think he likes the cooler weather.”

After finishing ninth and eighth in turf stakes last summer and early fall in Kentucky, Tejano Twist has been a model of consistency in his return to dirt. Tejano Twist has a 4-1-0 record in his last five starts, highlighted by victories in the Whitmore and $250,000 Steel Valley Sprint Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters Nov. 21 at Mahoning Valley. Tejano Twist, in his 4-year-old debut, finished second to Grade 1 winner Gunite in the $150,000 King Cotton Stakes for older sprinters Jan. 28 at Oaklawn. Tejano Twist rallied from ninth to win the Whitmore by 1 ½ lengths and again has the speedy Edge to Edge to help ensure a fast pace. A victory Saturday would make Tejano Twist ($763,604) a millionaire.

“I think we’re in a great position and, hopefully, we can get the good results,” Hartman said.

Strobe will be making his stakes debut after winning 4 of 5 career starts, including an allowance sprint by 5 ¼ lengths Jan. 27 at Fair Grounds. Strobe has been favored in every career start for trainer Brad Cox, who is seeking his ninth stakes victory of the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting. Cox has never won the Count Fleet.

Grade 3 winner Candy Man Rocket, who is campaigned by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and prominent Arkansas businessman Frank Fletcher, has won his last three starts, including the $125,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint Stakes at 6 furlongs Feb. 25 at Gulfstream Park.

The consistent Surveillance – first, second or third in eight of his last 10 starts – bids for his first career graded stakes victory. The Keith Desormeaux-trained gelding won the $175,000 Thanksgiving Classic Stakes Nov. 24, $100,000 Richard R. Scherer Memorial Stakes Dec. 26 and the $100,000 Duncan F. Kenner Stakes Jan. 21. All three dirt sprint races were at Fair Grounds. Surveillance, in his only graded stakes start, finished fourth in the $300,000 Commonwealth (G3) for older horses at 7 furlongs last April at Keeneland. Surveillance hasn’t raced since finishing fourth in the $100,000 Colonel Power Stakes at about 5 ½ furlongs on the turf Feb. 18 at Fair Grounds.

“We’ve been kind of eyeing it (Count Fleet),” Desormeaux said. “There were no more dirt sprints at the Fair Grounds and we had run him pretty hard, first part of the meet. We ran him in the Commonwealth last year and it was seven-eighths. I always thought James was crazy, but he said that horse doesn’t want to go any further than 6 furlongs. He looked like a winner in the Commonwealth and was just kind of a steady pace to the wire. The fact that it (Count Fleet) is at Oaklawn, $500,000, 6 furlongs and perfect timing – that’s what steered us there.”

Desormeaux said he believes the gelding’s stalking style should be ideal for the Count Fleet, which features several speed horses.

“He’s really going to be tough to beat because he is a really, really talented horse,” Desormeaux said.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen bids for his record-extending fifth Count Fleet victory after winning the race last year with champion Jackie’s Warrior. Asmussen has a trio of runners this year in Skelly, Cogburn and Payne. The Count Fleet will mark the stakes debut of Skelly, who exits two front-running allowance victories at the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting.

Asmussen is seeking his recording-extending 100th career Oaklawn stakes victory.

-30-