Will's Secret Gains Notice in Martha Washington
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Photo: Coady Photography
Will's Secret wins the Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn Park
Willis Horton Racing's homebred Will's Secret is a secret no longer after making the successful jump from maiden winner to stakes winner in the $200,000 Martha Washington Stakes Jan. 30 at Oaklawn Park. Her 5 1/4-length victory earned her 10 points towards eligibility in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs April 30.
Ridden by Jon Court, Will's Secret settled behind the pace early as Sylvia Q led the field of six through early fractions of :23.61 and :47.35 for the first half-mile. The winner came four-wide around the turn for home, put her head in front at the top of the lane, and proceeded to widen the margin of victory through the stretch, drawing clear of 4-5 favorite Coach, one of a couple of fillies in the Martha Washington that had rough trips. The winning time was 1:38.78 for a mile over a muddy track.
Joy's Rocket, who bumped a couple of times with a rival in the race to the first turn, was third.
"The strategy was to not let the speed separate from us and keep them within striking distance, just because it is a short stretch, short run to the wire," Court said. "I was keeping that in mind and mindful that these horses do have speed that carries. They've shown it already and proven that they can win wire-to-wire, or right there off the pace. If they created too much separation and left too much for her to do, there's a chance I might not catch that speed. She rallied up to get on by them."
Coach earned four points toward Kentucky Oaks eligibility, Joy's Rocket got two points, and Sylvia Q, who faded to fourth, earned one point.
Will's Secret, by Will Take Charge , improved to 2-for-5 and has earned $163,300. She returned $18 for a $2 win wager.
"I was a little worried about it, honestly, because it was only a mile," winning trainer Dallas Stewart said by telephone from his New Orleans base. "She runs the stretch really, really good. I was a little worried. She had been going a mile and a sixteenth. I just worried about shortening her up because it can be a little tricky sometimes. Obviously, she's a lot smarter than me."
The Martha Washington win was the second in the race for owner Willis Horton of Marshall, Ark., after also winning the 2015 edition with Take Charge Brandi. It was also his second stakes victory in a week after winning the Fifth Season Stakes Jan. 23 with Silver State, a colt he owns with Winchell Thoroughbreds that races for trainer Steve Asmussen.
Bred in Kentucky by her owner, Will's Secret is the first foal for her dam, the winning Giant's Causeway mare Girls Secret. The dam also has an unnamed 2-year-old full brother to Will's Secret and an unnamed yearling colt by Hard Spun . She was reported bred back to Hard Spun for 2021.
Frank's Rockette Returns a Winner in American Beauty
Frank Fletcher Racing Operations's multiple grade 2 winner Frank's Rockette lived up to her 1-2 odds and returned to the winner's circle after making a successful 2021 debut in Saturdays $150,000 American Beauty Stakes. The 4-year-old Into Mischief filly was making her first start since taking on older males in the Nov. 7 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Keeneland, where she finished 11th after four straight wins.
Breaking from post 7 under Florent Geroux, Frank's Rockette raced just to the outside of 2019 American Beauty winner Amy's Challenge and stayed within easy striking distance through early fractions of :21.47 and :44.68 before edging clear of her rival to win by 1 1/4 lengths. Her final time for six furlongs over a muddy track was 1:10.03. Wildwood's Beauty was third.
Frank's Rockette runs past Amy's Challenge to win the American Beauty Stakes at Oaklawn Park
"She broke very alertly, which gave me a great option to be right there off the speed without any effort," Geroux said. "And, from there, I was just continuing to get pressure on Amy's Challenge because when she's on the lead she can be very difficult to pass. I wanted to make sure I didn't give my filly too much to do down the lane. But she was very professional and when I asked her to go down the lane, she was all in, and she gave me everything she had."
Frank's Rockette improved her record to 7-4-0 in 12 starts and pushed her earnings to $696,103. She returned $3.20 as the heavy favorite. She was saddled by Sebastian "Bas" Nicholl, a longtime assistant to D. Wayne Lukas, for trainer Bill Mott. The filly had shipped into the Lukas barn at Oaklawn from Mott's winter base at Payson Park Training Center in Florida.
"Nice to see her come off the bench. It's great," Mott said by phone. "What makes it better is Mr. Fletcher was there at his home track and he was there, so, thats like winning two. She ran on an off track there last year (in the Purple Martin Stakes), but the bottom line is she ran into a very good filly (Kimari). Florent thought she handled it well enough today. Knowing she was second against a really good filly there last year, I felt she would handle it. Is it her favorite surface? Well, I dont know. But she certainly handled it well enough today."
A Kentucky homebred, Frank's Rockette is out of the grade 3-winning Indian Charlie mare Rocket Twentyone and is a half sister to black-type-placed winners Firewater Rocket (Macho Rocket) and Rocknroll Rocket (Curlin ). Rocket Twentyone foaled an American Pharoah filly in 2020 and was reported bred back to Into Mischief for 2021.
Video: Martha Washington S. (BT)