Filly Secret Oath Draws Post 6 in Arkansas Derby Bid

In what promises to be one of the most exciting Road to the Kentucky Derby races of the spring season so far, the field of nine was drawn March 27 at 1:30 ET for the $1.25 million Arkansas Derby (G1), which takes place April 2.

Oaklawn Park's final and premier prep race for the Kentucky Derby sponsored by Woodford Reserve (G1), the 1 1/8-mile dirt test is worth 170 Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying points offered on a 100-40-20-10 scale.

Highlighting the Arkansas Derby's cast of contenders is Briland Farm's brilliant filly Secret Oath . A proven Goliath against her own gender, she is set to tackle the boys for the first time Saturday. The husky chestnut daughter of the late Arrogate has won her last three starts at Oaklawn by a combined 23 lengths, securing her starting slot in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) with victories in the Jan. 29 Martha Washington Stakes and Feb. 26 Honeybee Stakes (G3). She has 60 points so far towards the Oaks but will need to place in the top two Saturday to earn a berth into this year's Kentucky Derby field.

Secret Oath's trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, is no stranger to running fillies against the colts, having won the 1988 Kentucky Derby with Winning Colors and the 1984 Arkansas Derby with Althea.

The filly's ability to rate and be placed virtually anywhere in the race gives her a strong tactical advantage against males. She has been eye-catching in her preparations for the Arkansas Derby, sizzling five-furlongs in a bullet :59.40 March 17.

She drew post 6 and will be ridden by her steady pilot, Luis Contreras.

Doppelganger , owned in partnership by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, Golconda Stable, and Siena Farm, heads the West Coast invaders. The son of Into Mischief   enters the race following a throng of controversy surrounding his previous trainer, Bob Baffert.

Since Baffert is currently suspended by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and Churchill Downs Inc., it was announced Thursday that four horses under his care were transferred to other trainers. The two-year suspension from Churchill Downs meant that none of his trainees, including Doppelganger, were issued any Kentucky Derby qualifying points in prep races.

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Doppelganger will make his first start for trainer Tim Yakteen in the Arkansas Derby.

"We'll see if he can validate himself as a (Kentucky) Derby horse, earn some points and take it from there," said Yakteen.

After breaking his maiden impressively in December at Los Alamitos Race Course, Doppelganger was fourth in the Jan. 29 San Vicente Stakes (G2) and second while stretching out to two turns for the first time in the March 5 San Felipe Stakes (G2) behind Forbidden Kingdom .

"(Doppelganger has) come out of his last race very well," SF Racing's Tom Ryan said. "Look, we’re excited about him. He’s a horse that’s always excited me. He’s a beautiful specimen. He trained extremely well (March 20), went in (1:10 4/5), which is in itself quite a feat, but he did it the right way. He wasn’t urged to do it. He really laid himself down and worked like a good horse, like the good horse we believe he is."

The bay will break from post 4. Johnny Velazquez flies into town for the mount.

The first and third-place finishers of the Rebel Stakes (G2) renew their rivalry in the Arkansas Derby after finishing within three-quarters of a length of each other Feb. 26.

With a rail-skimming stretch run, Cypress Creek Equine's Un Ojo  shocked the field at 75-1 in the Rebel coming off a second-place finish in Feb. 5 Withers Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack. The one-eyed gelding shipped into Oaklawn last week from his Louisiana base, breezing a half-mile in :48 4/5 for trainer Ricky Courville.

Un Ojo will leave from the 5 hole. Ramon Vazquez, who guided the gelding to victory in the Rebel, has the call.

WSS Racing's Barber Road  placed in all three of Oaklawn's premier Derby prep races, finishing second in the Jan. 1 Smarty Jones Stakes and Jan. 29 Southwest Stakes (G3) before his close third in the Rebel. The late-running son of Race Day  has encountered traffic trouble in each of those starts, and his connections hope for a clear run and racing luck for the John Ortiz-trained colt.

Barber Road drew post 3 with Reylu Gutierrez in the irons.

"I think it's a perfect spot for us. What I'm looking for is just for a trip down the middle of the track," said Ortiz. "I couldn't be any happier (with how Barber Road is coming into the race). The horse has done nothing but improve after each start and this is the freshest and happiest I've seen him going into a race."

Recent impressive allowance winners We the People , from the Rodolphe Brisset barn, and Cyberknife , from the Brad Cox stable, will test stakes waters for the first time in the Arkansas Derby.

MyRacehorse's Chasing Time , fifth in the Rebel off a Jan. 15 allowance optional claimer blow-out score, James Rogers and Michael Robinson's Kavod , fourth in all three Oaklawn Derby preps, and Willis Horton's homebred Ben Diesel , eighth in the Rebel and third in the Southwest, complete the field.

Missing from the entries was Mark DeDomenico's Call Me Jamal . An allowance optional claimer winner Feb. 26 at Oaklawn who was pointing towards the Arkansas Derby, emerged from a 6-furlong work Sunday morning with a filling in his leg.

“He tweaked something,” trainer Michael Puhich told the Daily Racing Form on Monday. “He’s never had a hiccup before.”