US racing tips: Shane Ketteridge with two Saturday selections from Oaklawn Park

Secret Oath
8.10pm Oaklawn Park
2pts win

Barber Road
11.22pm Oaklawn Park
1pt win

It will be two years in June since we lost the champion Arrogate, who blew us away with some performances on the track that we may never see again.

His legacy lives on in his daughter Secret Oath, who lines up in the $300,000 Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn Park today, D. Wayne Lukas’s filly is still very raw but could be destined for the top.

She made her long-awaited debut at Churchill Downs in October which resulted in a third-placed finish, before improving on that to win by an impressive five and a quarter lengths on her second start at the course over today’s distance of 1m½f.

A fifth in a Grade 2 followed, but that race may have come too soon and connections have since campaigned her at this course and she’s been doing very well.

The last two months have resulted in two effortless wins in allowance and Listed company with a combined winning distance of 15 and a half lengths, her latest victory coming over this course and distance.
She reminds me of her sire in the way she is beating the opposition with a minimum of fuss.

Secret Oath is an exciting filly who doesn’t know how good she is yet and she can stamp her authority before moving up in grade.

The penultimate race at Oaklawn Park is the $1 million Grade 2 Rebel Stakes for three-year-olds over 1m½f on the dirt and Newgrange is likely to be tough to beat, but he got first run on the selection Barber Road last time and John Ortiz’s son of Race Day is taken to turn the form around.

This consistent colt’s last five form figures read 11222, his last two runs coming in Listed and Graded class at this course, but it’s the way he ran last time that leads me to believe he can win this.

After being held up under Ricardo Santana, he had to come wide of a strong field of 12 and was finishing best of all, but Newgrange had already flow and it was a case of wait until next time.

He’s drawn wide of the favourite again but hopefully today’s jockey Reylu Gutierrez can keep him in sight and pounce late.

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