HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – It was the squeal heard ’round the backside. Word that Secret Oath would pass on the Grade 3, $600,000 Fantasy on Saturday at Oaklawn Park in favor of taking on males on the same card in the Arkansas Derby sent fillies into a frenzy. And that’s been good for the Fantasy. It’s one of the best betting races on a card that launches the $5.4 million Racing Festival of the South. The collection of major stakes will be held throughout April. The Fantasy field size is larger than what’s been the norm for the meet’s first two Kentucky Oaks points races dominated by Secret Oath. And, the Fantasy has no clear-cut favorite. Eda, who would have filled that role, was to be scratched due to a temperature. The defection makes for a field of eight. There is ample speed in the Fantasy, a 1 1/16-mile race that distributes Oaks points to its first four finishers on a scale of 100-40-20-10. That might benefit a filly who has defeated Secret Oath, the Grade 2 Golden Rod winner Dream Lith. She invades from Fair Grounds for the Fantasy, while Busanda winner Magic Circle is in from New York, and Cincinnati Trophy winner Bubble Rock ships in from Kentucky. The field also includes Yuugiri, who was second in the Golden Rod run in November at Churchill. :: Want to start playing with a $510 bankroll and have access to free Formulator? Learn more Dream Lith closed from off the pace to win Golden Rod, and she could get an ideal setup Saturday behind sprint-to-route prospect Heartyconstitution and Beguine, Magic Circle, Yuugiri, Mariah’s Fortune, and Bubble Rock. Dream Lith will break from the rail under Ramon Vazquez, who has the mount for trainer Robertino Diodoro. “I’ve got all the confidence in the world in Ramon,” Diodoro said. “My point of view as a trainer on a lot of these bigger races is you can look at them until you’re blue in the face, but when all is said and done the race is run on dirt and not on paper.” Diodoro likes what he’s seeing in the flesh from Dream Lith, who is making her second start of the year following a sixth-place finish in the Rachel Alexandra on Feb. 19 at Fair Grounds. “Her race at Fair Grounds wasn’t as bad as it looks,” Diodoro said. “It was a very speed-biased track that day. “I just love the way she’s doing right now. She looks phenomenal, from her coat to just physically filling out a little bit. We just need to keep her happy, the way she is right now, and she’s ready to go Saturday afternoon.” Diodoro opted for the Fantasy for Dream Lith over last weekend’s Fair Grounds Oaks. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures “I think the key thing was giving her another week and getting another work into her,” he said. “The timing I thought was a lot better with the Oaklawn race.” Dream Lith worked a half-mile in 47.40 seconds on March 26 at Oaklawn, the move the fastest of 94 at the distance that morning. She breezed in company first after the renovation break, under Vazquez. “You couldn’t ask for a horse to work any better than she did,” Diodoro said. Yuugiri is making her second start of the year, after running third to Secret Oath in the Honeybee on Feb. 26 at Oaklawn. Yuugiri raced with the pace through fractions of 23 seconds for the opening quarter and 47 seconds for the half-mile before being overtaken by Secret Oath. “The 23, 47 was a lot to overcome against Secret Oath,” said Rodolphe Brisset, who trains Yuugiri. “We’ve just got to hope for a clean trip and see what we’ve got. “I think she’s going to run a couple of lengths better.” Brisset said Yuugiri’s stakes-winning dam, Yuzuru, recently died and that will play a role in how Yuugiri is managed as she’s key to carrying on her dam’s line for breeders and owners Tsunebumi and Sekie Yoshihara. “We have to focus on black type – and make sure we do the right thing by her,” Brisset said. “I think we need to run one-two to consider the Oaks. And even running second, we’ll need to have a good second.” Yuugiri was beaten just a length in the Golden Rod, and that day finished in front of fifth-place finisher Secret Oath. Frank’s Rockette eyes milestone Frank’s Rockette can become a millionaire with a win in the $200,000 Carousel. “We’d like to hit that number,” said Frank Fletcher, the Arkansas-based businessman who both bred and owns the multiple Grade 2 winner of $888,753. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has sent Frank’s Rockette from Florida for the Carousel for fillies and mares at six furlongs. The field of six includes multiple stakes winners Wildwood’s Beauty and Joy’s Rocket. Frank’s Rockette is making her first start since Dec. 18, when she ran second by a length in the Grade 3 Sugar Swirl at Gulfstream Park. “She finished second to a horse named Center Aisle,” Fletcher said. “Funny thing is, she beat Center Aisle two times before. But she beat us fairly and gamely.” Fletcher said Frank’s Rockette has since been wintering at Payson Park. “We gave her kind of a working vacation,” Fletcher said, “gave her a couple of months off. She’s fresh.” Frank’s Rockette is a winner at Oaklawn, having won the American Beauty in 2021. She returned to town later that meet and was second in the Carousel won by Edgeway, eventual runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar. Frank’s Rockette has registered her biggest wins in New York, in the Grade 2 Prioress and the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom. The 5-year-old daughter of Into Mischief is 8 for 19. “She’s the best filly that I’ve owned so far,” Fletcher said. “Frank’s Rockette has won more purse money than any filly we’ve had, and her mom was the first horse we ever had at the Breeders’ Cup. Her name is Rocket Twentyone. We still have her, and she was just bred to Into Mischief last week, in fact.” Frank’s Rockette will break from post 2, under Flavien Prat. “The key to this race [for her] is if she gets out of the gate good,” Fletcher said. “We’re excited to be back at Oaklawn. This will be one of my most exciting races this year.” ◗ Storm the Court, champion 2-year-old colt of 2019, launches his 5-year-old season in the 11th race. The six-furlong allowance also drew Gar Hole, who is 4 for 4 this meet at Oaklawn. Prat has the mount on Storm the Court for trainer Peter Eurton.