Mauberret After 'Wicked' Win in Oaks

Lee Mauberret and his talented, hard-knocking filly Wicked Lick (Maclean's Music) are flying under the radar in Friday's GI Kentucky Oaks, but they do not seem to mind one bit. Each with impressive lineages, they represent deep roots in racing that not only give them credibility, but also collective confidence competing at the top level.

Mauberret, 54, is a son of iconic Louisiana veterinarian Claude Mauberret, Jr., the only of his trade elected to the Fair Grounds Hall of Fame after more than 50 years working at the New Orleans oval. He owns two companies–Delta Chemical and Delta Sod–which specialize in water treatment chemicals and grass wholesaling, respectively, in Louisiana, and has only recently invested seriously in the game that meant so much to his family for so many years. Wicked Lick, on the other hand, is a product of 40 years of the late Edward P. Evans breeding on her damside, arguably one of the top programs to exist in American Thoroughbred breeding history.

Together, the pair have gone on an exciting ride that Mauberret did not expect, but is fully embracing. After a pair of stakes placings behind Coffeepot Stables' Farrell (Malibu Moon) –one of the Kentucky Oaks favorites–the Louisiana-based team is taking its bayou dreams to the big dance.

“It's an incredible experience, in itself,” Mauberret, who works in tandem with his wife of 15 years, Cheryl. “I'm from New Orleans and my involvement in the racing industry comes from my father, who was instrumental in the development of LSU's veterinary school and had his hand in all facets of the racing industry. Around 2002, I decided to start buying horses. We went to Argentina and bought one, but it was mostly just for beer money and having fun. As the years moved on, I became more serious with the selecting of horses and started to really enjoy it.

“We bought Wicked Lick's dam Here Music (Dehere) at the Edward Evans dispersal sale [for $100,000 as a 2-year-old] and raced her before retiring her sound,” he continued. “I bought out my partner and moved into breeding. When I did that, I called trainer Neil Pessin and asked him for some recommendations for who to breed her to and he said without hesitation that I had to go to Maclean's Music (Distorted Humor). It was his first breeding season and he thought the world of the sire. Lo and behold, he was right and things worked out with this filly. It's really just unbelievable.”

Here Music is a half-sister to Grade II winner Noble Moon (Malibu Moon) and is a granddaughter of phenomenal Evans mare Music Bell (Stop the Music), who produced three stakes winners, including Grade II-winning colts Silver Music (Silver Ghost) and Musical Ghost (Silver Ghost), as well as four daughters who either won stakes or produced stakes winners– Prospector's Song (Prospector's Music), Mambo Bell (Kingmambo), Start the Thunder (Thunder Gulch) and Ghost Bell (Silver Ghost).

Closing speed, size and soundness all seem to have come to a head in Wicked Lick, whose late runs have earned her the admiration of her trainer, Brendan Walsh. In eight starts, the chestnut filly has finished in the exacta five times. After commencing her career mostly in grass routes, she was moved to the dirt in her 3-year-old season and held her own in the salty sophomore division of the Fair Grounds. A solid second in the Listed Silverbulletday S. in January was followed by a tough-luck fourth in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. Feb. 25 and then a game and gaining runner-up effort in the GII Fair Grounds Oaks–a race that has been more successful at producing Kentucky Oaks winners than any prep this century.

“She's just a game filly–she's Wicked Lick–she tries, she's genuine and she's a pleasure to train,” Walsh said. “We began her on the grass because we wanted to let her develop a little more. We thought that grass routes would help her do that and they did and now she's doing very well on the dirt. In her last race, she proved to me that she belongs with these fillies and I really look forward to seeing her try nine furlongs in the Oaks. I believe she is sitting on her best race yet.”

Even more intriguing about Wicked Lick–whose name is a combination of Cheryl Mauberret's love for Halloween and the filly's music-oriented sire and dam monikers–is that she is the lone horse Mauberret owns outright among the dozen in his name. Eleven of those are in partnership with Archie and Michelle St. George, good friends of Walsh's who introduced the pair when Mauberret was seeking a trainer.

“Archie and I have become friends and business associates and he and Michelle really do an outstanding job,” Mauberret said. “They introduced me to Brendan last year and he has been really great for us. It was really funny–when he first saw Wicked Lick, he threw his head back and looked at me and said 'that's your Kentucky Oaks filly right there, Lee.' … and I can't believe it's actually happening.

“We brought her along and let her get used to racing and understand what it was about,” he continued. “Then we broke our maiden and Brendan always felt along that she would be a two-turn dirt filly, she just needed to fill that frame out, so we waited until the Fair Grounds and with each race she's run, she's become stronger and better. After the Fair Grounds Oaks, Brendan and I were sitting in a restaurant making sure we had our feet on the ground and not letting the race go to our heads. We looked back and watched the race and Brendan said he thought she earned it.”

Himself a marathon runner who averages 35-40 jogging miles a week, Mauberret looks forward to the stamina test that is Kentucky Derby week at Churchill Downs. Fully soaking up the experience, he remains humble and appreciative to all those involved.

“I'm at a loss for words, but all those people–from my father and my sister Catherine, who is the state vet at the Fair Grounds for 20 years, to Neil and everyone who played a big part–I just feel very fortunate,” Mauberret concluded. “Win, lose or draw, I feel like we are going into this race with a very good, improving filly with a big chance and we plan on enjoying it.”