Belmont Park: Midnight Lucky targets Saratoga

Midnight Lucky, the 6 1/4-length winner of Monday’s Grade 1 Acorn, will head back to Southern California in the coming weeks, but her racing schedule will include at least one, if not two, Grade 1 races this summer at Saratoga.

While the Grade 1 Test on Aug. 24 is the main summer objective for Midnight Lucky, trainer Bob Baffert said the Prioress, at six furlongs on July 27, is also possible.

Midnight Lucky, who gave Baffert his third Acorn in five years, shipped back to Kentucky on Tuesday and will ship to Southern California in early June, likely after the June 8 Belmont Stakes, Baffert said.

Last year, Baffert won the Acorn and the Test with Contested, who finished last in the Mother Goose in between.

Midnight Lucky ran in the Acorn 23 days after running fifth in the Kentucky Oaks. Baffert believes the outside post position in the Acorn had a lot to do with Midnight Lucky’s success on Monday.

“The post was very important for her,” Baffert said. “In the Kentucky Oaks, if she would have been on the outside, we would have been able to get her to relax.”

Midnight Lucky, who earned a 99 Beyer Speed Figure for the Acorn, gave the stallion Midnight Lute his first Grade 1 winner.

“Midnight Lute is a sire of brilliance,” said Baffert, who trained Midnight Lute for Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, who also own Midnight Lucky. “Any time you see Mike Pegram show up in New York that’s a serious horse.”

Kauai Katie, who finished third in the Acorn after stumbling at the start, will also target the Test as her major summer objective. Her trainer, Todd Pletcher, said he has not yet decided whether to run in the Victory Ride at Belmont on June 29 or the Prioress at Saratoga next