Altaf remains unbeaten with Lady's Secret victory
Chad Brown was asked Friday about Altaf, his starter Sunday at Monmouth Park in the $100,000 Lady’s Secret Stakes. Brown affirmed what the filly’s past performance suggested – that she seemed pretty darn good. And Sunday at Monmouth, Altaf validated her trainer’s opinion, cruising to a 2 1/2-length win in her stakes and two-turn debut and running her dirt record to three wins from three starts.
Altaf’s first start around two turns made her one-turn starts look like appetizers for the main course. She rated kindly under Dylan Davis, showed multiple gears to make a move to reach contention around the far turn, then finished off her five rivals in the homestretch. Altaf did it all appearing well within herself, bounding over the ground with long, effective strides.
“We’ve been waiting on this filly for a long time because we could tell she was talented,” said Luis Cabrera, Brown’s Monmouth-based assistant. “She has been worth waiting for. She can go longer if we ask her to.”
Altaf, a 4-year-old Shadwell Stable homebred by Medaglia d’Oro out of Fawaarek, by Smart Strike, finished seventh in her turf debut two Aprils ago, scored an eye-catching win in a dirt maiden race at Churchill during May, then was out of action for 11 months. Nothing was seriously amiss with the filly, Brown said last week, and Altaf looked like a serious horse winning her comeback race, an Aqueduct first-level allowance race over a one-turn mile, with speed to spare.
On Sunday she raced mid-pack, a couple lengths off the lead, as Velvet Crush set splits of 24.15 and 47.52 before coming with her run. Altaf stopped the timer in 1:43.64 for 1 1/16 miles on a fast main track and paid $3.60 as the favorite. Gibberish turned in a solid performance finishing second, 3 1/4 lengths in front of Landing Zone. Flashndynamite, and Gracetown were scratched.
“It’s very impressive for any horse to easily handle the jump in competition and the different challenges the way she has,” Davis said. “She can be a nice filly. She ran great today, and she has room to improve.”