Cyber Secret needs fast track

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - If she runs, Cyber Secret is the one to beat of the seven 3-year-old fillies entered in a weak edition of the $75,000-added Ruthless at Aqueduct on Sunday.

Cyber Secret's trainer, Richard Dutrow Jr., said Cyber Secret only will run in the six-furlong Ruthless if the track is fast. For Friday's card, the inner track was sloppy, with additional mixed precipitation in the forecast for Friday evening and Saturday.

"I'll run if it's a fast, dry, and safe track," said Dutrow, who trains Cyber Secret for Sanford Goldfarb and Team Julep Stable.

Dutrow's reluctance to run Cyber Secret, whom he claimed for $65,000 in August, on a wet surface stems from her performance in the Grade 2 Astarita at Belmont Park in October over a sloppy track. Cyber Secret trailed the field early and was eased in the stretch. In her next start, she rebounded by winning a first-level allowance race by three lengths over Aqueduct's main track on Nov. 9.

"I have to blame it on the track because she ran big races before and after [the Astarita]," Dutrow said.

If he scratches Cyber Secret out of the Ruthless, Dutrow said he would look for a two-turn allowance race for the filly, because he believes her speed would be dangerous over the inner track when she stretches out in distance.

Shaun Bridgmohan is named to ride Cyber Secret, who drew post 7.

Safely at Home could be ready for a big race. Trained by John DeStefano Jr., Safely at Home owns the highest Beyer Speed Figure [91] in the field and figures to move forward off her last race, in which she finished third in her first start following a six-month layoff.

Richard Migliore replaces Bridgmohan, who was aboard Safely at Home in three career starts.

Reign of Tara, who beat Safely at Home when they met on Dec. 6, is a winner of 2 of 3 starts. She won her career debut in the slop at Belmont in October. In her inner track debut, Reign of Tara won an allowance race by a hard-fought neck over a fast track.

"She ran very game last time, but I'm not too sure if she [liked] the track," Bill Turner Jr., Reign of Tara's trainer, said. "She won because she was the best horse."

Hansel's Gretel exits the New York-bred ranks where she has won two of three starts, including her most recent race on Dec. 14 over a muddy track.

Impolite, Lizzy Cool, and Xtra Heart complete the field.

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