Once again, Secret Circle is fresh, fit, and dangerous

He’s been out of sight and out of mind, but it’s not out of the question that Secret Circle will again be the horse to beat in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

Despite not launching his 2013 campaign until three weeks before the Breeders’ Cup and having been idle for 18 months prior to that race, Secret Circle went postward as the 5-2 favorite and rallied to win last year’s Sprint. Secret Circle also has been lightly raced leading up to this year’s Breeders’ Cup, with a second-place finish in the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes on Feb. 2 his only start this year.

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But trainer Bob Baffert said Secret Circle is training as well as ever and is right on target to defend his Sprint title Nov. 1 at Santa Anita. Baffert said he plans to run Secret Circle in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Oct. 4 and then in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

“He looks great, is training great, and right now, I’d say we are golden in that spot,” Baffert said when asked about the BC Sprint.

Secret Circle has worked steadily since early August, first at Del Mar and now at Santa Anita, where he sizzled a bullet six furlongs from the gate in 1:10.80 on Sept. 15 and five-eighths in 59.80 seconds Monday.

“I gave him a breather after the Palos Verdes; it’s hard to keep a sprinter in form all year,” said Baffert. “I didn’t want to ship him east for the big races back there because he’s not a good shipper. He just doesn’t fly well. And I didn’t want to run him over the Del Mar track this summer.”

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Secret Circle may have to beat another reigning Breeders’ Cup champion to defend his BC Sprint title. Trainer Doug O’Neill said Monday that he has not ruled out Goldencents running in the Sprint this year rather than defending his title in the Dirt Mile. The two Breeders’ Cup winners are set to collide in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship, too.

O’Neill’s other potential Sprint contender, Private Zone, will be in New York this weekend attempting to win Belmont’s Grade 1 Vosburgh for the second straight year. O’Neill left Private Zone on the East Coast with trainer Alfredo Velazquez following his fourth-place finish in the Turf Monster at Parx.

Palace, a dual Grade 1 this summer at Saratoga, will be favored to win the Vosburgh in a field that is also expected to include Happy My Way, Dads Caps, Ribo Bobo, and Salutos Amigos.