Santa Anita: Secret Circle staying in U.S.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Secret Circle, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint last November, will not start in the $2 million Golden Shaheen in Dubai on March 29, trainer Bob Baffert said on Friday.

Baffert said he prefers not to start Secret Circle on the Tapeta Footings synthetic surface at Meydan Racecourse, and plans to keep the 5-year-old horse in the United States for his next start, which will come on a dirt track. Baffet said no plans have been finalized for Secret Circle, who finished second in the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes on Feb. 2.

“He’s not going to Dubai,” Baffert said. “It’s tough. If it was the old dirt track, I’d be there with Game On Dude and Secret Circle.”

Game On Dude won the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap for a record third time on March 8 and will make his next start in the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic in West Virginia on April 19, a race he won in 2013.