Saratoga Secret sprints again but will stretch out soon

Saratoga Secret will launch what Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas hopes is a significant Oaklawn Park campaign on Sunday. The first-level allowance for 2-year-old fillies could serve as her springboard to the track’s prep series for the Kentucky Oaks.

Sunday’s eighth-race field of 10 includes Canterbury Park stakes winner Xtreme Diva, sharp debut winner Coastal Invasion, the well-bred Illusive Star, the win-streaking Tortuga Island, and Southern California runners Cheeky Gal and Feisty Mitole.

The group will travel six furlongs, the same distance over which Saratoga Secret finished second in the Grade 3 Schuylerville in July at Saratoga. She’s raced once since, finishing fourth after hitting traffic in the Fern Creek on Nov. 25 at Churchill Downs.

“She’s had a couple of trips that were not perfect and that happens with 2-year-olds,” Lukas said. “It can be hard for them to overcome. We put her in this conditioned race to give her a little more experience and to give her a race again before we jump into the deep end of the pool.”

Lukas believes Saratoga Secret will enjoy stretching out in distance in upcoming starts.

“She’s definitely a two-turn filly, wants two turns,” he said. “We’ll give her that opportunity, point for the two-turn races, but I want to give her one more chance to get a little confidence and experience. I don’t think it’s an ideal distance. I think it’s a little too short for her. I’d feel better if it was six and a half or seven [furlongs], but we run six at Oaklawn, so that’s where we’re at.”

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Saratoga Secret, a $200,000 yearling purchase who races for BC Stables, is bred top and bottom to excel at two turns when the time comes. She is a daughter of Arrogate and the mare Sister, who is a half-sister to both Kentucky Derby runner-up Lookin At Lee and multiple Grade 3 winner Blended Citizen.

Saratoga Secret won her debut in a maiden special weight over 5 1/2 furlongs at Ellis Park. She then moved on to the Schuylerville, racing prominently throughout and finishing 3 1/4 lengths behind longshot winner Becky’s Joker.

“She’s got some quality,” Lukas said. “She showed it when she ran in the Schuylerville. I was pleased with her race. I thought she could have won it, actually.”

Ramon Vazquez has the mount on Saratoga Secret from post 7.

Xtreme Diva won the first two races of her career against Minnesota-breds at Canterbury. She rolled by more than 12 lengths in a maiden special weight, then captured the $100,000 Northern Lights Debutante in September with a Beyer Speed Figure of 81. It’s the best career main-track number in Sunday’s race.

Coastal Invasion owns the field’s best last-race dirt Beyer, a 79 earned for a debut win over maiden special weight rivals at Churchill Downs. Florent Geroux has the mount for trainer Brad Cox.

Tortuga Island has won her last two starts by a combined margin of 16 1/2 lengths, while Illusive Star is a full sister to the multiple stakes winners Nitrous and Speedometer.

Trainer Peter Miller will be represented by Cheeky Gal, the runner-up in a turf sprint allowance last out at Del Mar, and Feisty Mitole, winner of a maiden special weight over the same course in November.

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