She's Lookin Lucky deals with tough company in Seneca

When Matt Shirer took out his trainer’s license in 2015, he knew what sort of barn he aspired to run.

“Kenny is someone I always strived to be like,” said the former assistant to trainer Ken McPeek. “His program is so successful, and I learned a lot when I worked for him.”

Shirer is looking for his first career stakes win as he saddles She’s Lookin Lucky against a salty field that includes McPeek’s graded stakes winner Fun and Feisty in the $175,000 Seneca Overnight Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on Saturday night at Churchill Downs.

She’s Lookin Lucky is one of three fillies exiting Grade 1 competition at Saratoga, along with Grade 2 winner and morning-line favorite Taxed and Sabra Tuff. The presence of Fun and Feisty and turf stakes winner Xigera – also trained by a former McPeek employee, Phil Bauer – makes this a compelling lineup.

The Seneca is one of four stakes on a “Downs After Dark” program that begins at 6 p.m. The 1 1/16-mile race is paired with the Grade 3, $300,000 Dogwood for sophomore filly sprinters, and two- and one-turn races 3-year-old males, the $300,000 Bourbon Trail and $300,000 Harrods Creek, respectively.

She’s Lookin Lucky made her first two starts for Al Stall Jr. before coming to Shirer’s barn. She has earned both her career wins for Shirer, a 13 1/4-length maiden win at Fair Grounds and a seven-length allowance-level victory going 1 1/8 miles in June at Ellis Park in which she earned a career-high 86 Beyer Speed Figure.

Following that win, the filly went to Saratoga for the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks. She raced on the lead before finishing a well-beaten fourth behind Wet Paint, Sacred Wish, and Gambling Girl. Since shipping back to Churchill, she has turned in a pair of very sharp works.

Later in the Saratoga meet, in the Grade 1 Alabama, Sabra Tuff, already graded stakes-placed for Dallas Stewart, finished fourth behind Randomized, Wet Paint, and Defining Purpose. Taxed crossed the line fifth, but was moved to sixth for impeding a rival. Taxed has had a strong season since being claimed by Randy Morse, winning the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico with a field-best 90 Beyer and picking up two other graded placings.

The other graded winner in this field is McPeek’s Fun and Feisty, getting back to the distance and surface on which she won the Grade 3 Pocahontas last fall in her most recent win. In her two starts this year, she was unplaced in the Cincinnati Trophy at a mile on Turfway’s Tapeta and in the Grade 2 Beaumont sprinting at Keeneland. Coming in fresh, she has had a strong local work.

Xigera has won twice from three outings on turf this year, including the Tepin. In her lone start on dirt, the filly crossed the line a troubled fourth in the Grade 1 Alcibiades last fall at Keeneland. She was moved to third via disqualification.

“We’ve been looking forward to getting her back to the dirt down the road,” said Bauer, who is having a career year with his first Grade 1 winner in Played Hard. “This race worked out well timing-wise for us to run at Churchill and not ship anywhere. She trains well on the dirt here.”

Allowance-level winners Champagne Calling and Nomadic Pride and last-out maiden winner Poblano complete this field.

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