Ask the Moon will take on Blind Luck and Ultra Bend in the Lady’s Secret Stakes at Santa Anita
The Martin Wolfson trained, 6-year-old mare Ask the Moon is in the form of her life, and from allowance claimers she has now gone on to win two grade 1 races back to back, as she sets her eyes on the Grade 1 $250,000 Lady’s Secrets Stakes at Santa Anita
on 1 October, 2011.
It will be a tall order for the daughter of Malibu Moon, out of Always Asking by Valid Appeal, as she faces the 6 times grade 1 winner Blind Luck in the Lady’s Secret Stakes.
Though she has won two grade 1 races, it is said to be believed that the Lady’s Secret will be a tougher race for the mare, as the Graded 1 Ruffian and the Grade 1 Personal Ensign are considered to be the weakest Grade 1 races for older fillies.
However, she has won both of them and that should count for something. Older fillies and mares Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic, and it is the right time for Ask the Moon to size up her rivals well before her actual goal.
On 31 July, 2011, Ask the Moon participated in the Grade 1 Ruffian over the Saratoga’s dirt course at about 1 1/8 miles under jockey J Castellano, the mare downed Super Espresso and Payton d’Oro, with the winning time of 1 minute and 50.46 seconds.
Saratoga meet seemed to have brought the best out of Ask the Moon, as she repeated the winning performance in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign on the dirt track, over a distance of 1 ¼ miles on 3 September, 2011.
This time around on a challenging distance, Ask the Moon fizzed past her closest rivals Pachattack and Tiz Miz Sue when the field turned for home, with the winning time of 2 minutes and 4.21 seconds.
By virtue of her victory in the Ruffian Stakes, the 6-year-old mare earned an automatic entry fee paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic, to be run on 4 November at Churchill Downs.
The two turn races will help the filly get familiarised with the distance a little more before she goes into the Breeders’ Cup which is the main reason to run her against Blind Luck and Ultra Bend.
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