The undefeated colt, Secret Circle ready to go all out in the Sham Stakes at Santa Anita
The 3-year-old undefeated colt, Secret Circle, will kick off his 2012 campaign with a start in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at about 1 mile on dirt at Santa Anita Park on 7 January, 2012, a race which is restricted for 3-year-old males, and the race has reeled in a bulky field of 10 newly turned 3-year-old colts and geldings.
Many colts participating in the Sham Stakes are bidding for their ultimate goal, the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, and the trail gets hotter and hotter with the top juveniles of the 2011 campaign getting ready to make a name for themselves over the next few months, leading up to the Triple Crown.
One of the hot Derby contenders is the Bob Baffert trained Secret Circle, who is exiting a victory in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint, going at about 6 furlongs at Churchill Downs on 4 November, 2011, under jockey Rafael Bejarano.
Secret Circle defeated the likes of Shumoos in second, and Holdin Bullets in third, while covering the six furlong distance in 1 minute and 10.52 seconds.
Michael E. Pegram owned Secret Circle has never gone beyond 6 furlongs in his three career starts as a 2-year-old, and if he is to remain one of the favourites for the Kentucky Derby, he will have to be tested on longer distances.
He has raced over a distance of 6 furlongs twice, starting off in the Jack Goodman Stakes, a race which he won comfortably at Santa Anita Park after breaking his maiden over a distance of five and a half furlongs, but never at a mile or beyond.
The Kentucky bred son of Eddington, out of mare Ragtime Hope by Dixieland Band, Secret Circle, the undefeated Bob Baffert trainee, turned in a four furlong workout ahead of the Grade 3 Sham Stakes, where he will try the two-turn track for the first time in his career.
Secret Circle will definitely face a lineup consisting of good colts and geldings, who can turn the race on its head on any given day. The likes of Longview Drive, the show finisher in the Grade 3 Delta Downs, will have plenty to say come 7 January at Santa Anita.
Tags: