Former Breeders Cup Sprint winner Secret Circle, second his last two times out, heads a field of seven sprinters for Saturday's $100,000 Midnight Lute Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita.
Trained by Bob Baffert, Secret Circle will again be ridden by Martin Garcia and break from post 6. The Midnight Lute had been run at Hollywood Park as the Vernon O. Underwood Stakes.
Secret Circle, owned by Karl Watson, Paul Weitman and Mike Pegram, was second last time out, ridden by Joel Rosario, as the 5-2 favorite in the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct, beaten five lengths by Private Zone. That effort came four weeks after finishing second, with Garcia riding, in the Breeders Cup Sprint at Santa Anita, dropping a half-length decision to Work All Week. The 5-year-old won the 2013 Sprint with Garcia in the saddle.
Winless in 2014, Secret Circle has three seconds and a third from four starts but has career earnings of $2,424,790 from 13 starts with seven wins, five seconds and a third.
Here is the complete field in post position order for the Midnight Lute: Heir of Storm, Gary Stevens; Bahamian Squall, Corey Nakatani; Bolita Boyz, Rafael Bejarano; Appealing Tale, Victor Espinoza; Seeking the Sherif, Edwin Maldonado; Secret Circle, Martin Garcia and Distinctiv Passion, Mike Smith.
Post time for the Midnight Lute Stakes will be approximately 5:30 p.m. ET.
[SportsNetwork.com]
