Perfect in three starts, New York-bred Ancient Secret will try for her first graded stakes score in the $200,000 Lake George Stakes (gr. IIT) on opening day of the Saratoga Race Course meet Friday, July 22.
The Lake George for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles on the turf is one of two graded stakes scheduled for Friday's opening of the148th Saratoga meet as the Schuylerville Stakes (gr. III) for 2-year-old fillies is scheduled for race 8 with the Lake George following as race 9.
Alpha Delta Stables' Ancient Secret secured her first open stakes win in her previous start when the Kantharos filly registered a narrow victory in the Wild Applause Stakes June 19 on the Belmont Park turf. In the one-mile Wild Applause, Ancient Secret defeated several of the fillies entered in Friday's test including close runner-up Thundering Sky, and grade III winners Baciami Piccola and Tin Type Girl.
Trained by Chad Brown, Ancient Secret has raced exclusively on the Belmont turf. Last fall she posted a three-length score in a six-furlong maiden race for New York-breds. She then opened this season with a 4 1/4-length score in a seven-furlong allowance race for state-breds May 14 before her Wild Applause win.
Matthew Schera's Thundering Sky earned her first stakes-placing when at odds of 17-1 the Sky Mesa filly finished a head behind Ancient Secret in the Wild Applause. Trained by George Weaver, Thundering Sky will start from the inside in Friday's expected field of 12
My Meadowview Farm's Tin Type Gal finished fifth in the Wild Applause, two lengths back in her 3-year-old season debut. Trained by Graham Motion, the daughter of Tapit won last year's 1 1/16-mile Miss Grillo Stakes (gr. IIIT) on the Belmont turf.
Amerman Racing's Baciami Piccola finished eighth in the Wild Applause after a two-month break from her ninth-place finish in the Appalachian Stakes presented by Japan Racing Association (gr. IIIT) in April at Keeneland. Trained by Brian Lynch, the daughter of Equiano opened the season with a victory in the Florida Oaks (gr. IIIT) in her U.S. debut at Tampa Bay Downs.
Saratoga Race Course, Friday, July 22, 2016, Race 9Entries: Lake George S. (G2T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Thundering Sky (KY) Gabriel Saez 115 George Weaver 8/1 2 2Elysea's World (IRE) Javier Castellano 117 Chad C. Brown 5/1 3 3Diamond Fields (IRE) Junior Alvarado 115 Tommy Stack 6/1 4 4Enjoy Yourself (GB) Ricardo Santana, Jr. 117 John P. Terranova, II 20/1 5 5Ancient Secret (NY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 121 Chad C. Brown 7/2 6 6Sky My Sky (KY) Julien R. Leparoux 117 Mark E. Casse 15/1 7 7Flora Dora (FL) Emmanuel Esquivel 121 Marialice Coffey 30/1 8 8Baciami Piccola (GB) Joel Rosario 123 Brian A. Lynch 15/1 9 9Outsider Art (KY) Manuel Franco 115 Jonathan E. Sheppard 15/1 10 10Try Your Luck (KY) John R. Velazquez 117 Michael J. Maker 9/2 11 11Tin Type Gal (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 121 H. Graham Motion 8/1 12 12Gone Away (FL) Florent Geroux 121 Michael R. Matz 15/1
