Secret Circle seeks belated first win of the year in Midnight Lute

Secret Circle seeks belated first win of the year in

Midnight Lute

Runner-up in his title defense of the November 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint and

also in last month's Cigar Mile, Secret Circle seeks to get back on the winning

track on Saturday in the Grade 3, $100,000

Midnight

Lute at Santa Anita.

The Midnight Lute, at 6 1/2 furlongs, supplants the Vernon O. Underwood,

formerly run at the now-defunct Hollywood Park. It it one of three stakes on

Saturday's program.

Winless since taking the 2013 Breeders' Cup Sprint, Secret Circle began the

year finishing second by a neck in the Palos Verdes in February, but was not

seen again until his third-place effort in the October 4 Santa Anita Sprint

Championship. The five-year-old was second best to Work All Week by a

half-length in the Breeders' Cup, and then finished five lengths behind Private

Zone as the favorite in the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on November 29.

Lining up against the favorite will be Grade 2 veteran Bahamian Squall;

Seeking the Sherif, who took the $75,000 Katella at Los Alamitos before

finishing 11th in the Breeders' Cup Sprint; Grade 1-placed stakes winner

Distinctiv Passion, runner-up in the Katella and most recently a turf allowance

winner at Del Mar; and the multiple stakes-placed Appealing Tale, a two-time

allowance winner at Santa Anita last winter.

The Grade 3, $100,000

Robert J.

Frankel, for fillies and mares at nine furlongs on turf, features a rematch

of the top three finishers from last month's 1 3/8-mile Red Carpet Handicap at

Del Mar. Three Hearts prevailed that day by a half-length, with Lady of Gold

edging Lady Pimpernel for second by a neck.

Diversy Harbor, who landed the $80,000 China Doll here in March, later placed

in four graded stakes including the American Oaks. She was most recently second

to Canadian classic winner Lexie Lou in the about 6 1/2-furlong Autumn Miss on

October 25.

Other leading contenders are Rusty Slipper, Grade 3 winner of the Violet at

Monmouth Park and a dead-heat third in the Rodeo Drive prior to a 10th place

effort in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, and Blingismything, who makes her

stakes debut off back-to-back allowance scores.

The $75,000

Eddie

Logan, for two-year-olds at one mile on the turf, features Daddy D T, who

landed the Oak Tree Juvenile at Del Mar prior to a third-place effort in the

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. Stormy Liberal and Rock Shandy, second and third in

the Cecil B. DeMille; Zuma Beach runner-up Red Button; Del Mar turf maiden

winner Bolo; and Irish import Ernest Shackleton are other leading contenders.

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