Summer Starlet all the rage in G1 Spinaway
Impressive debut maiden winner Summer Starlet turned heads once again when pouncing from just off the pace to draw clear to a 4 3/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway, a seven-furlong sprint for juvenile fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.
In victory, Summer Starlet earned a “Win and You’re In” berth into the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in October at Keeneland.
Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen for owners BC Stables, Wattswood Stables, Bob Albritton, Jay Graham and David Baggett, the daughter of City of Light was 15-1 in her August 8 maiden sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs here, but powered home with authority to romp by 6 1/2-lengths under Jose Ortiz. Bettors would not receive such a savory price in the Spinaway, where Summer Starlet was sent away from post 2-of-7 under Ricardo Santana, Jr. as the 8-5 mutuel favorite.
“Ricardo gave her a beautiful trip,” Asmussen said. “Obviously, her debut race showed a tremendous amount of ability. She's done extremely well since. She was away from there great and she was in hand in a very comfortable position for him. And it went perfectly."
Summer Starlet broke alertly and watched as the Paco Lopez-piloted Harper’s Corner – winner of the Listed Schuylerville in July here – sprinted up between rivals to take command exiting the chute and marked the opening quarter-mile in 22.35 seconds over the fast footing with Angel of Kirk tracking in second.
Summer Starlet raced in a shared third to the inside of Life Changing heading into the turn, and was well-positioned when Life Changing began to retreat and Angel of Kirk advanced to challenge the pacesetter through the half-mile in 44.96.
Santana, Jr. angled his charge around the top pair, and had her in the clear at the head of the lane as he shook the reins and asked her for her best. Summer Starlet responded with aplomb, sweeping past a tiring Angel of Kirk and overtaking the resolute Harper’s Corner at the eighth pole to draw away handily and complete the course in 1:22.72.
Harper’s Corner was a game second 7 1/4 lengths ahead of Angel of Kirk with the late-running Stress Relief rounding out the superfecta. Bandmaster, Girvy Girl and Life Changing completed the order of finish. Cha Cha Baby was scratched.
The Spinaway was the first time Santana, Jr. rode Summer Starlet in the afternoon, but the veteran rider had kept a close eye on her after working in company with her atop another Asmussen trainee throughout the summer.
“The only thing I can say is I was being a good passenger,” said Santana, Jr., who swept Saturday's stakes at the Spa after winning the Grade 3 With Anticipation with Liam's Law in Race 2. “I worked with that filly before, two times from the gate. Steve has got confidence in the filly. He gave me the opportunity to ride, and she was so classy today. She [broke] sharp, I [didn't] get panicked, I [sat] behind the speed, and she was much the best today."
Asmussen said Summer Starlet has lived up to the promise she has shown since Day One, and could be pointed to the Grade 1 Alcibiades on October 2 at Keeneland as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
"With the Breeders' Cup being right at Keeneland that [the Alcibiades] would be the choice,” said Asmussen, who won his third race on the card. “In a perfect world, of course. I'm assuming a lot of things, but yes.
"She came in from Bryan Rice's place very highly touted and never disappointed,” he continued. “You can tell she's a big, tall, slender filly, so we waited on her and she got the one run in. Nice spacing back to this, and obviously we are hoping to come out of it in good shape and proceed to the Breeders' Cup.”
Cal Lynch, trainer of the hard-trying runner-up Harper’s Corner, said the daughter of Speaker’s Corner tired late after being pressured by the Flavien Prat-piloted Life Changing.
“She ran great. I was delighted – just ran into a better filly today, no excuse,” Lynch said. “The second quarter – when Flavien pressed us – we went 22 and 44 and change and that second quarter kind of got us. I think that set it up for the other filly [Summer Starlet]; the other filly is a lovely filly.”
Bred in Kentucky by Newstead Corp., Summer Starlet was a $335,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the winning Street Sense mare Act Now, who also produced dual stakes-placed Dr Oseran. She remained a perfect 2-for-2 while banking $165,000 in victory and returning $5.24 on a $2 win ticket.
Live racing resumes Sunday at the Spa with a 12-race card headlined by the Grade 1, $300,000 Spendthrift Farm Hopeful in Race 10 and supported by the Grade 3, $225,000 Prioress in Race 4 and the restricted $150,000 Disco Partner in Race 11. First post is 12:05 p.m. Eastern.
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