Summer Starlet wins Spinaway, earns BC Juvenile Fillies bid

Summer Starlet tracked a contested pace from the outside, tipped four wide for the drive and pulled clear to a 4 3/4-length win Saturday in the Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga.

Ricardo Santana Jr. rode the winner for trainer Steve Asmussen and owners BC Stables, Wattswood Stables, Bob Albritton, Jay Graham and David Baggett. The score gave each man his third victory of the day and delivered a $165,000 first prize. The seven-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies carried an automatic entry into the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on Oct. 30 at Keeneland, with the Breeders' Cup covering $60,000 in entry fees plus a $10,000 award to the nominator and a $10,000 travel allowance.

Girvy Girl broke outward and bumped Harper's Corner in the hind end, but Paco Lopez straightened his filly and sent her to the front through a quarter-mile in 22.35 seconds. Angel of Kirk prompted from four wide under Manny Franco and closed to a head at the half in 44.96 seconds. Santana kept Summer Starlet two to three wide in third, a length and a half off the leaders early and two lengths back at the half.

"The only thing I can say is I was being a good passenger," Santana said. "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."

Asked whether he could have gone to the lead, Santana said, "Oh, yeah. She broke really sharp. That was the plan. She won from behind. We wanted to do the same thing today. And she was much the best today."

Angel of Kirk dropped into the two path and engaged Harper's Corner head to head around the turn as the pace hit three-quarters in 1:09.72. Santana went to coaxing near the quarter pole, angled Summer Starlet four wide into upper stretch and took command with three-sixteenths to go. She drew off through the lane and stopped the clock in 1:22.72 on the fast main track, paying $5.24, $2.90 and $2.34. Harper's Corner ran on for second and returned $4.26 and $3.26. Angel of Kirk weakened but held third, 12 lengths behind the winner, and paid $4.16 to show.

"Ricardo (Santana Jr.) 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.

"I'm unbelievably comfortable with who she is, and I don't think her (distance) window is small. And who she is physically, I think time will fill out that beautiful frame of hers."

Stress Relief chased inside for Júnior Alvarado, angled six wide into the stretch and passed tired rivals to finish fourth. Bandmaster came fifth and Girvy Girl sixth. Life Changing, the second choice and the filly who could have delivered Todd Pletcher a record eighth Spinaway, bobbled at the break, retreated midway on the turn under Flavien Prat and was eased home last.

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 Manny Franco-piloted Angel of Kirk.

"She ran great. I was delighted – just ran into a better filly today, no excuse," Lynch said. "The second quarter – when (Manny) 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."

Asked whether he would have preferred to see her settle behind another horse, Lynch said, "I think she can but she breaks so sharp it's hard – that's what Paco (Lopez) said, 'I was caught in two minds, I was going to let the seven (Angel of Kirk) and eight (Life Changing) go.' But when they broke like that, and he said she just took him there so easy. He said, 'once she relaxed the first quarter, we were good.' But then Flavien came after him and made it a horse race. That's why they run the race. She ran great, we're delighted – Grade 1-placed, so you can't be mad."

Lopez saw the same pressure from the saddle.

"I had a lot of pressure from (Angel of Kirk), and still my filly ran really good," Lopez said. "(Steve Asmussen) ran a really good filly, and she (outran) my filly."

A Kentucky-bred bay filly by City of Light out of the Street Sense mare Act Now, Summer Starlet is 2: 2-0-0. Newstead Corp bred her. She graduated Aug. 8 at Saratoga going 6 1/2 furlongs, closing from near the back of the field — a sharp contrast to the forward trip she carried off Saturday.

"She came in from Bryan Rice's place very highly touted and never disappointed," Asmussen said. "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."

Asmussen said the Grade 1 Alcibiades on Oct. 2 at Keeneland could serve as the bridge to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies over the same track.

"With the Breeders' Cup being right at Keeneland that would be the choice," he said. "In a perfect world, of course. I'm assuming a lot of things, but yes."