ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Duchess Stakes winner Sharp Secretary will go back to the Polytrack on Wednesday night at Woodbine in the $100,000 Ruling Angel Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies.
Sharp Secretary commenced her campaign by running second to champion Biofuel in the April 10 Star Shoot Stakes. She blossomed in the summer, when she won an optional claimer with a 92 Beyer Speed Figure and the Duchess with an 87 Beyer. She defeated six shippers in the seven-furlong Duchess.
Most recently on turf in the one-mile Ontario Colleen Stakes, Sharp Secretary wound up sixth after breaking from the outside in an 11-horse field under Eurico Da Silva. Trainer Lorne Richards said her race was better than it appears at face value.
“She was good going into that turf race,” Richards recalled. “Drawing the outside post, I think she shied from the horses inside of her. By the time Eurico got her steadied, the whole field had run by her on the inside. She was dead last, which wasn’t what I expected. Down the stretch, she never got an opening. She still only got beat three and a half lengths, but if she gets a clear run down the stretch, I think she’s right there.”
Sharp Secretary has been idle for the seven weeks leading up the Ruling Angel.
“She’s come up to it in decent order,” Richards said. “If she runs back to the two races prior to the last one, then she should be pretty competitive.”
Patrick Husbands has the mount on Sharp Secretary, who is owned by Landsdowne Stable.
Barracks Road and Sugar Again are the other main contenders.
Barracks Road captured the Ontario Colleen in front-running style, which came on the heels of a close third-place finish in the one-mile Hattie Moseley Stakes on the grass at Saratoga. She also took the Ontario Damsel Stakes in July.
Barracks Road experimented on the Polytrack last time in the Grade 3 Selene Stakes, in which she set a fast pace before fading to finish 10 lengths back in fourth.
Sugar Again ran huge following a 13-month layoff Aug. 13, when she romped in a first-level allowance on sprint, while receiving a 94 Beyer. She subsequently notched a seven-furlong optional claimer on the grass, over which she lost her last start by a neck, in a third-level optional claimer.
