Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Secret Hottie tries winners
Secret Hottie will attempt to prove that her recent maiden win was no fluke as she meets other nonwinners of two for a $25,000 claiming tag in Friday’s feature race at Emerald Downs.
A Bonnie Jenne trainee, Secret Hottie boasts the highest Beyer Speed Figure earned on dirt or synthetic of any runner in the field. Her last-out maiden win was accomplished in wire-to-wire fashion while also racing for a $25,000 claiming tag.
The daughter of Raised a Secret owns good positional speed and drew post 7 in a field of eight for the 6 1/2-furlong dash. Secret Hottie was moderately successful while still a maiden last year but has improved significantly and steadily in a trio of 2024 starts.
“She did mature over the winter and is holding her weight well,” Jenne said. “The best race she has run was the last one, [and we are] hoping for a repeat.”
It isn’t easy to move seamlessly from defeating maiden company to defeating winners, but Friday’s field came up somewhat light.
Chief among the opposition are recent Dan Markle claim Simply Gracious and East Coast shipper Bucchera, now trained by Tena Birdwell.
Not many horses ship from Monmouth Park in New Jersey to Emerald Downs, but Bucchera is an exception, having last raced there June 2. A concern with the daughter of Bucchero is that both prior efforts on dirt were unimpressive. The 3-year-old has raced only twice this year, on synthetic and then on turf. She met a pair of older foes in her latest start, and four older horses are entered in Friday’s contest.
Two other last-out maiden winners in the group are Champ of Pagne, an Alexis Silva-Martinez trainee who won a maiden race for a $15,000 tag, and Unbridled Violet. The latter, now trained by Elodio Madrigal, won a $5,000 maiden-claiming race on June 16 from which she was claimed.
Madrigal also entered Pop Chart on Friday, and that filly was claimed for the same $5,000 tag on June 8 and has since ran third at the $15,000 level on June 30.
Yogya is another recent
Markle claim who on July 3 returned to finish second at Friday’s trip and level. It has now been 13 months since Yogya’s only career win.
Drawn on the outside is Ropers N Wranglers, a 5-yearold daughter of Freud trained by Kimberley Johnston. That mare just finished third behind Yogya in their last start.
Pace figures to go a long way toward deciding Friday’s winner, and Simply Gracious charts fastest early though she drew post 2 and has other speed to her inside. It seems realistic that Secret Hottie will be able to stalk from the outside and get the run of the race despite moving from maiden company to winners.
Warm weather is anticipated for a Friday card that starts at 7 p.m. Pacific.