Lady’s Secret Preview

Grade 1 heroine HOLLYWOOD STORY (Wild Rush) headlines a field of six in Sunday’s $250,000 Lady’s Secret Breeders’ Cup H. (G2) at Santa Anita. The John Shirreffs trainee has plenty of holes but appears to be the class of the group
and has faced better than this in recent outings. The four-year-old filly is
proven at the distance and has been competitive over the oval, and we envision
the lass getting up late beneath Victor Espinoza.

STAR PARADE (Arg) (Parade Marshal) hasn’t shown the Grade 1 ability of her
past recently, but the lass could fire a big shot in this compact field. Trained
by Darrell Vienna, the six-year-old has won two of her four starts at Oak Tree
and has put in a series of six solid works in advance of this affair. If the
lass is right, she has a big shot for the whole prize.

ISLAND FASHION (Petionville) is the wild card in the field, as it’s hard to
determine which mare will show up for this race. Top rider Pat Valenzuela gets
aboard, which is a positive, as is her 7-3-3-0 local mark. Although it’s hard
to endorse the inconsistent gray for the win, we would include her in the
gimmicks.

QUERO QUERO (Royal Academy) is winless on the dirt in four tries and has
picked a hard spot to earn her first main-track tally. The well-bred bay is best
when putting in one run through the stretch, which could get her a minor award.

HEALTHY ADDICTION (Boston Harbor) could prove difficult to handle if left
alone on the lead for trainer John Sadler. The consistent filly has never
cracked through with graded company before, and although this is not a stellar
field, we don’t see her in the winners’ circle following this one. A minor award
is not out of the question for the dark bay.

We admire the hard knocking and consistent VALENTINE DANCER (In Excess
[Ire]), but feel that the mare has raced too much this campaign and is due for a
regression. The Craig Lewis charge has hit the board in eight consecutive
outings, and may do so again, but we’ll let her beat us.