Red Secret
Good morning from Newmarket. We have to wait a long time for today’s runner, with Red Secret set to make his handicap debut in the mile and a half 0-60 handicap at Kempton at 7.40.
A son of Lemon Drop Kid out of a Street Cry mare, he did not make it on to the track as a juvenile, but has now had three qualifying runs for a mark of 60. He made his debut over ten-furlongs at Chelmsford in June, and despite being slowly away and racing in rear, he made eyecatching headway in the home straight to finish seventh.
A little over a month later he was out again, this time over a mile and a quarter at Leicester. Once again he was slowly away and showed signs of greenness, before running on satisfactorily in the straight to take fourth. The winner on that occasion, Dramatic Device, has won twice more since and is now rated 93, so the form stacks up well, although Red Secret was beaten 10.5 lengths. He completed his three runs in novice company at Doncaster in early August, but was most disappointing and trailed home well beaten.
It is difficult to judge how well handicapped, or otherwise, he is on the back of these efforts, but we will surely learn plenty more today. His dam won over an extended mile at Wolverhampton and was rated as high as 81, and she is herself out of the Grade-1 winner Tout Charmant from a very good North American family. That said, her only other runner thus far is yet to win either, so her capabilities as a breeding animal are still open for judgement.
What we do hope is that a return to artificial surfaces can enable Red Secret to resume his early progress, and a mile and a half 0-60 looks his ticket at the moment. He is poorly drawn in stall 12, but we keep our fingers crossed for a good run. Daniel Muscutt takes the mount.