Rachel to face six in Lady's Secret

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Oceanport, NJ (Sports Network) - Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Horse of the Year, will take on six challengers in Saturday's $400,000 Lady's Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park. The 1 1/8-mile race will be the champion filly's second career start at the New Jersey track.

Owned by Stonestreet Stable and Hal McCormick, the four-year-old will start from post five in the seven horse field with regular jockey Calvin Borel in the saddle. Last year the pair teamed up to win Monmouth's Haskell Invitational.

In an effort to lure Rachel to Monmouth for the Lady's Secret, the track increased the purse from $150,000 to $400,000. The Lady's Secret was originally scheduled to be run on August 1 as part of the Haskell Day.

"We had a great experience at Monmouth Park," co-owner Jess Jackson said, "and we appreciate the overwhelming show of support the fans there have given us. It's the perfect place to start what we hope will be another championship run."

Rachel, trained by Steve Asmussen, has won 12 of 17 career starts for $3,216,730. This year she has won one of three races for $258,376.

In her most recent start this year she won the Fleur de Lis by 10 1/2-lengths on June 12. She came up short in her initial two starts of 2010. She was second to Zardana at the Fair Grounds in the New Orleans Ladies Classic and runner-up to Unrivaled Belle at Churchill Downs in the La Troienne.

Rachel's main competition on Saturday should come from another front running filly, Stage Trick. The four-year-old is coming off a third-place finish in the Obeah Handicap at Delaware Park on June 12.

Owned by Richard Santulli and trained by Alan Goldberg, Stage Trick will be ridden by Elvis Trujillo from the inside post. In three starts at Monmouth the filly has one win.

In the Obeah, Stage Trick set the pace in the 1 1/8-mile race before fading to third. In her career she has won four of 13 starts for $138,917.

Here is the complete field for the Lady's Secret Stakes in post position order: Stage Trick, Elvis Trujillo; Queen Martha, Joe Bravo; Ask the Moon, Jeremy Rose; Hark, Carlos Marquez, Jr; Rachel Alexandra, Calvin Borel; Fabulous Babe, Pablo Fragoso and Yes She's a Lady, Eddie Castro.

The post-time for race is scheduled for 5:50 p.m. (et).