Impressive debut winner Summer Starlet turned heads once again when surging to a 4 ¾-length victory in the $300,000 Spinaway S. (G1) at Saratoga on Saturday, Sept. 5. The win earned the Kentucky-bred a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) in October at Keeneland.

Trained by Steve Asmussen for owners BC Stables, Wattswood Stables, Bob Albritton, Jay Graham and David Baggett, Summer Starlet angled around the pacesetters at the head of the lane after tracking from third early. She powered home with authority to score as she pleased.. Ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr., she stopped the clock in 1:22.72 for seven furlongs.

“Ricardo gave her a beautiful trip,” Asmussen said. “Obviously, her debut race showed a tremendous amount of ability. She’s done extremely well since. She was away from there great and she was in hand in a very comfortable position for him. And it went perfectly.”

The Spinaway marked the first time Santana rode Summer Starlet in the afternoon. But the veteran rider had kept a close eye on her after working in company with her atop another Asmussen trainee throughout the summer.

“The only thing I can say is I was being a good passenger,” said Santana. “I worked with that filly before, two times from the gate. Steve has got confidence in the filly. He gave me the opportunity to ride, and she was so classy today. She [broke] sharp, I [didn’t] get panicked, I [sat] behind the speed, and she was much the best today.”

Summer Starlet Breeders’ Cup Bound

Asmussen said Summer Starlet has lived up to the promise she has shown since day one, and could be pointed to the Alcibiades S. (G1) on Oct. 2 at Keeneland as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

“With the Breeders’ Cup being right at Keeneland that [the Alcibiades] would be the choice,” said Asmussen. “She came in from Bryan Rice’s place very highly touted and never disappointed. You can tell she’s a big, tall, slender filly, so we waited on her and she got the one run in. Nice spacing back to this, and obviously we are hoping to come out of it in good shape and proceed to the Breeders’ Cup.”

Bred in Kentucky by Newstead Corp., Summer Starlet was a $335,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the winning Street Sense mare Act Now. She remained a perfect 2-for-2 while banking $165,000 in victory.