Summer Starlet secured a decisive 4 3/4-length victory in the Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Saratoga Race Course on September 5. Trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr., the daughter of City of Light covered the seven-furlong distance in 1:22.72. The victory earned the ownership group—consisting of BC Stables, Wattswood Stables, Bob Albritton, Jay Graham, and David Baggett—a guaranteed starting spot in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland.
Race Dynamics and Stretch Run
Breaking from post position 2 as the 8-5 favorite returning $5.24 to win, Summer Starlet tracked the early pace set by Charles Biggs’ Schuylerville Stakes winner Harper’s Corner. Harper’s Corner posted an opening quarter-mile in 22.35 seconds and a half-mile in 44.96 seconds, with Greenwell Thoroughbreds’ Angel of Kirk stalking closely. Santana kept Summer Starlet positioned about two lengths back in third early on.
As the field rounded the far turn, Angel of Kirk began to weaken while Santana guided Summer Starlet three-wide into the stretch. The favorite engaged with Harper’s Corner inside the final furlong, pulling away clear before the eighth pole. “She broke sharp. I didn’t get panicked. I sat behind the speed and she was much the best today,” Santana said.
Harper’s Corner finished second, 7 1/4 lengths ahead of third-place finisher Angel of Kirk. Stress Relief took fourth, followed by Bandmaster, Girvy Girl, and Life Changing, who was eased by jockey Flavien Prat after coming off the bridle on the turn.
Pedigree and Historical Significance
Bred in Kentucky by Newstead Corp, Summer Starlet is out of the Street Sense mare Act Now and is a half-sister to grade 2-placed Coach Prime. She was purchased for $335,000 at the 2025 Keeneland September Yearling Sale by BC Stables. The filly provided trainer Steve Asmussen with his fourth victory in the Spinaway Stakes and his 21st graded stakes victory with a 2-year-old at Saratoga, going back to Cashier’s Dream in 2001.
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The win comes exactly five years after Asmussen trainee Echo Zulu won the Spinaway before capturing the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Among the four fastest Spinaways run since the race shifted to seven furlongs in 1994, Asmussen has conditioned three: Hot Dixie Chick (1:22.28), Echo Zulu (1:22.51), and Summer Starlet (1:22.72), alongside Vequist (1:22.29).
Path to the Breeders’ Cup
Wayne Lukas. Bellinger said that turning to Asmussen after interviewing multiple trainers yielded immediate success in major juvenile events.
Looking ahead, Asmussen plans to stretch the filly out around two turns.