Lukas Singing Praises of Serena’s Song

Lady’s Secret or Serena’s Song? For Wayne Lukas, who trained them both, it’s no contest.

“When I had Lady’s Secret, I thought I’d never have another like her,” Lukas said. “I thought she was the ultimate horse. But now I have to say that Serena’s Song is the best I’ve ever had.”

Then Lukas says why.

“Durability,” he said. “All the tracks she’s run over. Coast-to-coast campaigns. What she’s done against males. And now she’s closing in on the money record. There are so many pluses.”

If Serena’s Song wins today’s $250,000 Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park, she’ll earn $150,000 and push her career total past $2.9 million. That will leave her $113,077 short of Lady’s Secret, who’s No. 2 on the money list for fillies and mares, and position her for a run at Dance Smartly’s record, which at $3.2 million would be $358,751 away.

The Vanity is one of six stakes on today’s card, and while the $700,000 Caesars Palace Turf Championship is the keystone, Serena’s Song’s matchup against Twice The Vice and Jewel Princess is the most intriguing race of the day. Both of those horses have beaten Serena’s Song this year, Jewel Princess by a neck in the Louisville Breeders’ Cup Handicap at Churchill Downs on May 3 and Twice The Vice on a sloppy track in the Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park on April 12, when Serena’s Song finished third, three lengths back.

“The weather was a factor in Arkansas,” Lukas said. “That’s the one thing she has trouble doing, running in the mud.”

Serena’s Song is on a three-race streak, winning at Pimlico, Churchill Downs and Belmont Park, and the Vanity brings her back to California for the first time since a seventh-place finish against males in the Santa Anita Handicap in March. The 4-year-old filly, bought by her owners, Bob and Beverly Lewis of Newport Beach, for $150,000 as a yearling, also finished 16th in the 1995 Kentucky Derby, but she has beaten males in the Jim Beam at Turfway Park and in July of 1995 became the first filly to win the Haskell Handicap at Monmouth Park.

In 1994, Serena’s Song was beaten in her first two races, both at Churchill Downs, then began winning that summer, when she beat maidens by 10 lengths at Hollywood and won the Landaluce Stakes there two weeks later. She also won the 1994 Hollywood Starlet.

Lady’s Secret raced from 1984 through 1987, winning horse-of-the-year honors in 1986. This is the way the records of the horses compare:

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Sts W Purses Lady’s Secret 45 25 $3,021,425 Serena’s Song 31 18 $2,758,348

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“Twenty-five wins, that’s an awful lot of wins,” Lukas said. “But I think Serena’s Song will win more than that, if she gets the chance. And in talking to the Lewises, I get the feeling that they might run her again next year. Serena’s Song [a daughter of Rahy and Imagining, a Northfields mare] is going to make one hell of a broodmare one of these days, but the Lewises are racing people, they’re not into the breeding end. They get their enjoyment from watching their horses run.”

The plan for now is to send Serena’s Song to Saratoga, where she has never run. The $300,000 John A. Morris Handicap is scheduled at the Upstate New York track Aug. 23. Her prep for the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Distaff, at Woodbine on Oct. 26, could be at Belmont Park on Oct. 6 in the $400,000 Beldame, a stake that Serena’s Song won last year.

“We’d like to run her next year, but we’ll have to see,” Bob Lewis said. “The press has given Wayne a rough time about not being able to keep many older horses on the track, and we’d like to belie that theory. We’ll wait until the end of the year before we make a decision. If there’s so much as a toenail wrong with her then, we wouldn’t keep running her if it’s not in her best interests.”

After losing to her stablemate, Life’s Magic, in the 1985 Breeders’ Cup Distaff, Lady’s Secret won the race the next year. Serena’s Song has had tough luck in the Breeders’ Cup: In the Juvenile Fillies in 1994, she lost a long stretch duel by a head to Flanders, who was also trained by Lukas, and last year she caught a muddy track at Belmont Park and ran fifth in the Distaff.

The Distaff was Serena’s Song’s 13th start in 1995, but Lukas deflects the suggestion that she was over-raced. “She thrives on activity,” he said. “And if you’ll notice, there’s been more spacing between her races this year. She comes back from her races so well. Before one of the races at Belmont, a couple of trainers, LeRoy Jolley and Mark Hennig, marveled at how good she looked in the paddock. They said that just one time they’d like to see her go over looking tucked up and drawn, but it’s never happened. She’s always the best looking horse in the show.”

Jerry Bailey rides her now, after Gary Stevens underwent shoulder surgery last month, and before him Serena’s Song’s jockey was Corey Nakatani, who lost the mount after the Kentucky Derby. Nakatani will be trying to win today’s Vanity with Jewel Princess, but in the meantime he recalled Serena’s Song and said:

“She’s the best filly I ever rode. She threw her body down for you every time you asked her.”

Horse Racing Notes

First post today is at noon. The Caesars Palace will be the fourth live race on the card, with a post time of about 1:40 p.m. Windsharp will be favored Sandpit’s main rival in that race. Windsharp, a five-year-old mare, has not raced since finishing second to Raintrap in the San Juan Capistrano on April 21. Flu prevented her from running in the Beverly Hills Handicap three weeks ago. . . . After opening up a huge lead through 44 4/5 and 1:08 1/5 fractions, Tabled With Saros had more than enough left to win the $71,900 Fran’s Valentine Stakes by four lengths Saturday at Hollywood Park. The 5-1 second choice in the field of eight California-bred fillies and mares, Tabled With Saros paid $12 and completed the 1 1/16 miles on turf in 1:39 3/5. Kent Desormeaux rode the filly for trainer Bob Hess Jr. and owner David Hughes. Above The Table was second and 7-10 choice Cat’s Cradle was third. . . . Bon Point, the 7-10 favorite, picked up his third victory of the Hollywood Park meeting, winning by 2 1/4 lengths in the $66,250 Bien Bien Handicap. . . . My Flag did what she was supposed to Saturday, easily winning the $250,000 Coaching Club American Oaks at Belmont Park. The 3-10 favorite against six other 3-year-old fillies, My Flag won by 4 1/4 lengths in 2:04 3/5 for the 1 1/4 miles. Jerry Bailey rode the winner for owner Ogden Phipps and trainer Shug McGaughey.