The sky could prove the limit for the unbeaten Secret Of Life, with connections hopeful conditions will allow her to continue climbing the ladder at Ascot later this month.
Trained by Ralph Beckett for owner-breeder John Deer, the exciting filly enhanced her growing reputation when stepping both up in trip and grade at Sandown, winning the Listed Coral Distaff in taking fashion.
While patience is the watchword with the strapping daughter of Pinatubo, the Group Three Longines Valiant Stakes on July 25 is seen as an ideal next port of call granted some rain in the interim.
David Hilton, stud and racing manager for owner Deer’s Oakgrove Stud, said: “She did it very nicely on ground that would be as quick as she would want it, but Ralph and Rossa (Ryan, jockey) said if you were going to get away with it with a filly as big as her, then Sandown was the place you could.
“Rossa was happy to jump forwards and she was probably still a bit green and probably didn’t love the ground. She rolled around a little bit and changed her legs plenty, but she just lengthened her stride lovely and did it very nicely.
“There’s some logical races coming up and it’s just whether they come at the right time with the dry weather.
“I think the Valiant Stakes is an obvious option and she would be taking on older fillies and mares, but we would be quite keen to run round a bend at this stage of her career and it’s an uphill finish.
“We would need rain I would think, but it’s a logical step. She’s in a race before that in France which will probably come round a bit quicker than ideal and we’re just on weather watch a little bit. It was quick enough the other day and you wouldn’t want to keep doing that with her being so heavy.
“She won’t have finished growing yet either and it wouldn’t be in any of our thoughts to go too deep too soon and we’ll pick our races. As a smallish owner-breeder to breed a stakes winner is pretty much job done and to have that done at this stage three runs in, anything from here is a bonus.”
With hopes high Secret Of Life will continue to progress, there is a wide range of options available as the season develops, with thoughts already turning to a possible step up to 10 furlongs at some stage, as well as competing in Group One company either at home or abroad before the year is out.
“She’s very exciting for us and it’s amazing to have her and another potentially good one,” continued Hilton.
“There’s a couple of options in France during the summer and later on into August there is the Atalanta back at Sandown and she’s also in the Celebration Mile at Goodwood which is a race we went to with Saqqara Sands last year.
“Ideally we will stick to racing against her own sex but you never know how these races cut up and it was worth an entry and I don’t think we would be scared of going up to 10 furlongs later in the season, either. You have races like the Blandford Stakes in Ireland.
“An entry in the Prix de l’Opera and Sun Chariot are other sort of entries we can be thinking about for the autumn and she may not end up being to that level but if you don’t have the entries then you can’t run.”