The Arlington Million, as the name says it, is the first million-dollar thoroughbred race in the world. The 2009 edition represents the 27th running of the race. John Henry, Willie Shoemaker up, beat The Bart, Eddie Delahoussaye up, in the closest of finishes in 1981, the first running of the Million. John Henry, in the history of the Million, is the only horse to have won it twice. Chris McCarron was aboard John Henry the next time in 1984.
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The Secretariat Stakes is also over the grass and is confined to sophomores. The distance is 2000 metres. Giant Oak, is the 3-1 first choice. Black Bear Island won York’s Dante in May and will have John Murtagh in the saddle. The eleven-horse field includes Driving Snow, a recent winner in Indiana Downs, who had Sea The Stars behind him when winning a maiden race in Ireland last year. Reba has won three in a row and has a special liking for the Arlington grass. Julien Leparoux rides Reba.
The Beverly D honors the memory of the late wife of Richard Duchossois , chairman of Arlington Park. The purse is $750,000. It is a 1900-metre race for distaffers. There are eight going postward in this grass race. Pure Clan, winner of Arlington’s Modesty Handicap, is the lukewarm favourite. Alnadana, a filly owned by the Aga Khan, is one of the fancied runners. Dermot Weld has brought Mad About You from Ireland. Weld has had considerable success at Arlington and won the Secretariat last year with Winchester. California-based Black Mamba has a strong record on the grass and will have Garrett Gomez.
I will be at Arlington bright and early. The biggest day in American harness racing is on Saturday. The Hambletonian will be held at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. Post time is before noon and I will be watching the New Jersey races on closed circuit TV monitors at Arlington Park.
Here are my picks. In the Million, it is Cima de Triomphe. Reba is my pick in the Secretariat. In the Beverly D, my pick is Pure Clan.
There are several Graded races over the weekend. Deauville has the Group I Prix Maurice de Gheest on Sunday. It is a 1200-metre race. Tracks in America, from coast to coast, have a plethora of high profile action. Saratoga has the Whitney.
On Wednesday, Frankie Dettori had a riding double. What is special about a jockey riding two winners? In Dettori’s case, the first winner came at Deauville. He rode Spring To Fame to victory in Deauville’s Prix de Tourgeville, a Listed race over 1600 metres. Spring To Fame won by three lengths. Jockey Dettori flew to England and was in action at Kempton’s twilight card. In the 8 35 ( P M) race, Dettori guided Musleh, the 5-2 favourite, to an easy win. Can we call it the ‘transchannel double?
Midday was second in the Oaks at Epsom in June. The Henry Cecil-trained filly could not handle soft ground at the Curragh in the Irish Oaks. Last Saturday, on the last day of the Glorious Goodwood meeting, Sir Cecil thought long and hard about running his prize filly on a very soft Goodwood course. Cecil’s decision to let Midday run in the Group I Nassau Stakes, a 2200-metre race, paid rich dividends. Midday was held up and asked to go along the fence in the last 400 metres. She quickened spiritedly to win by two and three quarter lengths. Miday was a 11-2 chance because of fans’ doubts about her handling the going.
Trainer Cecil said, “I nearly pulled her out but I lost my bottle. She does not like it soft. I took a chance, then I thought, God, I have done the wrong thing. I could not watch the race.”
Jockey Tom Queally was winning the third Group I race in his career. “She did it well. She is back to her best. Henry stuck his neck out and said he wanted to run. Irish soft ground and English soft ground are different things. This proved it.”
Ryan Moore won the jockeys’ title at Glorious Goodwod. He had five winners, three seconds and four thirds. Moore’s winners were Harbinger, Manyriverstocross, Kingsgate Native, Zacinto and Stags Leap.
A freshman star emerged at Newmarket last Saturday. Seta, a Pivotal filly trained by Luca Cumani, made a winning debut and did it in style. Dane O’Neil rode Seta who was the 11-8 favourite. Seta won the 1400-metre race by eight lengths and in a time of 1 28.3 seconds. The British bookmakers reacted. Seta got a 10-1 quote for the English Guineas in 2010.
Trainer Cumani, now at Arlington to see Cima de Triomphe run in Saturday’s Million, spoke about Seta. “She is a very professional filly. She looked good on the gallops from the day she started. No targets yet. We will have to see how she comes out of this race.”
At Dusseldorf last Sunday, Night Magic made it all in the German Oaks, the Preis der Diana. It was a Group I event over 2200 metres. Night Magic was a 6-1 chance. Night Magic won by four and one half lengths on the soft Dusseldorf course. Karoly Kerekes was the winning jockey. It was the first Group I win for trainer Wolfgang Figge who is 62. It has been reported that the Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp on Arc day is the next race for Night Magic.
The Travers Stakes at Saratoga, called the Mid-Summer Derby, will be run on Saturday, August 29. Rachel Alexandra is a possibility. A new candidate for the Travers was unveiled at Saratoga on Monday. Quality Road, sidelined after winning the Florida Derby with a quarter crack in the right front foot, picked up where he left off. A 75/100 favourite, Quality Road, a son of Elusive Quality, won the Grade II Amsterdam Stakes in decisive fashion. The time of 1 13.45 for the 1300-metre race was a new mark for the distance. Quality Road, with Jimmy Jerkens in the spring, is now in the barn of Todd Pletcher. Quality Road stumbled at the start but neither the early miscue nor the layoff had an impact.
Trainer Todd Pletcher commented. “Anytime you have a horse with this type of potential, you want him to run well. You want him to run as good as he did for Jimmy (Jerkens) and he ran very well despite the early stumble.”
The feature at Del Mar last Sunday was the Grade II San Diego Handicap. The favourite who was turned over made as much news as the winner of the San Diego Handicap. Informed, a 15-2 chance, won with jockey Tyler Baze. Informed earned a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Mast Track led and was shaping like a winner but Informed rallied late to get the verdict. Doug O’Neill trains the son of Tiznow. The time for the 1700-metre race was 1 41.91. Claimed for $25,000 in June 2008, Informed has two Grade II wins since and has bankrolled $506,339.
Jockey Baze explained. “The key today was to put him in the race. In the Hollywood Gold Cup, (Informed was well beaten) speed was holding and we just could not get into it. This time, we were there from the start.”
Trainer O’Neill spoke. “He (Informed) had been training well. He loves Del Mar. Tyler rode him with a lot of confidence.”
The beaten favourite in the San Diego was Well Armed, the 6-10 favourite and the runaway winner of the World Cup in Dubai in late March. Well Armed finished eighth and last.
Jockey Aaron Gryder said, “I don’t think it was the Dubai bounce. I pushed on him and it was not happening. When we hit the stretch, the race was away from him. I did not persevere. I’m confident we will get him back and get it figured out.”
There is a write up of Malesh Narredu’s participation in the Shergar Cup at Ascot on Saturday in the Racing Post website. Let us wish him the best.
