Arlington: Homeboykris aggressively spotted

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Say one thing for trainer Tammy Domenosky: She is not shy.

Given the state of racing, regional relocation is a dicey proposition for a trainer these days, but Domenosky left her comfort zone at Canterbury Park two seasons ago to branch out into Chicago. In the space of a year, Domenosky became firmly established on this circuit, scoring 17 wins last summer at Arlington, and 17 more last fall at Hawthorne. This winter, she went to Gulfstream Park for the first time and managed to keep her head above water, winning seven races.

Domenosky mainly plays the claiming game, and the same boldness that facilitated the leap from Minnesota apparently came into play April 23 at Gulfstream, when she and Wildcat Thoroughbred LLC claimed Homeboykris for $30,000. Four-year-old Homeboykris, once a stakes horse, had spent most of his career in the stable of ace conditioner Rick Dutrow, a man known more for his own sharp claims than losing horses with gas still in the tank. Not only did Domenosky take the horse from Dutrow, she is moving Homeboykris up in class in his first start for Wildcat Thoroughbreds, a second-level Arlington allowance on Wednesday that’s also open to $40,000 claimers, like Homeboykris.

Homeboykris, beaten a nose the day he was claimed, is one of eight horses in Wednesday’s ninth, which is carded for six furlongs on Arlington’s Polytrack. Homeboykris never has raced on a synthetic surface, and he must deal with the rail draw Wednesday. One potential positive is the sprint distance: Homeboykris had mainly contested longer races before being turned back to 6 1/2 furlongs in a near-miss last time out.

The Wednesday feature, like a pleasantly surprising number of races in the opening days of his meet, present a fairly interesting handicapping puzzle. There are horses in the race that last started at five different venues. There are comeback runners like Arlington Polytrack-loving Saint Leon, and a bevy of speed horses, including Saint Leon, Electoral Vote, Last Wompus, and Upsell. And finally there is the pick to win the Wednesday feature, Barracuda Bay, an off-the-pace type who has never finished worse than third in five Arlington starts, but who should offer playable odds.