With Ability at Arlington

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Chicagoans already have seen what With Ability can do with an easy lead. They may see it again Monday.

A romping, front-end winner of the Grade 3 Sixty Sails this spring at speed-favoring Sportsman's Park, With Ability is back from New York for more in the Grade 3, $150,000 Arlington Matron. Even without a track bias on her side, With Ability will be hard to catch if she controls the pace of the 1 1/8-mile Matron.

On paper, only the Canadian filly Extend can keep her from doing so, and even that isn't certain. Extend races close to the lead but clearly does not have With Ability's raw speed. Extend may test With Ability at some point, but With Ability has been facing the likes of Dancethruthedawn, Spain, and Transcendental. Though she gave way to Grade 1 pace pressure and finished last in the Go for Wand at Saratoga a month ago, With Ability may simply shrug off this challenge.

For Your Out, the Matron's probable favorite, the lack of pace is problematic, but Your Out hasn't finished first or second in 12 of 14 starts by caving into adversity. Once a speedy sprinter herself, the 4-year-old Your Out - largely on her own - has successfully cultivated a closing style in route races this year. Her most recent stretch run, in the July 21 Delaware Handicap, brought her to within a neck of Summer Colony, one of the top female runners.

"I don't think I've ever had a horse go on and change her style as dramatically as she has," said trainer Graham Motion. "She's settled down a lot. As much as anything, it's a maturity thing."

Motion said Your Out's last work for the Matron looked much like her work before the Delaware Handicap, and he is pleased that Your Out cuts back in distance from 10 furlongs to nine on Monday.

Both East Coasters vanned here this week, though Your Out has been here since Thursday while With Ability shipped from Saratoga on Friday night. Rene Douglas - dominant in graded stakes this meet - rides Your Out, while Robby Albarado has the mount on With Ability.

Lakenheath heads a local contingent that includes Miss Pickums and Curious Conundrum. Those who have seen Lakenheath run at Arlington know she's a legitimate threat to the better-known shippers. Third in this race last year, she does her best running at this track.

Lakenheath was brilliant beating overmatched rivals in a July 17 allowance race here and has worked impressively since finishing second Aug. 10 in the Grade 3 Gardenia at Ellis Park.

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