Another Mystery leads 1-2 sweep by Block in Black Tie Affair
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Another Mystery provided a fitting, bittersweet end to the Saturday card at Arlington International Racecourse.
The 2-5 favorite under Flavien Prat, Another Mystery closed with a purpose to win the $63,665 Black Tie Affair Stakes by two lengths. He ran 1 1/16 miles on “good” turf in 1:45.50 and paid a pittance to win, $2.40, and getting a Beyer Speed Figure of 89. Trainer Chris Block swept the top two placings of this Illinois-bred race as Cammack fought back after being passed to snatch second from Blue Sky Kowboy.
Another Mystery, scratched from the Grade 1 Mister D. Stakes in favor of this spot, was bred and is owned by Block’s family, Team Block. The 5-year-old is by Temple City out of Ioya Two, who now has produced five stakes winners.
The Blocks long have been a leading family in Illinois racing, which has come to precarious times. Arlington, owned by Churchill Downs Inc., appears to be in the waning days of its existence. A sale of the Arlington property is apparently imminent, and 2021 will likely be the last season of racing at this storied venue.
David Block, Chris Block’s father, built a truly successful broodmare band and racing stable, with Arlington summers the focal point of the Blocks' season. Another Mystery’s second dam, Ioya, produced Mystery Giver – the source of Another Mystery’s name – one of the Blocks' best horses, and the 10th-place finisher in the 2004 Arlington Million.
The Million is no more and Team Block’s operation has shrunk as Illinois racing has grown increasingly troubled. The operation’s goal might once have been to win the Arlington Million. Saturday, Another Mystery, a product of generations of Block breeding, won the last race on what, until this year, was called Arlington Million Day.