Archipenko looks headed to Million

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Off his sharp win in the Arlington Handicap, Stream Cat is a nice prospect for the Arlington Million. Einstein dances every dance, and is one of the more admirable horses in American racing, and there's a good chance he shows up at Arlington on Million Day. But Archipenko, a likely Million participant in the wake of his win at Ascot in England on Saturday, is a horse of a different color, a rising star on the international circuit.

Archipenko's name came up as a Million possible before last weekend, but he appeared to cement a spot in Chicago's premier horse race with a three-quarter-length win in the Summer Mile Stakes. Trainer Mike de Kock told the English racing press after the win that Archipenko would make his next start in the Million.

The Summer Mile was a Group 2, but a Group 2 of unusually high quality which, at a flat mile, fell short of Archipenko's best distance. In his previous race, Archipenko comfortably won the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin in Hong Kong over the Million's 10-furlong trip, and prior to that he had finished a close third of 16 in the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free, which might well have been the deepest race run anywhere in the world this year.

Archipenko was trained last year by Aidan O'Brien, but has been handled since later last fall by de Kock, who came to Arlington last year with Irridescence and finished a strong second in the Beverly D.

Solid drill for Recapturetheglory

Recapturetheglory, the fifth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, kept himself on track for a start in the Aug. 2 West Virginia Derby with a solid workout Tuesday at Arlington.

With assistant trainer Lara Van Deren in the irons, Recapturetheglory went five furlongs in 1:01, third-fastest among 16 works at the distance Tuesday morning. More important, he traveled smoothly, finished with good energy, and seemed to come out of the work in fine shape.

"It's the best he's gone in awhile," Van Deren said.

Recapturetheglory finished a troubled fourth as an 11-10 favorite in the June 14 Northern Dancer, his only post-Derby start, but now seems to be coming back into the form that won the Illinois Derby in May.

"We backed off, and it really seemed to help," Van Deren said.

Recapturetheglory has been penciled in for two more works before shipping out to Mountaineer Park.

Sterling back in Chicago for now

Jockey Larry Sterling, a longtime veteran of the Chicago circuit, is back in town after riding at Oaklawn Park and Churchill Downs the first half of this year. Sterling has so far ridden two winners from 19 mounts, but is getting steady business from longtime patron Mike Reavis, and figures to pick up his pace in coming weeks.

Sterling said he plans to ride at Arlington the rest of the meeting, but then return to Kentucky in the fall rather than going on to Hawthorne, his usual next stop.

"It's fine over there," Sterling said of Hawthorne. "I'm just taking a different avenue, that's all."

Sterling went 23 for 207 at Oaklawn this year, and won 11 races with 105 mounts at the recently concluded Churchill meet.