Arklow gets stamina test in Stars and Stripes

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Arklow, from the start of his career, has looked like a horse with deep stamina reserves. He’ll need to call on them Saturday at Arlington when he tries 1 1/2 miles for the first time in the Grade 3, $100,000 Stars and Stripes Stakes.

The Stars and Stripes came up with its deepest field in years, if not ever, luring 12 entrants, several of whom have the credentials to win, but Arklow could be the best of them provided he stays the distance.

Arklow has kept the best company this year among the Stars and Stripes entrants. Arklow got up in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Fair Grounds returning from a six-month layoff over the winter, and then finished second behind Synchrony in the Muniz Memorial and fourth behind Yoshida, Beach Patrol, and Synchrony in the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic. Synchrony is the 6-5 morning-line favorite in the Arlington Handicap on Saturday.

Arklow, who is by Arch and out of the Empire Maker mare Unbridled Empire, has raced beyond 1 1/8 miles only once, finishing 11th last July in the 1 1/4-mile Belmont Derby, but Arklow already had started going off form by then.

“We’ve always thought he wanted to go farther than what we’ve been running him,” trainer Brad Cox said. “This is a good opportunity to give him that chance against Grade 3 horses instead of Grade 1 company.”

Canessar, who makes the unusual American move of turning back in distance to race 1 1/2 miles, rates a strong chance. A French import, 5-year-old Canessar comes off a fine second-place finish behind the English shipper Call to Mind in the Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup over two miles. Canessar has so much stamina that jockey Fergal Lynch, who is back aboard Saturday for trainer Arnaud Delacour, said just after the Gold Cup that “there was never any question this horse would stay” two miles.

Canessar won the 1 1/2-mile Laurel Turf Cup late last summer in his American debut, and in his first start this season, the 1 1/2-mile Elkhorn at Keeneland, he had little chance trying to rally from well behind a walking pace.

Canessar was third last fall at Keeneland in the Sycamore Stakes, another 1 1/2-mile race in which Nessy finished second. Nessy could only finish sixth in the Gold Cup but can improve on that performance Saturday cutting back to a more favorable distance.

“We got wiped out at the start and were out the back door,” trainer Ian Wilkes said. “A better position would have helped him.”

New York-shipper Catcho En Die tries 1 1/2 miles for the first time (and attracts leading Arlington jockey Jose Valdivia) after finishing 10th in the Grade 1 Manhattan, a race in which all 13 runners were separated by less than six lengths.

Captivating Moon back quick

Captivating Moon and Ezmosh both have long been pointed to Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 American Derby. The difference between them is that Captivating Moon squeezed in a start two weeks ago in the Mystic Lake Derby at Canterbury Park.

Bob Lothenbach, who owns Captivating Moon, resides in the Twin Cities area and Canterbury is his home track. Had trainer Chris Block alone made the call, Captivating Moon would have stayed at Arlington and awaited the American Derby.

That said, Captivating Moon ran a creditable third at Canterbury going a one-mile distance short of his best over a course Block believes doesn’t especially suit the late-running colt. And it’s possible he actually benefited from the recent start.

“When you run back off two weeks’ rest at this level you don’t know until you turn for home and straighten up in the lane if they have that spark,” Block said. “That race might even sharpen him up. I think we’re in good shape.”

Captivating Moon has three seconds and a third from his last four starts, all stakes, but that has more to do with course conditions and racing luck than a lack of will to win.

Ezmosh won the Arlington Classic here May 26 and is 2 for 2 on turf. He got a great trip last time out and now faces stronger competition, but his trainer Brad Cox thinks Ezmosh can improve.

“Really pleased with how he’s doing, and I feel like he’s coming into this even better than the last race,” Cox said. “Still, I feel this race is going to be tougher than the last one.”

Tap Daddy is the other major player in an eight-horse field. Tap Daddy is bred like a grass horse and ran well enough on turf last year that his connections tried to get him into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. This year, his two dirt races have been far better than his two turf races, but Tap Daddy had compromising trouble in the Transylvania Stakes on turf at Keeneland in April.

“Visually, his most impressive race was last year at Kentucky Downs,” trainer Steve Asmussen said, referring to the turf-only track in Kentucky.

Cool Beans back on grass

Cool Beans and Go Noni Go look like the most likely winners of the $100,000 Hatoof, are drawn next to one another in posts 1 and 2, and possess the same front-running styles. Something might have to give – or perhaps this pair is just good enough to contend regardless of circumstances in this 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies.

Go Noni Go comes off a second-place finish behind Cool Beans’s stablemate Beyond Blame in the Regret Stakes at Churchill, but Cool Beans is the pick to win the Hatoof. She tried dirt in her last two starts and three races ago in a grass allowance finished third behind the talented pair of Toinette and La Signare. Toinette came right back to score a sharp win in the Edgewood Stakes.