Arlington Million headlines blockbuster card
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Colonial Downs is locked and loaded for Arlington Million Day on Saturday, having organized a 12-race card that includes eight stakes offering a combined $2.6 million in purse money. The track’s biggest race, the Grade 1 Arlington Million, has attracted a field of eight older turf males, including seven graded stakes winners.
This year’s Arlington Million did not attract any European-based talent, breaking a two-year streak in which Colonial attained some international flair, but the American contingent is doing plenty to make up for it.
Burnham Square, the 5-2 morning-line favorite, drew post 5 and leads a standout cast. After winning the Grade 1 Blue Grass during a 3-year-old campaign mostly on dirt last year, he will make his first Grade 1 attempt on turf. He is joined by Grade 1 newcomers Dresden Row, Layabout, and Gran Oriente.
Since earning a 107 Beyer Speed Figure in the Grade 2 Elkhorn at Keeneland in April, the Ian Wilkes-trained Burnham Square has picked up two more stakes wins at 1 3/8 miles or longer. Burnham Square will cut back to 1 1/4 miles, but his trainer said he should handle it.
“I’m shortening him up on Saturday, probably the shortest he’ll go the rest of his career,” Wilkes said. “A mile and a quarter and I’ll just keep him at a mile and a half from now on.”
Last year, Shug McGaughey won the Arlington Million when Fort Washington upset Integration, his heavily favored stablemate, for his first Grade 1 victory. Both horses will return in this year’s edition. They have not crossed paths in the afternoon since shipping to Colonial last year.
Fort Washington is one of the two Grade 1 winners in the field, along with Test Score, who won the Grade 1 Belmont Derby as a 3-year-old before capturing the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park in January. The Graham Motion trainee has since finished a game second in the Grade 1 Manhattan at Saratoga.
Trainer Brian Knippenberg said Tuesday that Mercante will likely scratch from the Arlington Million and stay in Kentucky, where he is cross-entered in the $300,000 Green River Island at Ellis Park on Sunday.
The Arlington Million will be preceded by two Grade 2, $500,000 races on turf, the Beverly D. for fillies and mares and the Secretariat for 3-year-olds.
The Beverly D.’s field of 12 is led by Stellify, who will make her long-awaited 5-year-old debut for trainer Brad Cox. The Kentucky-based mare won four straight races last year, including the Grade 3, $2 million Ladies Marathon Invitational, before running seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
The Secretariat’s field of nine includes an eclectic mix of proven graded stakes runners and contenders making their stakes debuts. Alpyland, the 9-5 morning-line favorite trained by Mark Casse, has a decided class edge coming off back-to-back victories in the Grade 3 Penn Mile and $275,000 American Derby at Churchill Downs.
The five listed stakes on the Saturday card do not mark a sharp decline in quality, instead offering large and competitive fields.
Turf sprints in the Mid-Atlantic continue to draw strong fields, as the $150,000,
5 1/2-furlong Van Clief attracted an immense field of 14 older males. My Boy Prince, the Grade 2 Shakertown winner in April, will square off with salty stakes winners Alogon, Witty, and Governor Sam, among many others.
Roja, the last-out winner of the Grade 2 Intercontinental at Saratoga for Motion, will be the overwhelming filly to beat in the $150,000 Andy Guest, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for fillies and mares.
Among the other standouts on the card, Mashallah will make her long-awaited stakes debut in the $100,000 Tyson Gilpin, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies on dirt. She immediately turned heads when she earned a 106 Beyer Speed Figure in her Keeneland debut, and after a misstep at Churchill in March, she bounced back to win a first-level allowance at Saratoga by seven lengths.
Verifire, a 4-year-old colt trained by Cox, will return to stakes company in the $100,000 Reigh Count, where he will tackle seven furlongs against graded stakes winners Crazy Mason and Bracket Buster.
In the $100,000 Petramalo Mile, trainer Bob Baffert entered Sabino Canyon, who earned his maiden victory in the $100,000 Los Alamitos Derby. He will square off with the Kentucky Derby pacesetter Six Speed and Grade 3 Holy Bull runner-up Bravaro.
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