Aztec Brave, Flashlight square off in Teleprompter

It’s a matchup of teacher and pupil in the $50,000 Teleprompter Stakes on Saturday, closing day at Arlington.

Before he went out on his own about a year ago, trainer Joe Sharp served as assistant trainer to Mike Maker. Maker has no current peer in claiming horses and turning them into stakes competitors, the most recent shining example being Da Big Hoss, haltered for a $50,000 tag in June and the winner of the $600,000 Kentucky Turf Cup in September.

The transformation of Aztec Brave has not been quite that stark, but since Sharp and owner Brad Grady claimed him for $30,000 last October at Keeneland, Aztec Brave has won 4 of 6 starts, including two six-figure stakes, and banked nearly $200,000. He’s one of 11 horses entered in the Teleprompter, an overnight stakes carded for one mile on grass and co-featured with the $50,000 Melanie Frances on the 10-race final card of the 2015 Arlington season.

Among Aztec Brave’s rivals is Flashlight, who scored a sharp, front-running turf-route win last out at Saratoga and was claimed for $40,000 out of the race by Maker and owner Michael Hui. For all the good Maker has done with claimed horses, however, DRF Formulator shows this is not one of his stable’s strong moves. Over the last five years, horses running first off a Maker claim in a stakes race have gone 13-0-1-1, and seven of those horses went off at single-digit odds.

An issue for Aztez Brave is his post position, No. 11, which is not impossible to overcome but over the last 15 seasons has produced winners at only a 6 percent rate (21 for 333). Aztec Brave, who won the $100,000 West Virginia House of Delegates Speaker’s Cup last out, is good enough to win despite his post but will need an alert break under Rosemary Homeister Jr. to avoid losing too much ground on the first turn.

With Super Soldier, Crewman, Pablo Del Monte, and Flashlight in the field, an honest pace seems assured, and while Aztec Brave has learned to relax more than he once did, he must avoid moving too early into quick fractions. Closers to consider include Midnight Cello, who appears to be better on synthetic than turf and was cross-entered in a race Saturday at Churchill; Key to Power, who exits a late-running win in the Cliff Guilliams Handicap at Ellis Park; and Yankee Dealer, who left Arlington for Saratoga and won a grass route for an $80,000 tag there earlier this month.

Notte d’Oro may be vulnerable

Notte d’Oro ran decently in a pair of Grade 2 turf races at Del Mar, finishing fifth in the Yellow Ribbon and sixth in the John C. Mabee. Those two performances make her the likely favorite in the Melanie Frances, but Notte d’Oro is running back less than three weeks after her last start, having shipped from California between races, too. She already has had an active summer, and she might not be set to show her best Saturday.

Eden Prairie, who looks like the second choice if she doesn’t go favored, also deserves skepticism from bettors. Notte d’Oro beat her at Fair Grounds, though she had a strong winter there, but Eden Prairie hasn’t raced since April. The 5-year-old is in the last-hurrah phase of her racing career and is likely to be retired to become a broodmare for 2016.

If Pirate’s Trove and Puntsville both start, a fast pace seems likely, and if the two favorites fail to fire, a decent price like Be Playful or Distorted Type could sneak into the winner’s circle.

◗ After Saturday’s card, there’s no live racing in Chicago until Oct. 2, when Hawthorne begins its fall-winter meeting.