Catalano back in the mix with Pucker Up candidate Aurelia's Belle
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Wayne Catalano, who was hospitalized more than three weeks with influenza and pneumonia that nearly killed him, has been back on a steady work schedule since Aug. 20, he said Tuesday from Saratoga.
“I’ve been out at 5 a.m. every day,” Catalano said.
Catalano got sick in mid-July. Unable to shake the illness, which turned out to be the H1N1 strain of the flu, Catalano wound up in the hospital in late July. The operation of his stable, split between Arlington, Churchill, Monmouth, and Saratoga, continued smoothly in his absence, and now Catalano is fully back at the helm. He was at Saratoga for closing weekend, and after returning to Chicago on Tuesday, he said he’ll head to Churchill for the start of the September meet there this week. Catalano has about 30 horses at Churchill.
Catalano, surprisingly, will have no runners in either the Arlington-Washington Lassie or the Arlington-Washington Futurity here on Saturday. Catalano has won the Futurity three of the last five years, with Solitary Ranger (2013), Major Gain (2010), and Dixie Band (2009). He won the 2009 Lassie with She Be Wild.
Catalano is likely to have a major player, Aurelia’s Belle, for the Sept. 13 Pucker Up Stakes for 3-year-old grass fillies. Aurelia’s Belle won the Arlington Oaks in her most recent start – and on Catalano’s last day at the track before he was hospitalized. That dark time, much of which Catalano doesn’t even remember, is starting to fade into the past.
“I’m getting stronger every day,” he said.
◗ A. P.’s Glory, among the best 2-year-old fillies stabled at Arlington, could race this weekend either in the Arlington-Washington Lassie or in the Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill, trainer Jim DiVito said. DiVito plans to run the gelding Recount in the Arlington-Washington Futurity.
◗ Global View, fourth in the Secretariat Stakes, is a likely runner Saturday in the $250,000 Dueling Grounds Derby at Kentucky Downs, according to Craig Bernick, president and CEO of Glen Hill Farm, which owns Global View.