Coco Mon fits on turf or Polytrack in Sunday feature

Despite racing for purses that don’t befit their talent, a good group of high-level turf horses has filled several grass allowance races at this meet at Arlington, and yet another one went as the featured seventh Sunday.

And the feature, with multiple high-end allowance conditions and an $80,000 claiming option, didn’t just scrape onto the card, either: A deep field of 10 was entered, and even if late-week wet weather around Arlington persists, the race should hold together fairly well if it must be moved to Polytrack. Coco Mon holds some appeal on either turf or Polytrack, though the time to catch the horse was July 15, when he returned from a 10-month layoff with a sharp win at this class level at odds of nearly 16-1. Trainer Frank Kirby entered Coco Mon for the $80,000 claiming option last time, but now he runs under allowance conditions, and though the last-start victory came on Polytrack, Coco Mon has proven equally capable on turf.

Trainer Louie Roussel has two entrants, Peej and Chip Leader, as does trainer Chris Block in Cammack and Mister Marti Gras. Peej, in fact, was trained by Block until Roussel bought him privately following a seventh-place finish in the July 9 Arlington Handicap. Among those four horses, Cammack has the best recent form with four straight wins, but he faces stronger competition Sunday than he ever has beaten. Mister Marti Gras runs for the $80,000 tag and is only one start removed from a contending performance at this level, even at the advanced age of 9. His best chance probably comes on Polytrack, not turf.

R. Great Adventure won an Arlington turf race at this class level three starts ago before finding graded-stakes competition too deep, and he has a strong chance dropping back to a more appropriate level.

◗ The card concludes with a good-looking 2-year-old maiden Polytrack sprint in race 8. Guernsey, a Godolphin colt by Tapit, was bet to 2-1 in his July 9 career debut, but ran into the best-looking maiden winner this meet, Wellabled, when second by 7 1/2 lengths. He will be favored to make amends Sunday but in the rail-drawn Silent Decree, a $420,000 2-year-old-in-training purchase by Bodemeister, he runs into another live-looking first-timer.

◗ Second-year rider Sebastian Saez recently moved his tack to Arlington and won the eighth race Thursday aboard He’saruler.

◗ The Pizza Man, who will try to win the Arlington Million for the second year in a row, worked five furlongs on Polytrack in 1:03.80 on Friday, his first breeze since a fourth-place finish in the July 9 Stars and Stripes at Arlington.