Consistent turf mare Si Si Mon Amie faces softer

Si Si Mon Amie not only has finished third or better in 14 of 17 career starts, but many of those races have come in stakes company. That consistency and class should come in handy when the 5-year-old Si Si Mon Amie runs as a prime contender in the feature race Sunday at Arlington Park.

Trained by Tony Granitz, Si Si Mon Amie is one of 10 fillies and mares entered in a $44,200 second-level allowance scheduled for a mile on the turf. Eddie Razo will be aboard when she breaks from post 3.

Si Si Mon Amie exits back-to-back third-place finishes in turf stakes at Mountaineer Racetrack, including the July 4 Firecracker, in which she was favored as the defending champion.

Other logical possibilities in the eighth of nine races include Romin Robin, My Cousin Pepi, and Jolie Visage.

Two divisions of a starter-allowance turf route for fillies and mares (races 4 and 6) also are on tap Sunday.

Stotsfold late Million addition

Stotsfold, winner of a Group 3 race in France in June in his last start, has joined the prospective cast for the Arlington Million next Saturday. A 6-year-old British-bred gelding, Stotsfold was one of four horses made eligible to the Million by way of a late-nomination fee, Arlington announced Thursday. Recapturetheglory, Musketier, and Presious Passion also were late-nominated.

Stotsfold is one of four foreign horses expected to start in the Million, along with Gladiatorus, Gloria de Campeao, and Cima de Triomphe.

Entries will be drawn Tuesday at the ESPN Zone in downtown Chicago for the Million and the other two Grade 1 turf races that make up the International Festival of Racing, the Beverly D. and Secretariat.

* Unlike in recent years, the jockey and trainer races at Arlington are very tight as the Festival approaches. Into the Friday card, E.T. Baird led Junior Alvarado by a 57-55 margin atop the rider standings, while Moises Yanez held a tenuous lead over three others atop the trainer category.

* Arlington has announced that the Z-5 wager will no longer be offered after Sunday. The Z-5 was a variation of the super high five rotating among tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc. Arlington will continue offering a super high five on the last race daily.