Crewman, Poulos achieve career highlight in Hanshin Cup

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The Grade 3, $100,000 Hanshin Cup last Saturday at Arlington was a career highlight for Crewman and his trainer, Dee Poulos. The 6-year-old Crewman won the first graded stakes of his career, as did Poulos, who first started a horse as head trainer in 1997.

“I’d won stakes races but never a graded stakes, so he broke the ice,” Poulos said Wednesday.

Crewman’s one-mile Polytrack time of 1:36.05 produced a 98 Beyer Speed Figure, a career best for Crewman by 12 points – not bad for a gelding making his 31st start.

“I felt very good about him, just the way he trained up to the race,” said Poulos, who trains Crewman for the Dundalk 5 LLC of Tim Kindlon. “It seemed like he was in the right frame of mind going into it.”

Crewman was a 25-1 shot in the Hanshin, and while he deserved to be a longshot, Crewman has excelled on synthetic surfaces, where he has scored five of his six career wins. Poulos said Crewman had exited his race in good condition but bemoaned the lack of local opportunities for the gelding.

“It would be nice to stay home, but I don’t see anything here for him,” she said. “It looks like he has to go back on the road and travel again.”

There are stakes options for Crewman at Canterbury Park in the Dark Star on dirt and the Mystic Lake Mile on turf, as well as the Kelly’s Landing at Churchill Downs. And if Crewman’s connections want to keep him on synthetic, they could look to the $125,000 Vigil Stakes over seven furlongs on Tapeta on July 16 at Woodbine, Poulos said.

◗ A first-level allowance race carded for about 1 1/16 miles on grass is the nominal feature on Friday’s card. It drew 10 entrants and has Nate the Natural as its most likely winner. Nate the Natural is just 2 for 20, but he is in good form and generally has faced stronger competition than his main Friday rivals.