Devileye, unbeaten at Arlington, tries for his first win of the year

The 6-year-old Illinois-bred, Michele Boyce-trained Blue Sky Kowboy ran the best race of his life, at least according to the Beyer Speed Figure scale, in a sharp Polytrack allowance score Sept. 12 at Arlington Park. Friday, in the featured first race at Arlington, the 6-year-old Illinois-bred, Boyce-trained Devileye gets his turn at the races.

This is closing weekend at Arlington – where purses were boosted 15 percent for the meet’s last nine days, and now are actually appealing – and the lid-lifter on Friday drew a pretty strong crew of Polytrack sprinters. There will be scratches here – Boyce said she’s likely to take Puntsville out of the running – and Richiesinthehouse, a likely odds-on favorite for leading trainer Larry Rivelli and leading jockey Jareth Loveberry, could be loose on the lead and long gone. But Devileye, making his first Arlington start of the year, has five wins from his five starts over the local synthetic oval.

“He’s had his off periods this year, but he’s doing good now,” Boyce said of Devileye, winless in four 2020 starts.

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Blue Sky Kowboy won the $100,000 Hawthorne Derby as a 3-year-old in 2017, but victories have been few and far between for a stone closer who needs pace he often doesn’t get. Yet somehow, making his 26th start, Blue Sky Kowboy kept the leaders well within range last week, blasting home for a six-length victory and a 93 Beyer.

“He’s a talented horse and always has been,” Boyce said.