E Z Glory, grown up at last, to go in Tom Rolfe 'Cap

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. ? There was a time when the 4-year-old colt E Z Glory had his mind on just about everything but horse racing. E Z Glory went through the terrible twos, driving his trainer, Carl Bowman, and the stable help crazy with nonstop antics.

"Oh, as a 2-year-old he was incorrigible," Bowman said. "He had no focus on anything at all. He'd much rather have picked up a tennis shoe in his mouth and carry it around the barn ? which he actually did two days in a row."

Two years later, E Z Glory is carrying his own weight in the barn, and the colt makes his first start outside allowance company Saturday in the $45,000-added Tom Rolfe Handicap. E Z Glory joins his stablemate On Your Mark and and four other opponents in the 1 1/16-mile Tom Rolfe.

E Z Glory's temperament was so contrary as a young horse that Bowman said he considered gelding the colt. Instead, a patient hand and maturity have combined to turn E Z Glory around. Bowman didn't even try to race him until late summer of his 3-year-old season, and he has let E Z Glory develop at his own pace. Said Bowman, "He's like a lot of Cox's Ridges," E Z Glory's sire. "He should improve with age. He's a better 4-year-old than 3-year-old, and he should be a better 5-year-old than 4-year-old."

Bowman had nothing specific in mind for E Z Glory in July and August, so after a convincing five-length allowance win at Churchill on July 4 he took it easy with the colt before bringing him back to the races in a Sept. 13 third-level allowance here. E Z Glory rated kindly for jockey Rene Douglas that day, even when he was trapped with no place to go from the quarter pole to midstretch. When a hole finally opened, E Z Glory shot through to win convincingly over Gift of the Eagle, a graded stakes-placed colt. E Z Glory has worked well since that win, will be ridden back by Douglas, the runaway leading jockey here, and, if the wet weather holds, has a mud-oriented pedigree.

E Z Glory faces a good field that includes Castlewood and Frazee's Folly, one-two in a high-end allowance race here Sept. 26. Frazee's Folly was compromised that day when he contested a very fast pace, and Castlewood took advantage, rallying in the stretch to win by almost two lengths.

On Your Mark made a breathtaking stretch run to barely win a Turfway allowance in his last start. A'Fire, who was in good form before throwing in a clunker last time, and Del Mar Danny, an impressive claiming winner last time, complete the field.

Chicago Six to Fayette

The local standout Chicago Six was nominated to the Tom Rolfe, but trainer J.R. Smith Sr. said the horse will pass Saturday's race and point for the Grade 3 $150,000-added Fayette Handicap on Oct. 27.

The Illinois-bred Chicago Six, who's owned by Chicagoan Richard Trebat, won five straight races earlier this year, a streak capped by a win in the National Jockey Club Handicap over Guided Tour. But Chicago Six's form declined over the summer, something Smith feared knowing his horse does not thrive during hot weather. But after three losses, Chicago Six bounced back Sept. 3 with a half-length win in the Prairie Meadows Handicap.

"He's doing great right now, he's real sharp," Smith said. "He had a good work here. We'll go down there on the 25th." Smith said jockey Alfredo Juarez Jr., aboard for all Chicago Six's important wins, will ride him at Keeneland.

Nine years between wins

It only seemed like Jerry Gryczewski scored his first career win as a trainer in Thursday's first race with Savannah Hanna. Gryczewski set the record straight on Friday. "It wasn't my first win," he said. "I won about seven in 1992."

But Gryczewski's name is unfamiliar to many fans here, and Savannah Hanna was the first horse he has started all year ? in nine years, in fact. Five years ago, he left a career as an assistant with trainer Tony Granitz and became a contract electrician. It was while doing a job for Rich Papiese that horse racing entered his life again. "He told me he wanted to own some horses," Gryczewski said. "I thought he was joking."

Instead, Papiese gave Gryczewski a check for $30,000 and told him to start claiming. The pair have claimed 11 horses so far, several of whom ran in Granitz's name, and as of now, their stable stands at nine. That number does not include Savannah Hanna, who was claimed out of her win Thursday, providing Gryczewski and Papiese with a nice profit.