Favorites stuck on outside in Arlington Million

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – A field of 13 was entered Tuesday for the 34th running of the Arlington Million, headed by the domestic horses World Approval, Wake Forest, and The Pizza Man and including a solid four-horse European contingent of Tryster, Mondialiste, Deauville, and Decorated Knight.

The other entrants in the 1 1/4-mile Million, to be run Saturday at Arlington Park, are Danish Dynaformer, Dubai Sky, Greengrassofyoming, Pumpkin Rumble, Kasaqui, and Take the Stand. The Pizza Man, the 2015 Million winner who will have Mike Smith aboard, drew post 5. Decorated Knight drew post 8, Mondialiste post 9, Wake Forest post 10, World Approval post 11, Tryster post 12, and Deauville post 13.

Tryster, the Godolphin horse who was fifth last out in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes, was installed as the 7-2 morning-line favorite by Arlington linemaker Joe Kristufek, with World Approval the 9-2 second choice. All the lower-priced Million entrants drew outside, and there is a long-term inside post-position bias in 1 1/4-mile turf races here. Since 2000, horses breaking from post 1 in such races have gone 13 for 48. Posts 2 through 7 are 28 for 281, but posts 8 through 13 are just 6 for 104, posts 9 through 13 are just 3 for 73, and posts 12 and 13 are 0 for 13. Tryster and Deauville drew especially poorly. Deauville, the Belmont Derby winner, is seeking to become the first 3-year-old Million winner since 1983.

With 14 entrants, the $750,000 Beverly D. on Saturday is long on quantity, but the turf race for fillies and mares distinctly lacks quality this year, which is why Sea Calisi was installed as the 7-5 morning-line favorite. She, too, drew poorly in post 13, and there also has been a decided inside-draw bias in Arlington races at the Beverly D.’s 1 3/16-mile distance.

Ballydoyle drew well in post 1 as she seeks to rebound from a 13th-place finish as the favorite in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks. She’s one of two 3-year-old fillies in the Beverly D. for trainer Aidan O’Brien, along with Coolmore, who has post 6. Ballydoyle is 9-2 on the line, and Coolmore is the co-third choice at 6-1 with Modesty winner Faufiler (post 12).

There are nine in the Secretariat, a 1 1/4-mile turf race for 3-year-olds on Saturday, and once again the favorites drew outside. Beach Patrol, the 2-1 morning-line choice, is in post 9, and Long Island Sound, another O’Brien charge and the 5-2 second choice, is in post 8. American Patriot (post 2) and Surgical Strike (post 6) are the other horses at single-digit odds on the line.

Eleven were entered in Saturday’s 1 11/16-mile American St. Leger, which will have Da Big Hoss (post 5) as the favorite. Clondaw Warrior, Messi, and Generous Kitten are the other single-digit-odds horses in this grass marathon.