Hawthorne: Fabulous Union poses dilemma for bettors

STICKNEY, Ill. – For handicappers, one the most pressing questions early in Hawthorne’s fall-winter meet is which horses that have run well over Arlington’s synthetic Polytrack surface will transfer their form to dirt. Direct form correspondence between the two surfaces is rare, and can lead to heavy favorites going down in flames, and horses that looked hapless on the other side of Chicagoland coming in at long odds.

That’s exactly the question that must be asked and answered in the featured third race at Hawthorne on Sunday, a first-level, two-turn, main-track allowance for 3-year-olds and up. The horse in question is Fabulous Union, who, if he runs to his Arlington debut win, ought to dominate five rivals of middling ability.

Trained by Dale Bennett for the Savoy Stable, Fabulous Union came out running in his July 11 debut, battling for the lead in a one-turn Polytrack mile, drawing clear in upper stretch, and holding on to win by three-quarters of a length in the single most impressive performance turned in by any horse in the Sunday feature.

But things get dicey after that. Fabulous Union finished last of six – beaten only about four lengths, though – facing winners for the first time in another one-turn Polytrack mile Aug. 2 and hasn’t raced since. Sunday, he not only races on dirt for the first time, but makes his two-turn debut, and does so showing no works over the Hawthorne main track.

Bettors looking to beat the likely favorite, however, will find no obvious alternative: All five of Fabulous Union’s foes look as if they could step into the void, but none has distinguished himself enough to generate any confidence.

Ioya Bigtime retired

The 6-year-old Illinois-bred Ioya Bigtime, who was Illinois’s horse of the year in 2012, has been retired and will be sold at Keeneland’s November breeding stock sale as a stallion prospect, trainer Chris Block said.

Ioya Bigtime last raced Aug. 16, finishing sixth in the American St. Leger at Arlington. Block said he injured a tendon during a workout on Sept. 8.

Bred and owned by Block’s family, Team Block, Ioya Bigtime is a son of Dynaformer and the Block’s good mare Ioya Two. Ioya Bigtime, who won six races and earned more than $540,000, excelled in longer-distance grass races, and during his peak in 2012 captured the Grade 3 Kentucky Cup Turf.

He sells as Hip No. 1611 at Keeneland.

Brueggemann white-hot

The leading Hawthorne trainer after seven days of racing comes as no surprise, but Roger Brueggemann has started the fall-winter season especially hot. Through Oct. 17, Brueggemann, who trains for Midwest Thoroughbreds and a handful of other clients, won with 12 of his first 29 starters at the meet. His Hawthorne barn is filled with race-ready runners, and Brueggemann figures to keep up his strong pace throughout the season here.

Trainer Danny Miller dies

Danny Miller, a longtime trainer on the Chicago circuit, died on Thursday at 61 after a protracted battle with heart disease. Miller wore a pacemaker for years, but had several medical setbacks the last several months.

Miller started training in 1979 and won 40 races, a career-best, in 1980. Thanks in part to an association with aggressive owner Frank Calabrese – for whom Miller trained the graded-stakes-winning turf mare, Romacaca – Miller won 28 races in 2009, rebounding from some slow seasons, and that success carried over to 2012, when he won 31 races. Miller was a hands-on horseman and for years galloped many of his own horses.

Miller is survived by his son, Blake, and his wife, Patti. Patti Miller is a licensed trainer and took over her husband’s stock as of Friday.

Funeral services were pending as of early Friday afternoon.