High-end turf allowance heads Friday Arlington card
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
Playing amateur jockeyologist might lead to a winner in the featured third race Friday at Arlington.
Six horses were entered in a grass race carded for 1 1/16 miles with multiple high-end allowance conditions and a $80,000 claiming option. Mitchell Murrill, in the middle of a strong Arlington meet that through Aug. 19 had produced 66 winners, rides Cartoon. Murrill is the go-to rider at Arlington for trainer Mike Stidham, who entered an Illinois-bred named Memory Bank, but it’s Chris Emigh who has the mount on Memory Bank even though Memory Bank is coming off a win with Murrill.
Cartoon hails from the barn of trainer Pavel Vashchenko, and the 6-year-old horse has the talent to win Friday. Cartoon, in two of his three starts following a year-plus layoff, has been raced over 1 1/2 miles in Grade 3 races, and he is probably neither a true long-distance turf horse nor a graded-stakes type. Back in a shorter allowance race, and with encouraging recent workout activity, Cartoon appears to have landed in the right spot – and just might be the right price.
Zulu Alpha got a major assist from a walking pace when he upset Arlington’s most recent turf route at this class level, beating Cammack by a nose Aug. 2. Both horses are back in the Friday feature, and on a level playing field Cammack is the more likely winner of the pair.
Rail-drawn Christian C is the likely pacesetter and has ample ability to capitalize if afforded an easy lead. But even coming out of longer races Cartoon need not fall too far off the pace. Murrill regularly has been putting his mounts in a favorable position to win, and he might be sitting on a winner here.
Female sprinters in Indiana headliner
Chicago invader Marquee Miss is the pick to post a minor upset in the featured first race Friday at Indiana Grand.
Marquee Miss is drawn on the outside in a six-furlong dirt allowance race that drew seven entrants and might have enough speed to cross and clear. Her three most recent starts have come on turf or Polytrack, and two early-season dirt races at Oaklawn yielded performances strong enough to win Friday at Indiana.
