Midnight Cello’s win as good as it looked

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – It looked like a standout performance, Midnight Cello’s romp Saturday in the Grade 3, $100,000 Hanshin Cup, and the Beyer Speed Figure of 105 it produced validated what the eyes suggested. The winning time was 1:34.83 for a one-turn Polytrack mile.

Granted, there are fewer races on synthetic surfaces this year than in past seasons, but that figure is the highest earned on any synthetic track in 2015. It also made the $100,000 claim that owner Vince Foglia’s Patricia’s Hope LLC dropped on the horse this winter at Gulfstream look a lot stronger. Before his 5 1/2-length Hanshin win, Midnight Cello had finished fifth, fourth, and seventh in three starts for Foglia and trainer Mike Tomlinson.

Those starts all had come on dirt, and Midnight Cello never had raced on synthetic before Saturday. Tomlinson guessed that the 5-year-old gelding would like the surface, and he did, but Tomlinson also said Midnight Cello “had a little physical issue we were dealing with” earlier this year, hinting that high-level performances on other surfaces still might be possible.

“I wouldn’t hesitate to run him on dirt or turf,” Tomlinson said, “though my gut feeling is synthetic might be his best.”

And for now, synthetic seems like the plan with Midnight Cello, who came out of the race in great shape, according to his trainer, and is being pointed to the Presque Isle Downs Mile on Sept. 6.