Set Piece overcomes slow pace to grab Arlington

A slow tempo proved no impediment to late-running Set Piece, who caught pacesetting Get Smokin in the final half-furlong and drew away to a one-length win in the Grade 3 $225,000 Arlington Stakes on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Set Piece came through as an odds-on favorite for owner-breeder Juddmonte, trainer Brad Cox, and jockey Florent Geroux, paying $3.52 while winning for the fifth time over a Churchill turf course.

Classic Causeway failed to show his expected pace, leaving Get Smokin alone through slow fractions of 24.16 and 48.96. Even that was too much for Classic Causeway and Royal Patronage, who attended the pacesetter but fell away in upper stretch, as Set Piece began to find his best stride. Get Smokin had run through the final quarter-mile and finished gamely, but Set Piece was too much for him in the end. Get Smokin held second by three quarters of a length over Harlan Estate, the longest price in the field at 27-1 who came up the rail and nabbed third. Tiberius Mercurius was scratched. Set Piece was timed in 1:42.42 for 1 1/16 miles over firm going.

Set Piece, a 7-year-old gelding, was bred in England and began his racing career there before coming to Cox in 2020. Set Piece is by Dansili out of Portodora, by Kingmambo.

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