'Tiger' a star in making

CHICAGO - No Tolerance just lost to a graded-stakes-class horse trained by Tom Proctor. Monday at Arlington, he could lose to another one.

Purim, who seems headed for bigger and better things this summer, beat No Tolerance by 3 1/4 lengths May 7 in the Avers Wexler Illinois Owners Stakes. Monday, in the $40,000 Mister Gus, a one-mile turf race, No Tolerance has to face Therecomesatiger, also trained by Proctor, and also, the way things stand now, a horse with a bright future.

But it is not just Therecomesatiger. The Mister Gus is yet another example of a $40,000 Arlington overnight stakes with a field as good or better than many current Grade 3's. There were 11 entered in the race, and the field also includes contenders Come on Jazz, Major Rhythm, Scooter Roach, Cosmic Kris, and even Home of Stars, though his best chance will come if the Mister Gus is rained onto the main track.

No Tolerance will be easy to see Monday since he figures to go to the lead, but Therecomesatiger looks like the horse to watch. Proctor had picked out a recent Arlington turf race as a comeback spot for Therecomesatiger, but scratched him when that race was moved onto a sloppy main track. Therecomesatiger made six starts last year at 3 and won four of them, and had legitimate excuses for his two third-place finishes. Put it this way: Purim was a horse good enough to run in the Grade 1 Secretariat last year, and Proctor claims he couldn't say which horse, Purim or Therecomesatiger, is better.

Therecomesatiger, however, could have drawn a better post position. Pending scratches, he breaks from post 11, a potentially tricky spot with a short run to the first turn. But Therecomesatiger was on the lead going seven furlongs on dirt in his career debut, and has plenty of speed to get early position.

But if Therecomesatiger is used too early - either trying to find a spot before the turn, or going after a clear leader - a host of late runners will be taking aim in the stretch. The best of them might be Cosmic Kris, who ran poorly last month at Keeneland in his 2006 debut, finishing seventh in a high-end turf allowance, but came within a neck of upsetting the good turf horse Gun Salute in the Hawthorne Derby last fall. Cosmic Kris met Therecomesatiger last fall in the Commonwealth Turf at Churchill and was beaten more than four lengths.