Two Emmys on target for Sycamore

LEXINGTON, Ky. – There have been a lot of firsts to occur during this pandemic era, but this is a good one – the Arlington Million winner making his first start back in the Sycamore at Keeneland.

Technically, yes, the marquee race of the 2021 Arlington Park meet was named the Mister D., not the Arlington Million, as the iconic Grade 1 race had been known for nearly 40 years prior to parent company Churchill Downs Inc. taking steps to shutter the suburban Chicago track. The first – and apparently only – running of the Mister D. resulted in a front-running 27-1 upset by Two Emmys on Aug. 14.

Lo and behold, unlike previous Arlington Million winners who typically move on to prepare for the Breeders’ Cup Turf in higher-profile events in New York or California, Two Emmys is set to make his return Friday at Keeneland in the Grade 3, $150,000 Sycamore. There is no intent to run the 5-year-old gelding back in the Nov. 6 BC Turf at Del Mar.

Hugh Robertson was the trainer of record for Two Emmys in his Mister D. stunner, but his son Mac has been training the son of English Channel for the Sycamore in recent weeks at Keeneland, including his overseeing of a five-furlong breeze in 1:01.60 last Sunday. Father and son frequently interchange horses between their stables, and with Hugh staying put in Chicago while Mac brought a string here for the fall meet, the switch makes perfect sense.

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The Sycamore is the first of four stakes set for next week at Keeneland, followed by the Perryville and Grade 2 Raven Run on Saturday and the Grade 3 Dowager on Sunday.

After next weekend, five stakes will remain at the meet – the Myrtlewood and Grade 3 Valley View on Oct. 29, followed by the Bowman Mill, Bryan Station, and Grade 2 Fayette on the Oct. 30 closing-day card.