Wally Van looks good even outside statebred ranks

Wally Van might be stepping outside the Colorado-bred ranks Sunday for the $40,000 Arapahoe Park Sprint, but there are a host of reasons to believe he is the horse to beat. Not only is Wally Van a horse-for-course with a 9-for-18 record in Aurora, Colo., but he also exits a productive race, draws a tactical post, and owns the field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure.

A field of eight will go in the Arapahoe Sprint, including the defending champ No It Ain’t. The six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and up also drew Sinaan, the runner-up in this race a year ago; Ghost Vapors, a stakes winner and half-brother to Grade 3 winner Forest Music; and Ninety Schillings, who is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Mea Domina.

Wally Van is a six-time stakes winner who has banked $185,047 of his $229,606 in career earnings at Arapahoe. He is returning to the track after racing at Turf Paradise, where in his most recent outing, he was second in a six-furlong allowance that went in a blazing 1:07.60. The third-place finisher from the race, Az Ridge, returned in his next start to win an allowance at Canterbury with a Beyer Speed Figure of 95.

Wally Van, meanwhile, earned a Beyer of 90, which gives him a notable numbers advantage on his rivals Sunday. The second-best last-race number in the field is a 76, earned by Laugh At Life. Wally Van will break from post 8 in the Arapahoe Sprint, a race he was third in last year, and could get an ideal tracking trip behind Laugh At Life and Cockeyed Cowboy.

Travis Wales has the mount for Bill Vanlandingham and trainer Tyrone Gleason.