Wellabled to gun it in Arlington-Washington Futurity

Wellabled worked three furlongs in 34 seconds – as fast as any horse has worked that distance this summer at Arlington – on Tuesday, his final drill for Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Arlington-Washington Futurity. That’s one snippet of information, but it says a lot about Wellabled, a talented 2-year-old whose greatest asset, his early speed, has so far been all he’s shown.

Wellabled went to the front and scored a blowout win over Arlington’s Polytrack while making his career debut, went to the front and was nailed on the wire in the Skidmore Stakes over turf at Saratoga, and will almost certainly go to the front and try to make all the running Saturday in the Arlington-Washington Futurity.

The Futurity, shortened two years ago to seven furlongs, attracted 12 entrants, and surely there is more value to be extracted than what’s on offer from Wellabled. Trained by Larry Rivelli for Carolyn Wilson, Wellabled has master speed rider E.T. Baird in the irons Saturday.

“I think he can just break on top and keep going,” Rivelli said last week.

It’s possible, and Wellabled, a $340,000 2-year-old purchase in April, might just be faster than the other front-running types in the Futurity. He did appear to move better on Polytrack than on turf last out at Saratoga, where his stride got awkward past the eighth pole, but Wellabled doesn’t have the prettiest way of going, and even if he has the lead in midstretch, his backers might find themselves sweating out the final furlong of the longest race in which Wellabled has competed.

That said, only two horses in the field have raced beyond six furlongs, and one of them, Maxus, won a two-turn, $35,000 maiden claimer on turf in his lone start. That sort of race isn’t especially relevant to the Futurity, though trainer Wayne Catalano is a two-time Futurity winner.

The other horse to have gone beyond three-quarters of a mile is Star Empire, who rates a solid chance for trainer Wesley Ward. Star Empire was less than brilliant in eking out a nose victory at odds of 3-5 in a 6 1/2-furlong Presque Isle Downs allowance race Aug. 9, but that race could serve as a very useful prep for Saturday’s race, and Star Empire, who pressed the pace when scoring a five-furlong debut win on Belmont dirt, showed that he can rate behind horses and finish.

The pick to win, though, is Romeo O Romeo, whose winning debut Aug. 21 impressed trainer Brian Williamson enough to quickly target the Futurity. Romeo O Romeo broke from an inside post and battled along the rail for the lead in his 5 1/2-furlong debut, edging clear late to win going away, but his trip probably resulted from the particular circumstances of that race, and jockey Carlos Marquez Jr. seems likely to take a light hold and rate Romeo O Romeo behind horses Saturday. The colt, by Macho Uno, looked willing and tractable, and he can win right back at a fair price.

Wide-open Lassie

Price-shopping is encouraged in the $75,000 Arlington-Washington Lassie, a race in which 11 of the 12 entrants have raced only once, and no horse has more than a maiden win to her credit.

Marquee Miss won the race last year as a maiden, and her trainer, Ingrid Mason, is coming back with two non-winners this year, Sister Kan and Lisa’s Premier. Sister Kan loses the rider from her debut, Julio Felix, to the Brad Cox-trained Indiana Grand debut winner Benner Island but is worth considering in any case. She hopped at the start of her Aug. 27 debut but gained traction after the first furlong and steadily advanced, perhaps losing focus at the top off the stretch before surging between horses to finish a close fourth and galloping out in front in that 5 1/2-furlong Polytrack race.

Sister Kan is 15-1 on the morning line, and don’t hesitate to dig even deeper for a horse like 30-1 shot Princess La Quinta. Princess La Quinta also broke poorly while making her debut in an Aug. 25 five-furlong grass race, but she caught up to the pack with notably long strides for a 2-year-old and finished as well as anyone in that abbreviated sprint. A longer trip and the strong chance of a taxing early pace could put her in the mix at boxcar odds.

Diadura is the 3-1 morning-line favorite for trainer Mike Stidham, and she has a chance, but she got through inside while rallying into a fast pace Aug. 5 and is unlikely to offer much value. The Cox-trained Benner Island is one of two potentially capable fillies, along with Spirituality, moving to Polytrack after a debut win on dirt. Benner Island stalked the pace first out and dove to the inside for a homestretch rail run, nipping subsequent maiden winner I’mluckysgirl.

Spirituality, a WinStar Farm filly trained by Shannon Ritter, pressed a slow pace while hung four wide sprinting at Delaware Park and went on to an 8 1/2-length victory, but bettors should be wary of the Gemologist filly transferring that form to Polytrack.