ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Permian began his 2017 campaign by finishing third in a Class 2 handicap at Bath in England. That is a long way from being the 2-1 morning-line second choice Saturday in the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes.
“He was definitely above average as a 2-year-old, but I think we’d all be quick to admit going into this season we didn’t expect him to reach the heights he has,” said Charlie Johnston, assistant to his father, trainer Mark Johnston.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – During a very successful training career that began in 2013, Arnaud Delacour has sent out close to 1,050 starters. But Hawksmoor, who runs in the Grade 1 Beverly D. on Saturday, will be his first at Arlington.
Hawksmoor is part of a deep, very competitive 10-horse field in the 1 3/16-mile Beverly D. From the rail out, the entrants are Dacita, Prado’s Sweet Ride, Kitten’s Roar, Dona Bruja, Grand Jete, Zipessa, Rainha Da Bateria, Sarandia, Hawksmoor, and Rain Goddess.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Ascend made the lead at the top of the stretch just two Saturdays ago in the 1 3/8-mile Bowling Green Stakes at Saratoga but was swallowed up by deep closers late in the race and checked in fourth as the 9-5 favorite.
Still, the disappointing performance from Ascend, who had won the Grade 1 Manhattan in his previous race, had nothing to do with trainer Graham Motion deciding to run Ascend back two weeks later in the Arlington Million.
“I already had in mind that we could run back in this race, so it wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction,” Motion said.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The horse named Scottish is anything but bounded by national borders.
Scottish was purchased by Godophin at the end of his 3-year-old season as a prospect for the international circuit, and Godolphin’s vision of what Scottish might become has come to fruition. Scottish finished second last fall in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup in Australia, has come to Arlington this week for a run in the Arlington Million, is set to travel to Australia again in early autumn, and could wind up in Dubai over the winter.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Bound for Nowhere, who finished 10th in the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest in Deauville, France, as the lone American-based runner in the field, will be given the rest of the year off, owner and trainer Wesley Ward said on Wednesday.
Bound for Nowhere won races at Turfway Park and Keeneland early in the year and was fourth in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot in June in his stakes debut. In the Prix Maurice de Gheest, Bound for Nowhere was near the front early but faded in the final quarter-mile.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Pacific Heat, the three-time stakes winner, has been turned out for four months because of a recent injury, trainer Peter Eurton said.
Pacific Heat was disqualified from first to second in the Fran’s Valentine Stakes at Santa Anita in May. She had two workouts in June before she was taken out of training, Eurton said.
“I’ll give her some time,” Eurton said. “It’s unfortunate. She was taken down and got hurt.”
Pacific Heat won 4 of 8 starts and $381,185. She won three stakes for California-bred fillies in 2015 and 2016.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Tatters to Riches, the stylish winner of a maiden race in his debut at Del Mar on July 29, had a daylong road trip on Tuesday.
Trainer Jeff Mullins shipped the colt to the nearby San Luis Rey Downs training center for a half-mile workout in 47 seconds flat. Mullins said he chose to work Tatters to Riches at San Luis Rey Downs as opposed to Del Mar.
“It’s been loose and deep,” he said of Del Mar’s main track. “We’ve had a few soft-tissue injuries.
“We shipped him out yesterday morning and brought him back.”
DEL MAR, Calif. – From New York to England to Kentucky, Arawak has been held in the highest regard by trainer Wesley Ward in recent months.
The traveling continues this week. On Tuesday, Arawak arrived in California for Saturday’s Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes for 2-year-olds at Del Mar. The $200,000 race at 6 1/2 furlongs gives Ward a chance to prove the colt can race in a vital summer stakes for juveniles.
“I have a hunch he’ll like Del Mar,” Ward said on Wednesday morning. “We’ll take a shot.”
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - A field of 13 has been entered for Saturday’s 35th running of the Arlington Million.
From the rail out, with riders, the horses entered to run are Oak Brook (Santo Sanjur), Oscar Nominated (Florent Geroux), Enterprising (Corey Lanerie), Ghost Hunter (Edwin Gonzalez), Deauville (Ryan Moore), Fanciful Angel (Daniel Muscutt), The Pizza Man (Irad Ortiz), Kasaqui (James Graham), Scottish (William Buick), Beach Patrol (Joel Rosario), Divisidero (Julien Leparoux), Ascend (Jose Ortiz), and Mekhtaal (Frankie Dettori).
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Mark Casse confirmed Monday the news most had expected was coming - that his 2-year-old champion Classic Empire would not make the Grade 1 Travers here on Aug. 26 and would instead be pointed for the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx on Sept. 23.
