ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Ioya Bigtime has long hinted at having the ability to win a graded stakes race, but it took a long race to get him there.
Making his first start beyond 1 1/8 miles, Ioya Bigtime upset the 1 1/2-mile Stars and Stripes Stakes on Saturday at Arlington, winning the Grade 3, $150,000 turf race by 1 1/2 lengths over favored Musketier.
“My dad and I were talking,” said Chris Block, who trains Ioya Bigtime for the Team Block family partnership, “and we said, ‘Let’s give him a shot at a mile and a half and see what happens.’ ”