AMERICAN
GRADED STAKES PREVIEWS
| ARLINGTON-WASHINGTON FUTURITY
(G3), 9TH-AP, $200,000, 2YO, 1M, 4:54 P.M. CDT, 9-1 |
|
| 1 |
CELINA SLEW, 2, c, by TiznowCheer for Slew, by Slew City Slew O-Bob Zollars & Mark Wagner; B-Ron Winchell (Ky) |
| 2 |
TEXAS WILDCATTER, 2, c, by MonarchosMike’s Wildcat, by Forest Wildcat O-Stonerside Stable LLC; B-Stonerside Stable (Ky) |
| 3 |
T. J.’S POSSE, 2, c, by PosseT. J.’s Turn, by Meadowlake O-Vinery Stables; B-Larry Johnson (Va) |
| 4 |
WICKED STYLE, 2, c, by Macho UnoDeviletta, by Trempolino O-Ashbrook Farm; B-Adena Springs (Fl) |
| 5 |
SEBASTIAN COUNTY, 2, c, by HennessyDouble Park (Fr), by Lycius O-Dream Walkin Farms Inc; B-Dream Walkin’ Farms Inc (Ky) |
| 6 |
BLACKBERRY ROAD, 2, c, by Gone WestStrawberry Reason, by Strawberry Road (Aus) O-Dogwood Stable; B-Payson Stud Inc (Ky) |
| 7 |
RILEY TUCKER, 2, c, by Harlan’s HolidayMy Sweet Country, by Bold Ruckus O-Zayat Stables LLC; B-Formal Gold LLC (Ky) |
| 8 |
GOLD COYOTE, 2, G, by Gold LegendCoyote Cafe, by Seeking the Gold O-Clarence Scharbauer Jr; B-Clarence Scharbauer Jr (Tx) |
Four of the eight entrants in Saturday’s $200,000 Arlington-Washington
Futurity (G3) lack experience over the Polytrack, and we’ll side with a
youngster who has excelled over it in his brief racing career. SEBASTIAN COUNTY
(Hennessy) is two-for-two at Arlington, defeating 11 maiden special weight
rivals in his July 14 career debut and overcoming a troubled start to win an
allowance/optional claiming event on August 5. Listed as purchased for $1 million
as a juvenile,
the chestnut colt earned solid BRIS numbers for those efforts and drilled a
five-furlong bullet work last week in preparation for this event. Trainer Don
Von Hemel will keep Larry Sterling Jr. in the saddle, and Sebastian County
figures to be rallying strongly from off the pace.
TEXAS WILDCATTER (Monarchos) circled the field to capture his career debut
here last time, winning by a widening 3 1/2 lengths, and trainer Todd Pletcher is
very adept with juveniles. The gray colt is also the lone member of the field
with experience at a mile. There’s some speed in the field to set up his rally,
and we won’t be surprised to see Texas Wildcatter remain perfect.
CELINA SLEW (Tiznow) broke his maiden by a couple of lengths two starts back and
offered a good run for fourth last time, netting a 96 BRIS Late Pace number
while losing by only 2 1/2 lengths to Sebastian County. He’s trained by the
ever-dangerous Steve Asmussen and the rail’s been pretty good this meet at
Arlington. Celina Slew will offer good value at anything near his morning-line
price (20-1), and we’ll use the late-running colt in the top three.
WICKED STYLE (Macho Uno) was a good-looking winner over the track in his
career debut, and he’ll make his stakes bow for Rusty Arnold. The chestnut colt
could find himself a little farther back in the early stages against this group, but we liked the way he
finished last time and will use him in some exotics.
RILEY TUCKER (Harlan’s Holiday) was a sharp six-length debut winner at
Belmont Park before tiring to third in the Saratoga Special (G2) 16 days ago.
The speedy colt didn’t make the lead last time, and we’re not convinced his
running style will be effective over the synthetic track given the presence of
speedball GOLD COYOTE (Gold Legend). The Bill Mott-trained Riley Tucker may be talented enough to
overcome all obstacles, but we’ll let him beat us.
BLACKBERRY ROAD (Gone West) has been freshened since finishing fourth in the
Bashford Manor S. (G3) at Churchill Downs. We’ll give the dark bay colt a race
over Polytrack. Gold Coyote owns a three-race winning skein and will be winging
it from the start from his far outside post. We’d be surprised to see him lead
all the way here. T. J.’S POSSE (Posse), who broke his maiden for a $30,000 tag,
is coming off a minor stakes win versus Virginia-breds and will take a massive
class hike here for Asmussen.