AMERICAN
GRADED STAKES PREVIEWS
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ARLINGTON MILLION S. (G1), 10TH-AP, $1,000,000, 3YO/UP, 1 1/4MT, 4:44 P.M. CDT, 8-9 |
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| 1 |
ARCHIPENKO, 4, c, by KingmamboBound, by Nijinsky II O-Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum; B-Eagle Holdings (Ky) |
| 2 |
STREAM CAT, 5, G, by Black MinnalousheWater Course, by Irish River (Fr) O-Fab Oak Stable Stable; B-Matthews Breeding and Racing Ltd. (Ky) |
| 3 |
SPIRIT ONE (FR), 4, c, by Anabaa BlueLavayssiere, by Sicyos O-Kamel Chehboub; B-M Kamel Chehboub & M Boualem Chehboub (Fr) |
| 4 |
SUDAN (IRE), 5, h, by Peintre CelebreSarabande, by Woodman O-Gary A Tanaka; B-Dayton Investments Ltd (Ire) (SCRATCHED) |
| 5 |
CLOUDY’S KNIGHT, 8, G, by Lord AvieCloudy Spot, by Solar City O-S J Stables LLC; B-Jerrold Schwartz (Ky) |
| 6 |
EINSTEIN (BRZ), 6, h, by Spend a BuckGay Charm, by Ghadeer O-Midnight Cry Stable; B-Fazenda Mondesir (Brz) |
| 7 |
MOUNT NELSON (GB), 4, c, by Rock of Gibraltar (Ire)Independence, by Selkirk O-Derrick Smith Michael Tabor & Mrs John Magnier; B-Cliveden Stud Ltd. (GB) |
| 8 |
SILVERFOOT, 8, G, by With ApprovalNorthern Silver, by Silver Ghost O-Chrysalis Stables LLC; B-Stephanie S. Clark (Ky) |
The complexion of Saturday’s $1 million Arlington Million (G1) changed
considerably on Friday with the announcement that likely pacesetter SUDAN (Ire)
(Peintre Celebre) was being withdrawn due to the occurrence of a bowed tendon.
Glancing at the past performances, it is hard to say for sure who will set the
pace in the 1 1/4-mile turf feature, though CLOUDY’S KNIGHT (Lord Avie) and
EINSTEIN (Brz) (Spend a Buck) are perhaps the most likely candidates. More about
those two later.
Though North American-based runners have captured the last two editions of
this race, European-based runners such as Silvano (Ger), Sulamani (Ire) and
Powerscourt (GB) were dominant earlier in the decade. This year we have two
continental contenders who appear to have the goods to take home the prize
again: ARCHIPENKO (Kingmambo) and MOUNT NELSON (GB) (Rock of Gibraltar [Ire]).
Of those two we have to side with the latter, who starts for the hottest barn in
the world, that of Ballydoyle conditioner Aidan O’Brien, who is well on his way
to establishing a world record for most Group/Grade 1 wins in a season. He can take
down another here with a colt who established himself as a top-grade juvenile,
and most recently returned to his best form capturing the prestigious Eclipse S.
(Eng-G1) at Sandown last time.
Mount Nelson ended his two-year-old season with a win in the Criterium
International (Fr-G1), but his sophomore campaign was a wash with an 11th in the
Champion S. (Eng-G1) being his only start that season. He returned this year to
finish third and fifth in his first two starts while encountering traffic in
both, and then followed up with a photo-finish score in the Eclipse. It was a
rather modest renewal of that about 10-furlong fixture, but the feeling here is
that even second and third-rate Europeans can trump most of our domestic
turf stars, with or without an honest pace.
Archipenko is in career-best form at the moment and would be no surprise.
He’s won three of his last four for South African Michael de Kock, including the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (HK-G1) and the Summer Mile (Eng-G2) most recently.
The bay was a half-length third to the talented Jay Peg (Camden Park) in the Dubai Duty
Free (UAE-G1) three starts back, so he has been knocking heads with some
outstanding stock of late.
The American contingent is led by Einstein, winner of the Gulfstream Park
Turf (G1) and Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (G1) this season and runner-up last
time in the Firecracker H. (G1). The latter was over a mile, and he clearly
prefers more ground and will get it Saturday. He has exceeded the expectations
of this observer this season, but we still think he is a cut below the foreign
invaders.
The third European in the contest is SPIRIT ONE (Fr) (Anabaa Blue), who has
yet to break through at the top level but has been fairly consistent this year.
He finished 2 1/2 lengths fourth to Duke of Marmalade (Danehill) in the Prix
Ganay (Fr-G1) in April, and that rival has since reeled off wins in the
Tattersalls Gold Cup (Ire-G1), Prince of Wales’s S. (Eng-G1) and King George VI
and Queen Elizabeth S. (Eng-G1). We might be underrating this four-year-old
by placing him here.
STREAM CAT (Black Minnaloushe) was an impressive 3 3/4-length winner of the
Arlington H. (G3) in his first race for trainer Rusty Arnold and his first in
more than eight months. Traditionally, the Arlington Handicap has been a nominal
prep for the Million — its most noted winner since 1981 (the year the Million
was inaugurated) was 1992 turf champion Sky Classic, who later finished second
in the Million — and those who perform well in it usually don’t follow-up in
the Million. History may or may not repeat with Stream Cat, but he looked good
last time and he enjoys a little give in the ground. He finished in a dead-heat
for fourth in last year’s edition, beaten a length, but the field seems better
this year.
Cloudy’s Knight, Canadian champion turf horse last year on the
basis of his victory in the Canadian International (Can-G1), has not looked good
in two starts this year but has often run well in the third race of his form
cycle. Still, it’s hard to be confident given his lackluster finishes against far
weaker company. SILVERFOOT (With Approval) snapped a losing streak dating back
two years when he won the Stars and Stripes Turf H. (G3) over 1 1/2 miles last time.
He has always been better suited against Grade 3 types over 11 and 12 furlongs.