Horses You Should Know for Arlington Million Card
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Magician overhauled highly regarded The Fugue to win the 2013 Breeders' Cup Turf (above) and this weekend he targets the Grade 1 Arlington Million. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
Saturday promises to be a strong day of racing at Arlington Park with more than $2.6-million in purses spread between four major turf races on the Arlington Million card.
Even more impressive than the purse money being offered are the accomplishments of the horses entered in the four races — 25 horses already have a combined 50 group or graded stakes victories between them.
With all of that talent, it is hard to predict who will win each race. But there are some horses that you should be familiar with before you watch the races on Saturday. Read below to find out which ones.
$400,000 American St. Leger
With two previous Arlington Million day winners in the ungraded American St. Leger, they are definitely horses you should know.
Dandino, coming in from England, is the defending victor in this race. The 7-year-old hasn’t won since his trip here last year, but he was second in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup and a respectable fifth in the Melbourne Cup last year during a trip to Australia. While he hasn’t done well in his two starts this year, the ground should be to his liking at Arlington, making him a horse to watch in the race.
DANDINO
Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
Admiral Kitten already is a Grade 1 winner with that win coming on this turf course last year in the Secretariat Stakes. By 2004 Secretariat winner Kitten’s Joy, Admiral Kitten hasn’t been able to repeat that performance, but he is a Grade 3 winner this year and lost by only a head to Million contender Finnegans Wake last time out in the Arlington Handicap on this course.
ADMIRAL KITTEN
Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
Grade 1 $500,000 Secretariat Stakes
Adelaide definitely gets the go ahead here as a horse you should know in this race. Not only will he probably go off as the favorite, but he was also a very close second to the impressive Mr Speaker in the Belmont Derby Invitational. Adelaide is one of the European invaders coming over from the barn of trainer Aidan P. O'Brien and the one many think is the most likely to win from that barn.
ADELAIDE (left) FINISHED SECOND TO MR SPEAKER IN THE BELMONT DERBY INVITATIONAL
Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
Lightly raced Divine Oath does not have the best credentials of the horses in the Secretariat field, but the colt has shown that he has a good chance to do well in this race. He won his first two starts before finishing second to Mr Speaker in the Lexington Stakes on Keeneland’s Polytrack surface in only his third start. Divine Oath is coming into the race off of a win in the 1 3/16-mile American Derby on this same course. That performance showed he can get the 1 ¼ miles of the Secretariat and that he likes the course.
DIVINE OATH
Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
Grade 1 $750,000 Beverly D. Stakes
Perhaps the toughest race on the card on Saturday, the Beverly D. Stakes has a lot of options for bettors and fans. But two of the females in this field stand out due to races they have won in the past.
If you watched the 2011 Breeders’ Cup, you saw Stephanie's Kitten win the Juvenile Fillies Turf race on the first day of the event. Since then, this Kitten has gone on to win three more graded stakes, including another Grade 1 last year. She is one of two Breeders’ Cup winners on the Arlington Million card and while she is coming into the Beverly D. without a win this year, she was a close second in the Grade 1 Diana Stakes against fellow Beverly D. entrant Somali Lemonade in her last start.
STEPHANIE'S KITTEN
Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
One of two classic race winners, Just The Judge is another European-based horse coming over for Saturday’s Arlington card. Last May, Just The Judge won the Irish One Thousand Guineas, one of five classic races run in the country. Just The Judge doesn’t have the best overall résumé and hasn’t won since that race, but her victory in that classic and on-the-board finishes in two other Group 1 events since that race make her an interesting Beverly D. contender.
2013 IRISH ONE THOUSAND GUINEAS
Grade 1 $1-million Arlington Million
The Million has the smallest field of the big four races on Saturday’s card, but don’t let that fool you. The race is stacked with talent.
Of course, two of the horses who will have lower odds on the board are the two you should know for this race.
Magician brings in perhaps the strongest credentials of any horse in the Arlington Million field. Like Just The Judge, he is a 2013 classic victor with a win in the Irish Two Thousand Guineas, but Magician also is known by Americans as the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner.
The 4-year-old colt is another one trained by Aidan O'Brien and will probably go off as the favorite in this race. Magician has only seen the winner’s circle once this year, in a Group 3 race, however he was one of three horses to run below the old course record when he finished second in the Princes of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. One thing to keep in mind if you do look at him as one of your race picks is that he should love the firm ground at Arlington, something he hasn’t seen much of since his Breeders’ Cup victory.
Last year’s Arlington Million winner is back and looking to cross the finish line first in this edition of the race. Real Solution was awarded the win last year after it was found that he was interfered with in the stretch. It’s possible he may be even better this year.
Real Solution finished second by only three-quarters of a length in the Grade 1 Man o’ War two starts ago and was a 1 ¼ length winner in the Manhattan Stakes last out.
REAL SOLUTION
Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
The horses highlighted above probably won’t help your betting choices as many of them will be going off at lower odds, but hopefully it gives you some talking points when discussing the races with friends.
Good luck and enjoy the races!
$1-Million Arlington Million StakesSaturday, Arlington International Racecourse, Race 10, 6:36 p.m. ET1 ¼ miles, turf, 3-year-olds and older
PP
Horse
Jockey
Trainer
Morning Line
1
Hardest Core
Eriluis Vaz
Edward Graham
20-1
2
Smoking Sun
Stephane Pasquier
Pascal Bary
9-2
3
Magician (IRE)
Joseph O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien
7-5
4
Finnegans Wake
Ryan Moore
Dale Romans
12-1
5
Up With the Birds
Eurico Rosa Da Silva
Malcolm Pierce
6-1
6
Real Solution
Javier Castellano
Chad Brown
5-2
7
Side Glance (GB)
Jamie Spencer
Andrew Balding
8-1
$750,000 Beverly D. StakesSaturday, Arlington International Racecourse, Race 9, 5:54 p.m. ET1 3/16 miles, turf, fillies and mares 3 years old and older
PP
Horse
Jockey
Trainer
Morning Line
1
Just The Judge (IRE)
Jamie Spencer
Charles Hills
6-1
2
Euro Charline (GB)
Ryan Moore
Marco Botti
8-1
3
Street of Gold
Edgar Prado
Eric Reed
30-1
4
Emollient
Joel Rosario
Bill Mott
501
5
Stephanie's Kitten
Frankie Dettori
Chad Brown
7-2
6
Tannery (IRE)
Robby Albarado
Alan Goldberg
10-1
7
La Tia
E. T. Baird
Armando De la cerda
15-1
8
I'm Already Sexy
Florent Geroux
Wayne Catalano
20-1
9
Alterite (FR)
Javier Castellano
Chad Brown
4-1
10
Sparkling Beam (IRE)
Thierry Jarnet
Jonathan Pease
20-1
11
Somali Lemonade
Luis Saez
Michael Matz
6-1
$500,000 Secretariat StakesSaturday, Arlington International Racecourse, Race 8, 5:15 p.m. ET1 1/4miles, turf, 3-year-olds and older
PP
Horse
Jockey
Trainer
Morning Line
1
Global View
Julien Leparoux
Tom Proctor
5-1
2
Highball
Frankie Dettori
Wayne Catalano
15-1
3
Belisarius (IRE)
Colm O'Donoghue
Aidan O'Brien
20-1
4
General Jack
Robby Albarado
Mike Maker
12-1
5
Sheldon
Javier Castellano
Jimmy Toner
15-1
6
Adelaide (IRE)
Ryan Moore
Aidan O'Brien
8-5
7
Divine Oath
Florent Geroux
Todd Pletcher
8-1
8
Can'thelpbelieving (IRE)
James Graham
Graham Motion
12-1
9
Tourist
Joel Rosario
Bill Mott
5-2
$400,000 American St. Leger StakesSaturday, Arlington International Racecourse, Race 7, 4:45 p.m. ET1 11/16 miles, turf, 3-year-olds and older
PP
Horse
Jockey
Trainer
Morning Line
1
Moro Tap
Robby Albarado
Mike Maker
20-1
2
Dandino (GB)
Frankie Dettori
Marco Botti
3-1
3
Big Kick
James Graham
Michael Machowsky
6-1
4
Infinite Magic
Channing Hill
Wayne Catalano
20-1
5
Moment In Time (IRE)
Jamie Spencer
David Simcock
20-1
6
Hardest Core
Eriluis Vaz
Edward Graham
20-1
7
Havana Beat (IRE)
Joel Rosario
Andrew Balding
15-1
8
Admiral Kitten
Julien Leparoux
Mike Maker
10-1
9
Eye of The Storm (IRE)
Ryan Moore
Aidan O'Brien
6-1
10
The Pizza Man
Florent Geroux
Roger Brueggemann
9-2
11
Suntracer
Javier Castellano
Chris Block
4-1