Willcox Inn, the Harlan’s
Holiday colt owned by All In Stable who captured Saturday’s 97th running of the
Grade II American Derby and the 76th renewal of the Arlington Classic earlier
in the season, will be pointed toward a run in Arlington’s
Grade I Secretariat Stakes on Aug. 13, trainer Mike Stidham confirmed Sunday
morning during training hours.
Should Willcox Inn win
the Secretariat, he would become only the fourth horse in history – and the
first in 14 years – to sweep the Arlington’s Mid-America Triple, which begins
with the Classic, continues with the American Derby and concludes with the
Secretariat as part of Arlington’s one-day International Festival of Racing on
Arlington Million Day.
“The horse pretty much
spoke for himself yesterday,” said Stidham on Sunday. “I don’t need to
say much. I knew before he ran what I hoped he’d do, and he did exactly
what I hoped, and he came out of the race in great shape. We’re looking
forward to running in the Secretariat.
“It’ll be interesting to
watch the Virginia Derby (at Colonial Downs July 16) and get a better idea of
what we’ll be up against next time,” said Stidham, who won the first two legs
of last season’s Mid-America Triple before finishing third in the Secretariat
with Estrorace’s Workin for Hops.
The three previous
horses to sweep the Triple were Robert Schaedle III’s Honor Glide in 1997,
Ogden Phipps’ Buckpasser in 1966 and Powhatan’s Tom Rolfe in 1965.