Tom McCarthy’s General
Quarters, who loomed a threatening third entering the lane during last summer’s
Grade I Arlington Million before stopping suddenly, returned to competition for
the first time since that outing on Friday over Churchill Downs’ main track and
finished second by a neck in a seven-furlong allowance $100,000 optional
claiming event.
“I had him ready for
yesterday, I know that much,” said McCarthy, who doubles as General Quarters’
trainer and was speaking over the phone from Louisville Saturday morning during
training hours. “I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t win, but we
were kept wide the whole way and never could get in. The one time we had
a chance to get inside another horse drifted out and we had to stay on the
outside. But he ran a good race and he came back fine. He ate up
all his supper last night and was right back looking for his breakfast when I
got to the barn this morning.
“I think I’d like to put him
back on the grass for his next start,” said McCarthy, a longtime Louisville
resident, “maybe in the (Churchill’s Grade II) Firecracker (Handicap) here on
July 4. Then we’ll look around and see what else is out there over the
summer.”
General Quarters has the rare
distinction of having won Grade I races over synthetic going as well as grass,
taking Keeneland’s 2009 Blue Grass Stakes over Polytrack as well as Churchill’s
2010 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic over the Louisville
lawn.
MONSTERS OF MIDWAY SHUFFLE TO ARLINGTON
PARK SUNDAY
Wear orange and blue and let
muscle memory recall and refine the steps of the Super Bowl Shuffle at Arlington
Park on Sunday when Chicago’s
northwest suburban oval hosts its inaugural Chicago Bears Day.
That’s when Steve
“Mongo” McMichael, Jay Hilgenberg, James “Big Cat” Williams and Tom Thayer will
be on hand at Arlington to give their hometown fans a chance to get an
autograph or photograph taken with those Bears stars of yesteryear who
dominated not only the black and blue division but the entire National Football
League in 1985. "Big Cat" of course is from Bears teams of
more recent vintage.
Youngsters of the 21st
century, born a decade or two later but well qualified as the Bears fans of
more recent seasons, can get in on the spirit of Bears Day by heading to the
Park Area. There they will get a chance to run through the giant
inflatable helmet that the players run through when they take the field at
Soldier Field for home games.
Bears fans young and old can
test their football skills, getting a chance to toss a football, hit tackling
dummies and participate in many of the same drills that the professionals do
during training camps.
Seventy-nine Thoroughbred
horses interspersed throughout nine races are scheduled to join the Bears
Sunday afternoon.
Staley the Mascot and several
Bears coaches of the present day will be on hand at Arlington
Sunday for Chicago Bears Day and there will be a special race named in honor of
the Bears that will include a winner’s circle ceremony where Bears officials
will be presented with a special gift.
NAKATANI WINS TWO FRIDAY AT
ARLINGTON; TAKES OFF FOR BELMONT
Veteran California-based
jockey Corey Nakatani, hanging his tack at Arlington Park on a regular basis
for the first time this summer, posted a riding double early on Friday’s
Arlington program before taking off early to travel to New York for his mount
aboard Zayat Stables’ Nehro in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes.
Earlier this spring, Nakatani
rode Nehro to finish second by a neck in Oaklawn’s Arkansas Derby and then
returned aboard the Steve Asmussen trainee to finish second in the Kentucky
Derby to Team Valor’s Animal Kingdom.
On Friday at Arlington,
Nakatani rode Richard Ravin’s Richie’s Hot Girl to win the fifth race for
trainer Larry Rivelli and then came right back to the winner’s circle after the
sixth aboard William Stiritz’ Pimm’s O’Clock for conditioner Scott Becker.
Rivelli and Becker were tied
atop the trainers’ standings with 15 wins apiece entering Saturday’s Arlington
program.