Veteran Arlington
Park trainer Danny Miller, who had
successfully surgery to implant new pacemaker in his chest on Tuesday, was
released from the hospital Wednesday morning in time to saddle the winner of
the second half of Arlington’s
Daily Double early that afternoon.
“Winning a race sure helps in
the recovery process,” said Miller Thursday during training hours after posing in
the winner’s circle with Dennis Becker and Rick Bost’s Minnie Sunshine after
Wednesday’s second race.
“The pain isn’t too bad,” said
Miller, “but I’m really sore because they had to make a bigger pocket to put
the new pacemaker in. The old one I had implanted in 2007 was smaller,
but it wasn’t doing the job anymore.”
Miller enjoyed his best
Arlington season in 2009 when he saddled Frank Calabrese’s Romacaca to win the
$50,000 Diamond Ring Stakes in July, the $50,000 Hatoof Stakes in August and
finish second in that September’s Grade III Pucker Up Stakes.
Minnie Sunshine, a 4-year-old
daughter of 2002 Belmont Stakes winner Sarava, had been away from competition
since last August at Arlington prior to Wednesday’s win.
“She’s a pretty nice filly,
and that looked like a pretty good spot for her after a layoff,” said
Miller. “I wanted to put her in a spot where I thought she could win.”
When in the winner’s circle
Wednesday following the previous day’s operation at Elmhurst
Memorial Hospital,
the Chicago-based trainer had his arm in a sling.
“That’s just kind of a reminder to keep me
from raising my arm,” said Miller. “I’m not allowed to raise my elbow
above my shoulder for at least 30 days, so I can’t go grabbing a horse or
anything like that for a little while.”
‘SHORTY’ SCORES A HAT TRICK; SHOOTS TO SECOND IN
STANDINGS
Longtime Arlington-based
jockey Eddie Perez, who finished fifth in the local rider standings last
season, enjoyed a riding triple Wednesday at Arlington
to move into sole possession of the second spot at the current session.
The native of Taluca,
Mexico, who at
4’ 11” in height goes by the nickname of “Shorty,” enters Friday’s program
three wins behind the early leader E. T. Baird as the second quarter of the
local season gets underway.
Wednesday’s triple by Perez
began in the opener aboard Charles Sigrist’s Appeal With Zeal for trainer Moises
Yanez, continued in the fifth with Louie Roussel III and Ronnie Lamarque’s
Hero’s and Crooks for conditioner Roussel and concluded in the seventh aboard
Team Block’s Lake in the Sky for trainer
Chris Block.
Perez has now visited the
local winner’s circle 20 times this season, with one more victory than 2009
Arlington champion Junior Alvarado had registered when sidelined by a broken
collarbone in a spill on May 27 here.
Also on Wednesday, jockey
Corey Nakatani, who will ride Zayat Stables’ Nehro in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes
but has been hanging his tack at Arlington
this summer, rode two winners during the afternoon, as did French-born jockey
Florent Geroux. Respectively, Nakatani and Geroux currently rank 11th and
12th in the standings.
ADVANCE WAGERING ON BELMONT
STAKES AT ARLINGTON
FRIDAY
Advance wagering on Saturday’s
Belmont Stakes, third jewel of Thoroughbred racing’s 2011 Triple Crown, will be
available at Arlington
Park Friday, one day
prior to the 143rd running of the Test of Champions.
The Belmont
features a rubber match between Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, who races
in the silks of Team Valor, and Preakness hero Shackleford, owned by Michael
Lauffer and W. D. Cubbedge, but also allows the first seven horses under the
wire in this spring’s Kentucky Derby to seek redemption.
Friday’s acoustic rock band
for Party in the Park at Arlington
will be the “Dave Tamkin Trio,” and for Saturday’s Summer Bash Country Day,
when the first 250 guests will receive free foam cowboy hats, the band in the
Park Area will be “Suburban Cowboys.”