Eleven
years ago, retired Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey put his personal stamp on
the International Festival of Racing at Arlington
Park when he became the
first and only jockey in history to win the Grade I Arlington Million and the
Grade I Beverly D. Stakes in the same year.
Since
then, of course, the ultimate afternoon for a jockey during the one-day
International Festival of Racing at Arlington
would be to sweep the Million, the Beverly D. and the Grade I Secretariat
Stakes on the second Saturday in August. Together, they are the only
three Grade I races offered in the State of Illinois.
Jockeys
Ramon Dominguez, Garrett Gomez and Julien Leparoux – not so coincidentally the
three most recent winners of the North America’s
Eclipse Award – are in a position to sweep Saturday’s Festival.
Venezuelan-born
Dominguez, the 2010 Eclipse Award winner, rides Gary and Mary West’s Casino
Host at 8-1 in the morning line for the Secretariat, Martin Schwartz’s 3-1
French-bred morning line favorite Stacilita in the Beverly D. and
Castleton Lyons’ 2-1 second choice Gio Ponti in the Arlington Million.
French-born
Julien Leparoux, winner of the 2009 Eclipse Award, rides Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s
15-1 longshot Derby Kitten in the Secretariat, Lael Stables’ 20-1 longshot
Check the Label in the Beverly D. and Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s 30-1 longshot
Dean’s Kitten in the Arlington Million.
American-born
Garrett Gomez, winner of the 2008 and 2007 Eclipse Awards, is set for the reins
on Glen Hill Farm’s 3-1 early second choice Banned in the Secretariat, Robert
Scarborough’s 9-2 early third choice Cheetah in the Beverly D. and Pasquale
Vizzoni’s 50-1 longshot General Perfect in the Million.