Grade I stakes winner William Deburgh’s Tuscan Evening,
five for five in 2010, will put her undefeated season on the line as she
accepts highweight of 124 pounds in this Saturday’s $150,000 Grade III Modesty
Handicap at Arlington
Park.
The Modesty serves as the final
local prep for the Grade I $750,000 Beverly D., which will be held Aug. 21, and
will be run at the Beverly D. distance of a mile and three-sixteenths over
Arlington’s world famous turf course.
The race is one of three major
stakes that comprise the track’s Million Preview Day program. In addition
to the Modesty, the 11-race card includes the Grade II $200,000 American Derby
and the Grade III $150,000 Arlington Handicap. As an added bonus, the
1-2-3 finishers in the Modesty will have their entry and starting fees waived
for the Beverly D. should they elect to run in that event next month.
An Irish-bred daughter of Oasis
Dream, Tuscan Evening enjoyed a solid 2009 season with a six for 10 record but
has proven to be unstoppable thus far in 2010. The California-based
5-year-old began her current campaign with a score in the Grade III Monrovia
Handicap, a 6 ½ furlongs sprint down the hillside turf course at Santa
Anita. She followed that with successive Santa Anita turf victories in
the Grade II Buena Vista Handicap over a mile, the Grade II Santa Ana Handicap
going a mile and an eighth and the Grade II Santa Barbara at a mile and a
quarter. Last out, the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained mare won the Grade I
Gamely at Hollywood
Park. Regular rider
Rafael Bejarano will have the mount
Saturday.
Two other Grade/Group I winners
are slated to go postward in the Modesty – Augustin Stable’s Rainbow View and
Nelson McMakin’s Hot Cha Cha.
The former, a Dynaformer filly, finished third
in the Grade III Nassau Stakes at Woodbine in her last outing June 5 but
captured the Grade III Gallorette Handicap at Pimlico on the Preakness Day
undercard in her previous start. The Jonathan Sheppard-trained 4-year-old
was runner up last fall in her North American debut – the Grade I E. P. Taylor
Stakes at Woodbine after winning the Group I Fusaichi Pegasus Matron Stakes at Ireland’s
Leopardstown in her final overseas start. Assigned second highweight of
122 pounds, she will be ridden by Julien Leparoux.
The latter, a 4-year-old daughter
of Cactus Ridge, won the Grade III Mint Julep at Churchill Downs on June 5 to
earn her first victory in three starts this year. The Philip Sims-trained
filly is no stranger to the Arlington
lawn having captured the Grade III Pucker Up over this course last year.
She followed that score with a victory in the Grade I Queen Elizabeth II
Challenge Cup at Keeneland last October. She will carry 121 pounds
Saturday and partner again with her regular jockey James Graham.
Another California
invader slated for Saturday’s Modesty is Richard L. Duchossois’ Éclair de Lune,
fourth behind Tuscan Evening in the Santa Barbara
in only her second United
States start. The 4-year-old daughter
of Marchand de Sable is trained by Hall-of-Fame conditioner Ron McAnally.
Assigned 113 pounds, she will be ridden by Arlington’s leading jockey Junior Alvarado.
Completing the field for the
Modesty (with jockey and weight assignment) are: Team Block and Rich Ege’s
Askbut I Won’ttell (Eduardo Perez, 114 pounds), winner of the $100,000 Illinois
Owners Stakes in May; and Lothenbach Stables’ Single Solution (Michael Baze,
114), an allowance winner of this course earlier this month.