European-based sophomore star Treasure Beach, owned by Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier and Michael Tabor, is listed
as the 2-1 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s Grade I $400,000 Secretariat
Stakes at Arlington Park while Arlington Classic and American Derby hero All In
Stable’s Willcox Inn has been installed at 9-2 in his bid to sweep Arlington’s
Mid-America Triple.
The Secretariat Stakes, the third leg of the Triple which
began with the $100,000 Arlington Classic on May 28 and continued with the
Grade II $200,000 American Derby on July 9, is a mile and a quarter turf test
for international-caliber 3-year-olds and is one of three Grade I stakes races
on the card that comprises Arlington’s International Festival of Racing. The
others are the $1 million Arlington Million for older turf stars and its sister
race, the $750,000 Beverly D., for grass distaffers.
An English-bred son of Galileo, the Aidan O’Brien-trained Treasure
Beach stamped himself a
force to be reckoned with when capturing the Group I Dubai Duty Free Irish
Derby at The Curragh on June 26 after missing by only a head in the Group I
Investec Derby at Epsom on the first Saturday in June. In his last trip
to the post on July 14, the bay colt finished fourth in the Group I Juddmonte
Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp. His regular rider Colm O’Donoghue will
make the trans-Atlantic trip to pilot Treasure
Beach, who drew post 3 in
the 10-horse field.
The locally based Willcox Inn seeks to become the fourth
horse to sweep the Mid-America Triple and the first since Honor Glide completed
the feat in 1997. The Mike Stidham-trained son of Harlan’s Holiday,
who will leave from post 9, has shown flexibility by winning over yielding
going in the Arlington Classic and over firm ground in the American
Derby. Robby Albarado, who has been aboard for each of Willcox Inn’s
previous Arlington
scores, gets the return call for Secretariat.
One race that will play a significant role in the
Secretariat is the Grade II Virginia Derby with the second-, third-, fourth-
and seventh-place finishers all passing the entry box.
Glen Hill Farm’s Banned, listed as the 3-1 second choice,
finished second, just a neck behind Air Support in their meeting over the
Colonial Downs turf course last month. Prior to that, the Tom Proctor
trainee won back-to-back races over the Churchill Downs lawn – the Grade II
American Turf in May and the Grade III Jefferson Cup the following month.
Garrett Gomez has the mount aboard Banned, who drew post 7 for Saturday’s race.
There is one other European is in the Secretariat field,
Ziyarid, owned by His Highness the Aga Khan’s Studs. The son of Desert
Style has won his last three starts overseas including the Group III Prix
Daphnis at Longchamp last out on July 2. Trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre
and slated to be ridden by Christophe Lemaire, Ziyarid is listed at 10-1 in the
morning line and will leave from post 2.
Team Block’s Suntracer and Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey’s Derby
Kitten, the two-three finishers in the American Derby, return for the
Secretariat and are both sons of 2004 Secretariat Stakes winner Kitten’s Joy
and both listed at 15-1 in the morning line. The former, trained by Chris
Block, breaks from post 6 and will be ridden by 2005 Arlington Park riding
champion Shaun Bridgmohan while the latter, is trained by Mike Maker and will
be ridden by Julien Leparoux leaving from post 8..
Completing the field for the Secretariat Stakes (with
jockey and morning line listed) are: Gary and Mary West’s Casino Host (Ramon
Dominguez, 8-1), third in the Virginia Derby; Team Valor International’s
Crimson China (Rajiv Maragh, 15-1), winner of the $70,000 Lamplighter at
Monmouth Park and most recently seventh in the Virginia Derby; Raut LLC’s
L’Aiglon (Florent Geroux, 50-1), a winner for a $25,000 claiming price July 28;
and James Karp’s Newsdad (Joel Rosario, 10-1).