Phipps Stable's Boisterous, third in the Grade I
Manhattan Handicap in New York on the Belmont Stakes undercard, has
accepted high impost of 122 pounds as he heads a field of 11 turf
specialists entered for Saturday's Grade III $200,000 Arlington
Handicap.
The mile and a quarter Arlington Handicap serves as the final local
prep for the Grade I Arlington Million, which will be held Aug. 18, and
is one of four major stakes that comprise the track's Million Preview
Day program. In addition to the Arlington Handicap, the 12-race card
includes the Grade III $200,000 American Derby, the Grade III $200,000
Modesty Handicap and the Grade III $150,000 Stars and Stripes. As an
added bonus, the 1-2-3 finishers in the Arlington Handicap will have
their entry and starting fees waived for Arlington Million XXX should
they elect to run in that event next month.
A 5-year-old son of Distorted Humor, Boisterous had previously won
the Grade III Fort March Stakes at Belmont in May as well as capturing
last November's Grade II Red Smith Handicap at Aqueduct and the Grade
III Knickerbocker at Belmont in Oct. 2011.
The Shug McGaughey-trained horse is an accomplished turf winner with
seven victories in 14 starts and earnings in excess of a half-million
dollars on the green. Alan Garcia is slated to ride.
Robert Courtney Jr.'s Rahystrada, winner of the 2010 edition of this
race, returns to Arlington after a third-place run in the $500,000
Colonial Turf Cup in Virginia last month. The son of Rahy won that race
last year and followed that up with a fifth-place finish in Arlington
Million XXIX last August. Since that time, the Scooter Hughes trainee
captured the Grade III Kentucky Cup Turf at Kentucky Downs last
September. Joel Rosario picks up the mount aboard the 8-year-old
gelding who will carry 120 pounds Saturday.
Lothenbach Stables' Mister Marti Gras returns to home base after
taking his act on the road through his first four starts of 2012 – the
best of which being a second-place finish in the Grade III Eclipse
Stakes at Woodbine Race Course near Toronto. The Chris Block-trained
son of Belong to Me was runner-up in this race last year and then
followed that up with a victory over Polytrack in the Grade III
Washington Park Handicap. Shaun Bridgmohan will make up most of the 118
pounds assigned to Mister Marti Gras.
Others in the Arlington Handicap (with jockey and weight assignment)
are: Henry Pabst Trust's Joinem (Jesus Castanon, 117 pounds), runner-up
in the Grade III Louisville Handicap at Churchill Downs last time out;
William Stiritz' Proceed Bee (Robby Albarado, 116), sixth in this race
last year and most recently third in a third-level allowance here; Joyce
Young & Gerald McManis' Sky Blazer (Julien Leparoux, 116), a winner
in two of his last three starts in allowance company; and Millard
Seldin & the Estate of Hoss Inman's Cherokee Lord (Inosencio Diego,
115), winner of the $125,000 Remington Green Stakes last autumn.
Also,
Richard Sherman's Sea o'Erin Stakes hero Nikki's Sandcastle (Diego
Sanchez, 115); Joseph Allen's Vertiformer (Quincy Hamilton, 115), a
third-level allowance winner here last month; Agave Racing Stable's
Southern Anthem (Miguel Mena, 114), third in a Churchill turf allowance
June 3; and Team Block's Mavericking (Tim Thornton, 113), a turf
allowance winner over this course last month.
