Arlington Park features 4 strong stakes races Saturday
In just over a month, a new race — the $400,000 American St. Leger — will make its debut as part of the Arlington Million Day card.
On Saturday afternoon, the venerable Grade III $150,000 Stars and Stripes Stakes will make its debut as part of the Million Preview Day card’s final local prep for the St. Leger.
The Stars and Stripes, a mile-and-a-half marathon on the turf, rounds out a powerhouse lineup Saturday, which also includes three Grade III $200,000 races — the American Derby, the Modesty Handicap and the Arlington Handicap, all final preps for Million Day.
All four graded races will be run on a turf course that, barring a miracle from the heavens, promises to be fast and firm.
The headliners among the wide-open field of 11 in the Stars and Stripes are Musketier (3-1 morning line), a three-time winner of the Grade III Singspiel Stakes at Woodbine Race Course, and Joinem (4-1), runner-up in the Grade III Louisville Handicap at Churchill Downs in May.
In the Modesty, which serves as the final prep for the Beverly D., a field of eight is scheduled to go to post with Arlington Matron winner Upperline (7-2) looking to become the first horse since Belle of Cozzene in 1996 to win both the Matron and the Modesty Handicap in the same season.
She’ll have her work cut out for her, though, with the likes of Bizzy Caroline (3-1) and Romacaca (5-2) standing in her way.
Bizzy Caroline invades off a winning effort in the Grade III Mint Julep Handicap at Churchill Downs on June 2, and Frank Calabrese’s Romacaca also returns to Arlington, where she is four for six lifetime.
The heaviest favorite in the four graded races is Silver Max (8-5) in the American Derby, and rightly so. The winner of the $125,000 Arlington Classic, the first leg of the Mid-America Triple on May 28, returns Saturday in pursuit of that series’ second leg.
Since winning the Arlington Classic, Silver Max was sent to Indiana Downs, where he was a decisive victor in the $200,000 Oliver Stakes. Robby Albarado will ride Silver Max in the final prep race for the Secretariat Stakes.
In the Arlington Handicap, the final prep for the Arlington Million, Boisterous (5-2), third in the Grade I Manhattan Handicap in New York on the Belmont Stakes undercard, heads a field of 11 turf specialists.
Rahystrada (5-1), winner of the 2010 edition of this race, returns to Arlington Park 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.
Don’t miss:Saturday#146;s events start early with Breakfast at Arlington (8-9:30 a.m.). where fans can watch the horses train while enjoying a breakfast buffet. Track announcer John G. Dooley and Arlington television personalities Alyssa Ali and Howard Sudberry will serve as the hosts.