Big day for C.S. Silk, Closeout at Arlington

William Pacella, George Bonomo and Fred Barbara's C.S. Silk and Glen Hill Farm's Closeout shared top honors on "Ladies' Day" Saturday at Arlington Park with victories in the Grade III Arlington-Washington Lassie and the Grade III Pucker Up Stakes, respectively.

Former Arlington riding champion Robby Albarado was aboard C.S. Silk, while Kentucky-based Jamie Theriot was the jockey astride Closeout.

In the Lassie, a one-mile race on Polytrack for 2-year-old fillies, C.S. Silk was on the lead and just off the rail throughout the race, setting fractions of 22.33 seconds for the quarter-mile, 45.59 seconds for the half, a three-quarter split of 1:10.37 en route to the final clocking of 1:36.38. She was 6 lengths clear of runner-up Quite the Lady.

"She ran huge today," Albarado said. "She is a relaxed horse, and did everything I needed her to do. When I asked her to open up in the stretch she did what I wanted her to do. I was very happy with what she did."

The Lassie was the first stakes win for the daughter of Medaglia d'Oro, who broke her maiden at Churchill Downs in June, and it was her first start on a synthetic surface.

"We could tell in the first half-mile that she was moving awfully easily even though they were going fast," winning trainer Dale Romans said. "She looked very relaxed and she didn't look like she was having any problem with the Poly (track). She was going fast but if Robby (jockey Albarado) had her doing that, he must have felt she was doing it comfortably. It was a big race for her. If everything keeps going the way it has for her (the Breeders' Cup) is where we are pointing."

She earned $86,400 to boost her earnings to $116,505 while improving her record to two for three overall.

Quite the Lady, a 27-1 outsider, made a mild rally to finish second and it was three-quarters of a length back to Phola, who finished third.

Afleet Deceit, Broadway Hennessey, Pretty Prolific, Mamma Lina, Never Lie, Timeless Miss, Pride and Reine des Coeurs completed the order of finish.

C.S. Silk paid $10, $7.40 and $5.40. Quite the Lady returned $20.20 and $10.60. Phola paid $8.20.

In the Pucker Up, a mile-and-an-eighth turf race for 3-year-old fillies, Closeout rallied from far back to overtake front-runner Lucky Copy inside the final sixteenth to prevail by a half-length in 1:53.22 over soft turf.

"The distance was a big plus," Theriot said of the daughter of Repriced. "The further she goes the better she's going to be. The other horse (Lucky Copy) had a lot of speed and she was stopping the last eighth of a mile and my filly was just getting moving."

Lucky Copy was quick away from the gate and drew off early under Garrett Gomez to lead by as many as 6 lengths while cutting out fractions of 23.95 seconds, 48.05 seconds, 1:12.24 and 1:39.04.

"She was pretty empty at the top of the lane (after making the pace) but she was still able to keep going," said garrett Gomez who rode the runner-up. "It's hard to make up ground on horses when it's soft, so I thought she might hang on."

It was another length and a quarter back to Clear Pond, who ran third in the 13-horse field, followed by Tight Precision, Much Obliged, Gone Theatrical, Mushka, Jazz Jam, Apple Martini, Bel Air Sizzle, Dreaming of Liz, Return to Paradise and Nijinsky Ballet.

For Closeout, the Pucker Up was her fourth win in seven starts and her second stakes victory this summer after having previously capturing the $50,000 Audubon Oaks at Ellis Park. She earned $110,400 to more than double her bankroll to $211,196 for her owner/breeder.

Closeout paid $10.40, $4.80 and $3.80. Lucky Copy returned $4.60 and $4.20. Clear Pond paid $12.40.

Also Saturday but departing from the day's "Ladies' Day" theme, Joseph F. Novogratz's Snoose Goose won the $54,600 Honor Glide Stakes by 3 lengths. Rafael Bejarano rode the Mac Robertson-trained son of Aptitude who covered the mile and an eighth over the soft turf in 1:54.06 and paid $10.40, $5.20 and $3.80.

In the Honor Glide, Gangbuster clipped heels and stumbled on the backstretch, tossing his rider Jesse Campbell to the track. Campbell complained of pain in his arm and shoulder and was taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights for further evaluation. According to Campbell's agent Dennis Cooper, the rider suffered a broken shoulder and will be out of action indefinitely.

Entering Saturday's races, Campbell was second in the standings with 68 winners.