Gestut Karlshof’s German-bred filly Kapitale, who finished fourth in
Saturday’s Grade 1 Beverly D. as the Grade 1 Arlington Million’s sister race,
will be the only European invader to remain in North America following
Saturday’s International Festival of Racing.
Kapitale was making her first start of the year and her first start on this
side of the Atlantic in Saturday’s $750,000 Beverly D. The daughter of Dubawi
will be pointed toward Woodbine’s Grade 2 Canadian Stakes for fillies and mares
over the lawn September 16 and possibly the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at
Santa Anita November 2 after that.
Trained by Andreas Wohler, who saddled Stiftung Gestut Fahrhof’s Silvano to
win the 2001 Arlington Million, Kapitale was void of early foot in the Beverly
D. but rallied six-wide in the lane to improve position with vigor.
Glen Hill Farm’s Marketing Mix, runner-up by a head to Andrew Stone’s
Irish-bred European-based I’m A Dreamer in the Beverly D., also came out of her
race in good order and will also be pointed toward Canada’s upcoming grass test
for members of the distaff set according to her conditioner Tom Proctor.
European-based Arlington Million invaders headed by Darley Stud Management’s
British-bred Afsare, runner-up in the 30th anniversary edition of Chicago’s
centerpiece race, all came out of the race in good order and were scheduled on
two transatlantic equine charters returning them home later in the day on
Sunday.
“Afsare, (Darley Stud Management’s Irish-bred) Colombian, (Crackerjack King
Syndicate’s Irish-bred) Crackerjack King and (Mark Hawtin’s Irish-bred) Wigmore
Hall are all on the same flight,” said International Racing Transport’s Matt
Haug.
“The Irish horses are on their own separate flight a little later in the
day,” said Haug, speaking of the Aidan O’Brien trained trio of the Arlington
Million’s British-bred Treasure Beach, owned by Mrs. Fitriani Hay, Derrick
Smith, Mrs. John Magnier and Michael Tabor; the Beverly D.’s Irish-bred filly
Up, owned by Smith, Magnier and Tabor; and the Secretariat Stakes’ Kentucky-bred
Daddy Long Legs, also owned by Tabor, Smith and Magnier.
Accompanying the European-based Million candidates on Sunday’s first flight
were Saturday’s Beverly D. heroine I’m A Dreamer, an Irish-bred mare owned by
Andrew Stone, and the British-bred filly Joviality, owned by Darley Stud
Management.
Also on Sunday’s initial equine charter was the Secretariat Stakes’
French-bred hero Bayrir, owned by His Highness the Aga Khan’s Studs, as well as
Australian TB Bloodstock’s Irish-bred Jakkalberry, winner of the inaugural
running of the $400,000 American St. Leger, Darley Stud Management’s German-bred
Zuider Zee, third in the American St. Leger, as well as Eastwind Racing and
Robert Trussell’s Bridge of Gold.
The American St. Leger, a race that is sure to be graded as soon as it
becomes eligible for that prestigious ranking, proved to be an appetizing added
garnish to Arlington’s International Festival of Racing.
The European horsemen embraced it enthusiastically throughout the summer and
Arlington-based conditioner Chris Block was one of its original American
supporters.
It was Team Block’s Grade 3 Stars and Stripes hero Ioya Bigtime that made the
pace in Saturday’s American St. Leger before being run down in the late stages
by the European-based Jakkalberry.
“I was extremely proud of my horse and the way he ran and he’s doing
wonderful this morning,” Block said during training hours Sunday. “He came out
of the race just as good as you’d want.
“I think there’s a lot handicapping strategy involved because the public,
including myself, has to figure out which horse can go that far.”
In other International Festival of Racing news:
Saturday’s crowd of 34,022 not only represented a 10 percent increase from
the 31,069 that attended the 2011 International Festival of Racing, it also was
the largest Million Day crowd since the current facility opened in 1989 and the
fourth highest in the 30-year history of the Arlington Million.
In addition, the all-sources commingled handle of $14,785,748 was 14 percent
higher than the $13,017,554 wagered on the 2011 Million Day card. On track, the
$2,891,660 bet was 13 percent higher than the $2,562,613 handled the previous
year.
“The addition of the American St. Leger to an already strong program of Grade
1 turf races plus an outstanding undercard of races put together by our Director
of Racing Chris Polzin proves that racing fans around the country and around the
world will attend and wager on high quality racing,” Arlington Park General
Manager Tony Petrillo said.
“In addition to a fantastic card, fans here were treated to new and exciting
entertainment such as our Million Party Zone or Million VIP Lounge.”
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com