Tannery, Sheldon both hope for better fortune at Arlington

Goldberg said he considered the 1 1/2-mile Sword Dancer on Sunday at Saratoga

for Tannery. She finished fourth in that race versus males last year, but the

trainer thought his charge would benefit from the wider turns and 1 3/16-mile

distance at Arlington.

Tannery has won seven of 23 starts and has earned $862,392.

Ninety North Racing Stable named Sheldon after Sheldon Cooper of "The Big

Bang Theory," and the racing partnership hopes its Purim colt will put his

smarts to good use on Saturday in the Grade 1, $500,000 Secretariat Stakes at

Arlington International Racecourse.

"We call him the smartest horse in the barn because he does his work in the

morning then takes a nap," Ninety North President Justin Nicholson said. "My

wife is a big fan of the show, and she was an astrophysics major in college, so

she just loves Sheldon. We wanted to name a horse Sheldon, but not just any

horse. This horse is playful and goofy, so he's Sheldon."

Sheldon Cooper would likely love the challenge of figuring out the optimum

path for his equine namesake to navigate in the 1 1/4-mile Secretariat, but with

Jim Parsons unable to make weight, Eclipse Award-winning jockey Javier

Castellano has the call instead.

"Javier got to work him last time, and it was just what we were looking for

and gave Castellano some confidence," Nicholson said of the bullet :59 3/5 move

for five furlongs on the Saratoga turf August 8. "Every day his neck is bowed,

and he moves right into his gallop and is really, really moving well. It feels

like a lot of things are falling the right way."

Sheldon took seven starts to break his maiden, but Nicholson said that was

more a function of distance than talent, as the colt was second when finally

stretching out to the American classic and Secretariat distance of 1 1/4 miles

before breaking his maiden in his second try at that distance. Then he was

fifth, beaten just 4 1/2 lengths by Mr Speaker, in the Belmont Derby, a race in

which runner-up Adelaide is the morning line favorite for the Secretariat.

"If we never got that 1 1/4-mile grass race, he might still be a maiden,"

Nicholson said. "We expected him to be a long price in the Belmont Derby off

just the maiden win, but he proved he belonged with some nice horses at (at

35-1), and with a little bit of trip help he might have been third.

"This is the last stop for three-year-olds going long on turf for a Grade 1

and nice purse, so we're taking our shot."

Sheldon has won one of eight starts and has earned $127,280.

There will be no shortage of coverage and opinions emanating from Arlington

International Racecourse on Saturday for the track's International Festival of

Racing with updates aplenty expected via Facebook, Twitter and websites such as

ArlingtonPark.com

and TwinSpires.com/blog.

Follow

@ArlingtonRacing and

@Arlington_Park

for updates from the track, and follow

@JohnGDooley,

@HowardSudberry,

@Gabby_Gaudet_,

@Alyssa_Ali,

@AdolphsonRacing,

@betonbyrne,

@JoeyDaKRacing,

@MKJohnson,

@ABRLive and

@EJXD2 for handicapping

insights and more throughout the day.

The

TwinSpires.com/blog website will provide more detailed handicapping

analysis, including links to a podcast discussing the race, and Ed DeRosa's

full-card selections. For handicapping information, visit

Brisnet.com/derby.

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com