PACHATTACK (Pulpit), who dwelt at the start to lose all chance in last
summer’s Beverly D. S. (G1) at Arlington Park but still rallied to finish sixth, is a horse whose
connections have a game plan to seek redemption this summer.
The first step on Pachattack’s road to the August 13 Beverly D. came Saturday in Chicago when the
five-year-old captured the 75th anniversary edition of the Arlington Matron (G3)
with a dominant six-length tally.
However, the Arlington Matron was contested on
Polytrack, while the Beverly D. is scheduled to be run over Arlington’s world
famous turf course. Nevertheless, Pachattack’s Irish-born, British-based trainer
Gerard Butler, who plans to be back and forth between Arlington and Newmarket
all summer with assorted side trips to Canada’s Woodbine, remains focused on a
second attempt at the sister race to the Arlington Million (G1).
“Actually, I
think (Pachattack) might be five pounds better on Polytrack than she is on
turf,” said Butler after Pachattack’s Matron win, “but she’s also very good on
grass and the Beverly D. offers a very attractive $750,000 purse. We have to
keep that in mind.
“The key to her race in the Matron was getting her into a
rhythm. I told the jockey (Florent Geroux, who replaced Junior Alvarado after
that rider broke his collarbone Friday) to ride her the same way Junior did when
he worked her the other day (seven furlongs over the Polytrack in 1:26 4/5 on
May 18). I told Florent: ‘Don’t go any slower the first part of it than Junior
did that day, but don’t go any faster, either.’ I thought Florent followed his
instructions perfectly.
“I feel badly about what happened to Junior,” Butler added. “I saw him
this morning and he told me the first thing he thought about after he hit the
ground was losing the mount on Pachattack in this race.”
The July 9 Modesty H.
(G3), a designed prep for the Beverly D., is a strong intermediate possibility
for Pachattack prior to the main event, as is a race over the Polytrack at
Woodbine.