Foreign Horses Crush Americans At Arlington

Saratoga set to host 11 Grade 1 stakes in next three weeks

A Column by Steve Davidowitz
August 14, 2008

If you wanted proof that Europeans are holding a dominant hand in world-class turf racing, all you had to do was watch the three Grade 1 stakes at Arlington Park last Saturday - the $400,000 Secretariat Stakes, the $750,000 Beverly D and the Arlington Million.

The most impressive performer I saw was the 3-year-old Winchester, who cruised to a 7 1/4-length victory in the 1 1/4-mile Secretariat over another European, Plan, as American-based Tizdejavu could only manage a third-place finish after setting a relaxed pace through the first mile. More details are included in my weekly race analysis below, but this much about Winchester stood out.

Although the Secreteriat was Winchester's first stakes win after two horrible performances at Ascot and the Curragh, he is the best 3-year-old turf horse I have seen this year. (I'm excluding Big Brown, who was so impressive on the turf at Saratoga as a 2-year-old in 2007 and will run on the grass for the first time this year in his next start, probably in September at Belmont Park.)

Prior to the Secretariat, several European turf commentators said that Winchester is only the third or fourth best 3-year-old turf horse in Europe right now. If that really proves to be so, there are no horses in America that will be able to handle any of them in the $3 million Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita on October 25th.

Here are more details of the three Million Day races, plus some notes on the rush of major stakes on Saratoga's menu for the final three weeks of that prestigious race meet.

Arlington Park, Saturday, August 9th

* The Gr. 1 $400,000 Secretariat Stakes, 1 1/4 miles on the turf for 3-year-olds.

Fractional Splits: 25.38. .49.64. .1:13.84. .1:37.39. . . 2:01.76 - Relatively slow early splits for the level set by Tizdejavu on a rain-softened, relatively firm course playing about one second slower than normal. The splits included short bursts of speed between calls to the mile marker followed by a strong, almost effortless finish by the winner that included a final half-mile faster than the first half and a final quarter that was best of any of the five quarter-mile clockings along the way.

Winning Beyer Speed Figure: 106 - A legit G1 turf rating, especially for a 3-year-old just beginning to reach full power approaching the Fall.

Winchester was beautifully rated along the inside behind the two leaders by Arlington-based jockey Rene Douglas, who moved him out into the clear leaving the far turn. With strong strides, the well-built son of Theatrical just inhaled front-running Tizdejavu and left the field reeling in his wake.

Plan, a highly rated Euro trained by Aidan O'Brien, took second while fading front runner Tizdejavu held on for third. Winning trainer Dermot Weld apparently had the right answers for Winchester's dramatic improvement, adding blinkers and Lasix. Weld, a respected European-based horseman, is no stranger to winning G1 races in this country, having won Grade 1's in California, Illinois and New York. Among his greatest American triumphs was with the Irish-based long shot Go and Go in the 1990 Belmont Stakes. With that history, we should expect to see Winchester come back to America for the Breeders' Cup Turf.

* The Gr. 1 $750,000 Beverly D, 1 3/16 miles on the turf for fillies and mares.

Fractional Splits: 24.77. .48.64. .1:12.71. .1:37.04. . .1:55.18 - Evenly paced splits from start to finish and the stretch running winner looked as if she could hold her stride together for another furlong or two.

Winning Beyer Speed Figure: 105 - A legit G1 rating for fillies and mares on the grass.

Mauralakana, a French import expertly trained in America this year by Christophe Clement, won the Beverly D with a well-judged ride from Kent Desormeaux. After Desormeaux helped her relax behind the first flight, he shifted her out a lane on the final turn. While Mauralakana didn't immediately respond, she reached out nicely while accelerating midway through the turn to catch and then pass the stubborn front runner Dreaming of Anna in the upper stretch. From there to the wire, Mauralakana looked stronger while bearing out to out-finish stretch running Communique and Toque de Queda, while leaving highly rated Precious Kitten about three lengths behind in fourth.

The Beverly D was Mauralakana's fifth graded stakes win in six races this year and if she stays in her current form, she'll be competitive with high-class Euros in longer races, such as the 1 1/4-mile, $2 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Santa Anita on October 24th.

* The Gr. 1 $1 million Arlington Million, 1 1/4 miles on the turf for 3-year-olds and up.

Fractional Splits: 24.66. .48.57. .1:12.40. .1:37.40. . .2:02.17 - Evenly paced splits by the front running, longshot winner, the overlooked European who had enough left when the real test came to pick up the pace with a good final quarter-mile clocked in 24.77.

Winning Beyer speed Figure: 103 - About three lengths below the G1 level for older horses and two lengths slower than the 3-year-old Winchester's rating for his victory in the Secretariat.

Spirit One, a French-based G3 winner and frequent second-place finisher in stakes over there at 10 furlongs, had aroused positive comments from trackside professional observers for his aggressive morning gallops at Arlington. Their insight proved to be the ticket to a front running winner at 13-1 odds.

Unheralded trainer Philippe Demercastel and his equally unfamiliar jockey Ioritz Mendizabal certainly adapted well to American racing in their first attempts, as Spirit One was expertly prepared and ridden to hold off the two more highly rated Euros, Archipenko and Mount Nelson.

While Archipenko might have been best after being kept inside for almost a quarter-mile rounding the final turn into the stretch, the most significant happening that led to Spirit One's wire-to-wire score was the poor break endured by the American-based Einstein, who was expected to be on the pace.

Einstein stumbled leaving the gate and was a good 10 lengths behind the leader through the first quarter. While he did make a wide rally to reach contention on the final turn, that wasn't his real style and he failed to sustain the bid. Einstein's absence up front during the early stages contributed mightily to Spirit One's ability to set a relaxed pace and have enough left to keep Archipenko at bay.

At the wire, Spirit One had a 3/4-length edge over Archipenko and another 1 to 1 1/2 lengths over Mount Nelson, while Silverfoot did make up some ground finishing fourth.

After the race, Archipenko's internationally famous South African-based trainer Michael de Kock strangely criticized jockey Johnny Murtagh, who rode Mount Nelson, for "keeping Archipenko pinned to the inside."

Really?

Was Murtagh supposed to make it easier for his rival to beat him? Would de Kock have been equally critical of his own rider had he pinned Mount Nelson to the rail? Doubt it.

Saratoga begins its annual splurge of Grade 1 stakes

Beginning Saturday, August 16th and continuing right on through the Labor Day weekend, Saratoga will offer a high concentration of 20 stakes races, including 11 Grade 1's.

Check out Saratoga betting Odds at Bodog Racebook!

The centerpiece for the Saturday, August 16th card will be the $500,000 Alabama at 1 1/4 miles for 3-year-old fillies, and the horse to beat will probably be Music Note, the impressive winner of two graded stakes at Belmont this year. The same August 16th Saratoga card will include the $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational, a world-class turf race at 1 1/2 miles that promises to include two former Breeders' Cup Turf winners - 2004 winner Better Talk Now and 2006 winner Red Rocks, who recently defeated both Curlin and Better Talk Now in the Man o' War at Belmont.

On August 23rd, the $1 million Travers at 1 1/4 miles should be a rematch between Macho Again and Pyro - the 1-2 finishers in the Jim Dandy on July 27th. There will also be two G1 sprints at 7 furlongs, the $250,000 King's Bishop for 3-year-olds and the $250,000 Ballerina for fillies and mares.

On Saratoga's final weekend, Saturday, August 30th to Monday, September 1st, there will be four G1's including three at 7 furlongs for $250,000 apiece - the Spinaway Stakes for juvenile fillies; the Hopeful Stakes for juvenile colts and geldings; and the Forego Handicap for older horses. In addition to these three familiar races, great anticipation is building for 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin's appearance in the $500,000 Woodward on the Saturday, August 30th card.

Bet on Curlin to win the Woodward Stakes!

As usual, all of these G1 races, along with the five G1's scheduled during the same timeframe at Del Mar, 3000 miles away, will be playable in the Bodog Racebook.

Steve Davidowitz has written two highly acclaimed books on Thoroughbred racing---Betting Thoroughbreds and The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing. He also is a regular contributor to Daily Racing Form's Simulcast Weekly and DRF Plus and his columns appear in the Bodog Racebook each week.