Can Surgical Strike Make the Right Move in the Arlington
Classic?
By: Paul Mazur
The Arlington Classic, set
for Saturday May 28, serves as a feeder race to the American Derby in mid-July,
a three-year-old race on grass that serves as one of the pieces of the
stakes-quartet known as Arlington Million Preview Day. And that Preview day
serves as a steppingstone to the Arlington International Festival of Racing,
with the Grade Three American St. Leger and three Grade One races--the
Secretariat Stakes (to which the American Derby feeds into), the Beverly D.,
and the Arlington Million. Think of the Arlington Classic as a feeder to the feeder.
In its prior life on dirt,
the race attracted some of the best three year olds in the country. The
winners' list is peppered with Hall of Famers like Nashua, Native Dancer, Dr.
Fager, Ack Ack, and Alydar. On turf it’s given us winners like eventual G1 winners
Hawk Attack and Illinois-bred Giant Oak.
Scrapped last year when Arlington ran a skeletal stakes schedule, the
race returns this year. It carries Grade
Three status and $100,000 of purse funds.
Arlington
International – Race 7 – G3 Arlington Classic – One and one-sixteenth miles on
Turf– post time 4:21 pm CT
Selections are for “Turf only”. At publish time the rail
is set to Lane 2, 23 feet from zero. Morning line odds were not available at
original publish time.
Locally owned CANDY
MY BOY, locally stabled COCKED AND
LOADED, and UNCLE JERRY should provide SURGICAL STRIKE the early targets
needed.
SURGICAL STRIKE enters off a
third earlier this month in the G2 American Turf on Kentucky Derby Day. Those who follow the Kentucky Derby trail
will recall him from his third in the G3 Spiral. The blinkers go on for SURGICAL STRIKE (8%
wins but 47% in the money from 38 starts).
SURGICAL STRIKE looked to go off form in Florida but got back on the
beam in Turfway’s Spiral feeders.
As a summertime pop-up thunderstorm
pattern has emerged in the Chicagoland area, it’s worth noting he showed some
punch last fall on yielding ground in the G3 Bourbon. But he’s the choice – firm or soft. While
SURGICAL STRIKE is still eligible for an N2X allowance (as is most of the field
and the race has that vibe), he’s not on the Derby Trail anymore and not facing
anyone from the top two from the traditionally salty American Turf. James Graham climbs aboard the Ben Colebrook
trainee.
Post twelve will keep the
price honest on TEQUILA JOE. TEQUILA JOE cleared his first level allowance
condition last out at Keeneland. The
humans are why TEQUILA JOE gets a hard look despite a disadvantageous draw in
the twelve spot: Rider Jose Valdivia is riding very strongly at the meet,
trainer Mike Stidham (32% wins in the Arlington meet) has won this race three
times before. Post twelve induces the
idea he could get stuck wide, and he’s done better with inside draws.
Trainer Eoin Harty has two
in here – UNCLE JERRY and FELT IN POCKET. FELT IN POCKET moves
out of gender-restricted races as she (a filly taking on the boys) gets a
pacemaker in her stablemate. It helps
SURGICAL STRIKE too, but FELT IN POCKET did have a nice rally two back at Tampa
and won’t be chasing Catch A Glimpse (set to take on the boys herself in the
June 4 G3 Penn Mile).
Selections:
#4 SURGICAL STRIKE
#12 TEQUILA JOE
#5 FELT IN POCKET
Longshot:#2 ITSNOTEZBEINBREEZY may be a cheeky name, but the horse that could be the longest price on the board with Constantino Roman named to ride is not a total throw-out.Its career start two for this Gerald Aschinger trained-and-owned homebred, and start one to start two often is fertile ground for career progressions. He wasn’t beaten by a wide margin at Tampa, less than a half a length.And he was wide early on Tampa’s course. Perhaps he’s a horse who gets a clean trip from a cozy inside spot, ITSNOTEZBEINBREEZY does have solid second time turf and second time career starts, too. He may be making the jump from a Tampa Bay maiden special weight to an Arlington G3, but this Arlington Classic gets fuzzy beyond the morning line favorite and the draw-impaired one in post twelve.Aschinger has pulled bombs before (think Dramedy in the 2015 G2 Elkhorn),and he might have one up his sleeve here.
*****
Handigambling $100):
$8 Trifecta 4, 12/4, 12/All ($80)
$5 Win and $5 Place, #12 ($10)
$10 Win, #4 ($10)
Selections:
#4 SURGICAL STRIKE
#12 TEQUILA JOE
#5 FELT IN POCKET
Longshot:#2 ITSNOTEZBEINBREEZY may be a cheeky name, but the horse that could be the longest price on the board with Constantino Roman named to ride is not a total throw-out.Its career start two for this Gerald Aschinger trained-and-owned homebred, and start one to start two often is fertile ground for career progressions. He wasn’t beaten by a wide margin at Tampa, less than a half a length.And he was wide early on Tampa’s course. Perhaps he’s a horse who gets a clean trip from a cozy inside spot, ITSNOTEZBEINBREEZY does have solid second time turf and second time career starts, too. He may be making the jump from a Tampa Bay maiden special weight to an Arlington G3, but this Arlington Classic gets fuzzy beyond the morning line favorite and the draw-impaired one in post twelve.Aschinger has pulled bombs before (think Dramedy in the 2015 G2 Elkhorn),and he might have one up his sleeve here.
*****
Handigambling $100):
$8 Trifecta 4, 12/4, 12/All ($80)
$5 Win and $5 Place, #12 ($10)
$10 Win, #4 ($10)
