Arlington-Washington Futurity and Lassie

It's a fairly light weekend for graded stakes action around the country as the closing of the Del Mar and Saratoga meets creates a bit of a void in the calendar.  However, a couple of juvenile stakes at Arlington Park figure to play prominently in this year's Breeders' Cup. 

The Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Lassie has produced two recent winners of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies: Dreaming of Anna (2006) and She Be Wild (2009).  This year's race draws a large field of thirteen two-year-old fillies, let by Honey Chile, the Wayne Catalano trained 4/1 favorite.

Two races prior to the Lassie is the Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Futurity featuring a smaller, but very competitive field of eight.  Caleb's Posse draws morning line favoritism at 5/2. 

Here's a look at a few of the contenders for each race, along with the entries, post positions, and morning line odds for each.

Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Futurity
Arlington Park
1 mile
Two year olds
Purse: $100,000
Post-time: 3:35 CDT

PP	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	ML
1	Big Blue Caboose	Razo, E.	Gulick, J.	30/1
2	Rough Sailing	Baze, M.	Stidham, M.	4/1
3	Major Gain	Alvarado, J.	Catalano, W.	3/1
4	Ghetto Cat	Graham, J.	Catalano, W.	8/1
5	Weekend Wildcat	Lebron, V.	Demeritte, L.	6/1
6	Wheemaway	Sellers, S.	Smith, A.	12/1
7	Caleb's Posse	Hamilton, Q.	Von Hemel, D.	5/2
8	Impersonator	Emigh, C.	Catalano, W.	9/2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking first at the Futurity, the 5-Weekend Wildcat (6/1) is a colt that I like a bit in this spot.  He made his debut at Keeneland where he ran second to Wetzel going 4 ½ furlongs.  He then broke his maiden in his next start when he won a 4 ½ furlong MdSpWt at Churchill Downs in a race that has produced three next out winners, all at the Maiden Special level and all at either Churchill or Monmouth Park.  His last start at Woodbine quickly turned into a bit of a disaster when he veered in at the start and was soundly bumped and instantly dropped off the pace.  He should get a much better trip today with a chance to make a big improvement.

7-Caleb's Posse (5/2) is the logical local favorite following a sparkling effort while breaking his maiden in his last race.  The show horse in that race, Theresmyeverything, came back to win a Maiden Special Weight in his next start on the lawn, while the place horse, Major Gain, draws the 3-hole in this same race.  Caleb's Posse likely won't be all alone on the lead so he'll have to prove he can get the added distance from the front end.

Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Lassie
Arlington Park
1 mile
Two year olds, Fillies
Purse: $100,000
Post-time: 4:35 CDT

PP	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	ML
1	Tellme All Aboutit	Sanchez D	DiVito, J.	10/1
2	One Star	Felix J E	DiVito, J.	12/1
3	Edie	Karlsson I	McMullen,J.	30/1
4	Miss Inclined	Razo E Jr	Von Hemel, D.	8/1
5	Third Chance	Sellers S J	DiVito, J.	6/1
6	Jordy Y	Alvarado J	Catalano, W.	5/1
7	Summer Savory	Riggs T	Stidham, M.	15/1
8	Crepe Myrtle	Graham J	Stidham, M.	20/1
9	Wonderlandbynight	Baird E T	Reavis, M.	9/2
10	Image of Grace	Diego I	Helmbrecht, W.	30/1
11	Honey Chile	Baze M C	Catalano, W.	4/1
12	Songofthecity	Birzer A E	Mamakos, J.	15/1
13	Larue Lovelake	Hamilton Q	Von Hemel, D.	15/1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year's Lassie looks like an absolute free-for-all on paper as we've got a jam-packed field of thirteen fillies, many with a seemingly decent shot to take down top honors.  The morning line favorite, 11-Honey Chile (4/1) only has a maiden score to her credit but it was easily the most impressive maiden win of any filly in this field.  The runner-up from that race, Jump Jump Up, came back to score at the Maiden Special level at Arlington three weeks later, while the seventh place finisher, Stone Free, dropped down and won a $25k Maiden Claimer on September 4^th.

Honey Chile would be a logical winner in this race but the large field has me looking for a bit more value on the board.   There are two fillies that stood out to me while going over the form, one a fairly logical play and the other a bit of a price.  

9-Wonderlandbynight (9/2) broke her maiden at Arlington two races back when she defeated state-bred Maiden Specials at five furlongs on the Polytrack.  There wasn't anything noteworthy about that performance and the speed figure came up pretty soft (45).  However, she followed up that maiden score with a win in the Ontrario Debutante at Woodbine on August 14^th.  She was content to sit at the rear of the field in that race and made a nice move along the inside on the turn and easily powered to the front in the final 2 ½ furlongs.  Wonderlandbynight ran the final 3/8ths in a solid 30.30 and should be running hard in the lane in this spot.

The price play I like in this spot is Miss Inclined (8/1) a recent maiden winner at a mile on the Arlington Park turf course.  That race hasn't turned out to be exceptionally strong as of yet but this filly did display a nice stalking style early on and the experience at a mile should benefit this filly in this spot.  The early fractions were pretty soft in that turf race and while she'll likely face a bit more speed on the front end in this race I don't things are going to get out of control on the front end.  If she can once again find a good stalking position off the early leaders I like this filly to contend for top honors.