Archipenko – Arlington Millions Favorite
Arlington Park Racecourse is getting ready for a stellar weekend of horse racing. There are three Grade 1 events on the racing card for Saturday, 9 August 2008, namely the $750 000 Grade 1 Beverly D (fillies and mares) for three year olds and over, the $400 000 Secretariat Stakes for three year olds, and the twenty-sixth running of the Arlington Million for three year olds and over. Coming in as the race favorite for the Arlington Million, is Archipenko.
Archipenko was sired by Kingmambo and is out of the mare, Bound. Trained by South African Mike de Kock for Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum, the magnificent four year old seems to be going from strength to strength and this is one of the reasons why he is seen as the race favorite by many punters.
Traveling around the world, Archipenko has been making a name for himself, winning three out of his four most recent starts. His victories have included the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Hong Kong, the Grade 2 Al Fahidi Fort in Dubai and the Group II Summer Miles Stakes which was run at Ascot Racecourse. Archipenko’s jockey for Saturday will be Kevin Shea, and both Shea and de Kock are confident that Archipenko will perform well in his racing event. Looking very relaxed and almost lazy during his training session, his trainer did not look too distressed as he knows Archipenko saves his efforts for race day, and when Saturday comes he will be ready to take on the rest of the contender field.
And what a field it will be, with Archipenko in gate one, then Stream Cat, Spirit One, Sudan, Cloudy’s Knight, Einstein, Mount Nelson and Silverfoot. Mount Nelson, trained by Aiden O’Brian, will undoubtedly be looking for a win, after taking the Group 1 Coral Eclipse Stakes, which took place in July, and has shown a lot of courage and ability when racing against some of the best middle distance competitors. Einstein also has an impressive record, winning the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic and the Grade 1 Gulf Stream Park Turf Stakes, and narrowly losing to Curlin during the running of the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap. Archipenko will be up against formidable competitors and the Arlington Million is therefore guaranteed to be a show stopping event.
