Horse Racing : Import Could Pull Another Arlington Surprise

In the first eight runnings of the Arlington Million, the race was won by either a favorite or a high-priced longshot.

John Henry won two while favored. Other favorites that romped were Perrault, Estrapade and Manila. Then there were the winners that few bettors handicapped correctly--Tolomeo, paying $78.40, Teleprompter at $30.40 and Mill Native, who won the race last year and returned $83.20.

All of the longshots were horses that prepped abroad, and a similar case could be building for Sunday’s ninth edition of the race, at the recently rebuilt Arlington International Racecourse.

This year’s Million has drawn five European runners, and none is expected to receive heavy support on his own at the windows.

River Warden, a French colt who will be ridden by the American expatriate, Steve Cauthen, never runs a dull race, but he has only two victories in his brief career and except that he will run coupled with Nasr el Arab, winner of the Strub and the San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita, he would not be a short price. The combination of Nasr el Arab and River Warden could, however, go off as the lukewarm favorite.

River Warden is trained by Andre Fabre, and Kefaah, an English colt, is trained by Luca Cumani. Fabre and Cumani are two of the conditioners who have already pulled off upsets in the Million, Fabre with Mill Native and Cumani with Tolomeo in 1983.

The other imports are France’s Fijar Tango and Lady in Silver, a 3-year-old filly; and England’s Shady Heights, winless in 13 months but a horse who frequently runs well against top opposition.

The nine-horse American contingent consists of horses with modest winning streaks, horses trying to regain lost prestige and horses that appear to be overmatched.

The group includes Nasr el Arab, El Senor, Steinlen, Great Communicator, Yankee Affair, Frosty the Snowman, Frankly Perfect, Pleasant Variety and Pay the Butler.

The most interesting of them is the consistent Steinlen, a double winner at Saratoga this month but a horse who will be running 1 1/4 miles for the first time.

The Arlington turf course has been drenched by heavy August rains and there could be more rain between now and Sunday. Several grass races have been switched to the dirt in recent days, including two Wednesday.

Had Blushing John been able to handle the soft going here in the Arlington Handicap on Aug. 12, he would have been a heavy favorite in the Million. But he finished last in the 1 1/4-mile race and convinced his trainer, Dick Lundy, that a return to dirt would better suit the horse.

Blushing John will run in the Washington Park Handicap at Arlington on Sept. 9 and in the Meadowlands Cup on Oct. 13 before going to Florida for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Gulfstream Park on Nov. 4.

Two other horses that ran in the Arlington Handicap--Frosty the Snowman and Great Communicator--are running in the Million.

Great Communicator ran fourth, but trainer Thad Ackel thought he needed the race because it was his first start in two months. Frosty the Snowman was second, three lengths behind Unknown Quantity II, the gelding from England who gave Queen Elizabeth II her first victory in the United States.

Unknown Quantity II will be running this weekend here, in a small stake on Labor Day.

The Million is the focal point for a long weekend of grass stakes activity at Arlington, which starts with the $100,000 Pucker Up for 3-year-old fillies on Friday. Other stakes are the $500,000 Beverly D. for older fillies and mares on Saturday and the $250,000 Secretariat for 3-year-olds on Monday.

This could be a big weekend for trainer Charlie Whittingham if Claire Marine wins the Beverly D. Claire Marine is so good that Whittingham considered running her in the Million, but he already has two starters--Frankly Perfect and Nasr el Arab--in Sunday’s race as he tries to win the stake for the third time. Whittingham saddled winning Perrault in the Million in 1982 and he won the stake with the mare Estrapade in 1986. Frankly Perfect is a 4-year-old son of Perrault.

Hawkster will be one of the favorites in the Secretariat. After running fifth in all three Triple Crown races, Hawkster found a new career by winning twice on the grass at Del Mar.

“His breeding indicates that he should love the grass,” Whittingham said. “Silver Hawk (the sire) was by Roberto, and that’s two good reasons.”

Lady in Silver, from the same crop as Hawkster, is a daughter of Silver Hawk who’s trying to win the Million.

Angel Cordero won the Saratoga jockeys’ title for the 13th time in the last 14 years, beating Jose Santos, 34-32, but he lost a lot of respect in the racing community for his two-day tirade at the expense of the stewards at the end of the meeting.

After the stewards had disqualified a Cordero winner last Saturday, as the result of what appeared to be a clear-cut multiple-bumping foul, the rider called them from the jockeys’ room and blasted the decision with a lot of salty language. The telephone is practically outside the jockeys’ room at Saratoga and fans were able to hear Cordero’s outburst.

Cordero would have gotten a 10-day suspension, anyway, but the stewards tacked on a $1,000 fine because of the phone call. In announcing that he would appeal, Cordero questioned the competence of the stewards.

The 24-day Saratoga season probably seemed longer to the stewards, who were involved in a raft of disqualifications and subjected to considerable second- guessing.

It was a tough season for some of New York’s established trainers, too: Woody Stephens had only one winner, John Veitch went until the meet’s final day before he got a winner and LeRoy Jolley went 0 for 38.

Horse Racing Notes

Winning Colors scored her first victory since the 1988 Kentucky Derby last Saturday at Saratoga, and the rider was Pat Day. That’s significant, because when Day, aboard Forty Niner, crowded Winning Colors in the 1988 Preakness, Gene Klein, the filly’s owner, said that Day would never ride for him again. Klein never discussed his feelings with his trainer, Wayne Lukas, and Day had ridden some of Klein’s horses before Winning Colors. The filly’s victory came in her first start since she had throat surgery.

The Lukas barn led the trainer standings at Saratoga with 16 wins, seven of them in stakes. . . . Proper Reality, winner of the Iselin at Monmouth Park last Saturday, will challenge Easy Goer in the Woodward Handicap at Belmont Park on Sept. 16.

With his career at low ebb, Jorge Velasquez came to Chicago and he’s the leading rider at Arlington. Day, second in the standings, has ridden about 100 fewer horses, because of a suspension and those very successful trips to Saratoga. Day won with 13 of 35 mounts at Saratoga and was six for 10 in stakes, winning the Whitney and Travers with Easy Goer and the Hopeful with Summer Squall.

Aaron Gryder, the former California rider, ranks seventh in the Arlington standings. . . . Bryan’s Time, a prominent 3-year-old in 1988 who had an ankle problem and was unable to win this year, has been sold to Japanese interests and is being sent to stud in Japan. . . . Corey Black tried to land the mount on Fijar Tango in the Arlington Million, but Angel Cordero got the ride. Cordero won the race with Manila in 1987.