Las Vegas, NV -- The best day of horse racing in the state of Illinois is on Saturday at Arlington Park with three Grade 1 stakes races led by the Arlington Million. Ten horses were pre-entered for the race led by Gio Ponti, who could go off as the horse betting favorite. Also on Saturday at Arlington Park it will be the $750,000 Beverly D. Stakes and the $400,000 Secretariat Stakes.
Defending champion Gio Ponti is the headliner for the Arlington Million on Saturday.
Arlington Million Defending champion Gio Ponti is the headliner for the Arlington Million on Saturday. He is trying to become only the second horse to ever win the Arlington Million twice. His main challenger is expected to be Cape Blanco, who beat him in the Man o'War at Belmont Park last month. Also in the field are Dean's Kitten, General Perfect, Mission Approved, Proceed Bee, Rahystrada, Wigmore Hall, Zack Hall and Tajaaweed.
WGN will be televising the race live on Saturday with coverage beginning at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. This is a "Win and You're In" race as the winner will get an automatic entry into November's Breeders' Cup Turf.
Beverly D. StakesA total of 11 fillies were pre-entered for the Beverly D. Stakes. This is another race where the winner gets a big reward as she will be automatically entered into the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf in November. The betting favorite in this race will likely be River Jetez. Also in the mix will be defending champion �%clair de Lune and Stacelita. The rest of the field is Pachattack, Check the Label, Cheetah, Dubawi Heights, Fantasia, Never Retreat, Romin Robin and Upperline.
Secretariat StakesIt will be a large field in the Secretariat Stakes on Saturday as 12 horses are entered. The likely favorite is Willcox Inn, who won the Arlington Classic in May and the American Derby in July. Willcox Inn actually beat Animal Kingdom last year in a maiden race. Willcox Inn has two wins and a second place finish in four starts this season.
His main competition should come from Aidan O'Brien's Treasure Beach and Roderic O'Connor who are stablemates of Cape Blanco. Also in the field will be Ziyarid, Air Support, Banned, Casino Host, Crimson China, Derby Kitten, L'Aiglon, Newsdad and Suntracer.