FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: David Zenner
(847) 385-7535
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I’M ALREADY SEXY, TABREED, KEPI PROMINENT IN
GRADE III MODESTY HANDICAP
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (July 9, 2014) – Two-time Arlington stakes winner I’m Already Sexy, recent local stakes winner Kepi and East Coast invader Tabreed are among the more prominent names in Saturday’s Grade III $200,000 Modesty Handicap at a mile and three-sixteenths on the turf which drew an overflow field of 15 fillies and mares.
The Modesty serves as the final local prep for the Grade I $750,000 Beverly D., which will be held Aug. 16 and is one of four major stakes that comprise the track’s Million Preview Day program. In addition to the Modesty, the 12-race card includes the Grade III $200,000 American Derby, the Grade III $200,000 Arlington Handicap and the Grade III $150,000 Stars and Stripes. As an added bonus, the 1-2-3 finishers in the Modesty will have their entry and starting fees waived for the Beverly D. should they elect to run in that event next month.
Hit The Board Stables’ I’m Already Sexy comes into the Modesty off a good second-place finish to Honey Hues in the Grade III Mint Julep Handicap at Churchill Downs. The Wayne Catalano-trained daughter of Ready’s Image returns to her home base where she won a division of the $75,000 Hatoof Stakes and the Grade III Pucker Up Stakes last summer. She looks to keep her perfect record over the Arlington turf where she has three wins in as many starts. I’m Already Sexy will carry starting highweight of 117 pounds and will reunite with Arlington’s leading rider Florent Geroux, who was aboard the filly for all three of her local victories.
Listed at 116 pounds is the New York invader Tabreed, who races in the colors of China Horse Club. The daughter of Sakhee, trained by Christophe Clement, has been shipped to Arlington to make her 2014 seasonal debut. When last seen on the track, Tabreed finished second in the Grade III Long Island Handicap at Aqueduct in November. She had a solid 2013 campaign with two wins from seven starts and only failing to finish in the top three once. Joe Bravo rides.
The locally based Nancy Vanier and Lyda Williamson’s Kepi carries a two-race win streak into the Modesty after scoring back-to-back victories; first on June 5 an open company allowance race and then taking the off-the-turf Lincoln Heritage two weeks later. The daughter of Strategic Mission, also assigned 116 pounds, is trained by Brian Williamson and will by ridden by Edgar Perez.
Glen Hill Farm’s Irish-bred mare Gulsary has been training steadily for trainer Tom Proctor in advance of her Arlington debut. Since finishing second in an overnight stakes at Churchill Downs, the daughter of Galileo has turned in a steady stream of workouts over the Arlington Polytrack. She was graded stakes-placed last year when finishing third in the Grade III Robert Frankel Memorial at Santa Anita in December. Gulsary was assigned 115 pounds and will have the services of Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens.
Trainer Chris Block has a pair of Illinois-breds entered in Richard Otto’s Alette and Team Block’s I O Ireland. The former, by Lemon Drop Kid, finished second to Kepi in the Lincoln Heritage last time out. The latter, a daughter of Giant’s Causeway out of 2001 Modesty winner Ioya Two, won the other division of last year’s Hatoof and more recently finished second to Kepi in the aforementioned June 5 allowance race. Block has named Tim Thornton to ride Alette and C. H. Marquez Jr. to pilot I O Ireland. Both fillies have been assigned 114 pounds for the Modesty.
Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott sends White Rose, owned by Jake Ballis and NBA player and current free agent Rashard Lewis. The 4-year-old Tapit filly won a Churchill Downs turf allowance race last month and was stakes placed last year when runner-up in the Listed Glens Falls at Saratoga. Julien Leparoux will ride White Rose, who was assigned 114 pounds.
Completing the overflow field (with jockey and weight assignment) are: Susan Cooney’s Embarr (Emannuel Esquivel, 115 pounds); Anne Smith’s Street of Gold (Edgar Prado, 113); Haynes Stables, S. Perlick, A. Herman and R. Dunn’s Every Way (James Graham, 114); Sam-Son Farm’s Dance Again (Alan Garcia, 116); G. Watts Humphrey’s Frivolous (Victor Espinoza, 115); Stud Golconda’s Ana Luisa (Channing Hill,115); Tommy Ray Mills’ Maid On A Mission (Sal Gonzalez, Jr., 114); and the also eligible filly Clabar Mor Stable’s Wave of the Wand (Santo Sanjur, 109).
Arlington International Racecourse – the Chicago area’s premier Thoroughbred racetrack located in Arlington Heights, Ill. – will run an 89-day meet in 2014 from Friday, May 2 through Sunday, Sept. 28. Arlington International Racecourse, whose parent company is Churchill Downs Incorporated (Nasdaq: CHDN), also operates 11 off-track, simulcast-wagering facilities in Arlington Heights, Aurora, Chicago, East Moline, Waukegan, Villa Park, Rockford, South Elgin, Hodgkins, McHenry and Orland Hills. Arlington International Racecourse is a proud member of America’s Best Racing. Information on Arlington International Racecourse and Trackside OTB can be found online at www.arlingtonpark.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/arlingtonpark and www.facebook.com/tracksideotb, and on Twitter at @Arlington_Park for the latest happenings, @arlingtonracing for the latest racing news and @tracksideotb for all things pertaining to off-track wagering.
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David Zenner│Senior Manager of Communications
Arlington International Racecourse
2200 W. Euclid Ave. Arlington Heights IL 60006-0007
P 847.385.7535│C: 847.371.1670 | F: 847.870.6727│E: David.Zenner@arlingtonpark.com
Twitter: @dave_zenner, @arlingtonracing
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