Chester House outfinishes Manndar and Mula Gula to win the first Arlington Million Stakes in three years, Snow Polina captures the Beverly D. Stakes, and Ciro takes the Secretariat Stakes

Take it from Racing Hall of Fame trainer Robert Frankel, "Jerry Bailey is as good as any jockey who ever rode."

Few in the crowd of 26,664 at Arlington International Racecourse on August 19 would have been willing to put up an argument.

They came to celebrate the return of the palatial track's three crown jewels-the $2-million Arlington Million Stakes (G1), the $500,000 Beverly D. Stakes (G1), and the $400,000 Secretariat Stakes (G1)-and they ended up seeing a brilliant performance by Bailey.

Never in Arlington history had a rider made off with so much purse money in a single day as Bailey. In his only three appearances on the 12-race card, Bailey won the Million with Chester House and the Beverly D. with Snow Polina, and he finished second to Ciro in the Secretariat with King Cugat, who ironically was the horse he said he thought "was my best chance to win and originally the reason I came."

Frankel, meanwhile, came to Arlington brimming with confidence at the prospect of a twin killing with Happyanunoit (NZ) in the Beverly D. and Chester House in the Million.

Then, Happyanunoit got beat in the Beverly D., and Frankel started talking to himself. By the time he got to the paddock to saddle Chester House, his confidence must have been waning. The statistical monkey on his back kept whispering that he was 0-for-11 in the Million, 0-for-34 in Breeders' Cup championship races, and 0-for 5 in Triple Crown races.

Leaving the paddock, Chester House let out a loud whinny as if he was trying to reassure the trainer who since 1973 has won a total of 27 titles at Hollywood Park, Santa Anita Park, and Del Mar.

Chester House proceeded to run the race of his life. Aided by a calculating ride by Bailey, Chester House won the Million by 31Ú4 lengths over runner-up Manndar (Ire), giving Frankel the most lucrative and prestigious victory of a distinguished career that began when he was a teenage hotwalker at Aqueduct and Belmont Park because "it was the best way to begin." Frankel had previously won six seven-figure races: the Japan Cup (Jpn-G1), the Hollywood Gold Cup (G1), and the Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) on four occasions. This year's Million purse was hiked to $2-million by Arlington Chairman Richard Duchossois to celebrate his track's return after being shut down for two years, so the payoff for Chester House's high-profile owner-breeder, Khalid Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, was $1.2-million.

Arlington Million S. (G1)
Arlington International, August 19, $2,000,000, 11/4 miles, turf, yielding, 2:01.37
1-CHESTER HOUSE, h. 5, Mr. Prospector-Toussaud, by El Gran Senor.
2-Manndar (Ire), c. 4, =Doyoun (Ire)-Madiriya (Ire), by Diesis (GB).
3-Mula Gula, c. 4, Lil E. Tee-Night Tan, by Ascot Knight.

"I guess I'll be able to keep my job for another six months," Frankel quipped. Chester House had been a study in underachievement since he arrived in the United States last fall after spending the previous three years in England where he was a Group 3 winner. Frankel was confident that Chester House was capable of becoming the type of racehorse his pedigree suggested. But the son of the late Mr. Prospector out of the El Gran Senor mare Toussaud kept finding ways to lose. Chester House ran four times on dirt and twice on turf prior to the Million, but the best he could do was a closing second in his last start, Del Mar's Eddie Read Handicap (G1) on July 30.

The Million was Bailey's introduction to Chester House, and he went into the 1 1/4-mile grass race uncertain as to how much horse he had under him. Leaving from post position two as the 3.80-to-1 fourth choice in the wagering, Chester House was competing against four other horses representing the U.S.-2.90-to-1 favorite Bienamado, Manndar, South American import Asidero (Arg), and Mula Gula-and two from Europe, Running Stag and Slickly (Fr).

Asidero had the rail, and Argentina's 1999 Horse of the Year broke on the lead as expected. By the half-mile call he had built a five-length lead. Running Stag was his closest pursuer, followed by Slickly. Chester House was fourth at this juncture, and he was hemmed in on the rail.

When Asidero came out a bit on the far turn, Bailey liked what he saw, thinking Asidero probably would do the same thing turning for home, giving him the opening he was awaiting.

"There was no decision-making," said Bailey. "If the hole opened I was there; if not, I wouldn't look very good."

Chester House never flinched. Charging through the crevice, he took command in the upper stretch and ran to daylight.

Manndar and Mula Gula came from the rear to make stretch bids, but they could not catch Chester House. Manndar finished a non-threatening second and Mula Gula was a half-length behind in third, followed by Bienamado, Asidero, Running Stag, and Slickly.

"Manndar ran a very good race, but we did not get a very good trip," said C. Beau Greely, trainer of the four-year-old Irish-bred colt. Chester House covered the ten furlongs in 2:01.37 on yielding turf. His compelling conquest moved him into a tie with retired Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) winner Dubai Millenium and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Eng-G1) winner Montjeu atop the standings after three races of the11-race Emirates World Series Racing Championship.

Bailey has won two races worth $1-million or more this year-the Million and the Preakness Stakes (G1)-giving him a record 22 for his career.

Snow Polina's Beverly D.

Bailey's winning ride on Snow Polina in the Beverly D. bore no resemblance to his subsequent performance with Chester House. Snow Polina had the outside post position in the field of ten fillies and mares and she was in the clear all the way.

Beverly D. S. (G1)
Arlington International, August 19, $500,000, 13/16 miles, turf, yielding, 1:55.87
1-SNOW POLINA, m. 5, Trempolino-Snow House (Ire), by Vacarme.
2-Happyanunoit (NZ), m. 5, =Yachtie (Aus)-=Easter Queen (Aus), by =Rajah (Aus).
3-Country Garden (GB), m. 5, Selkirk-=Totham (GB), by Shernazar (Ire).

"She was very relaxed," said Bailey, who kept the five-year-old daughter of Trempolino out of Snow House (Ire), by Vacarme, in third and second place until he called on her to make the decisive move.

Performing with poise and professionalism, she asserted herself in the stretch and quickly built a lead that proved insurmountable. When she hit the finish line, she was a length in front of Happyanunoit, who nosed out Country Garden (GB) for second.

"I knew the favorite was somewhere right behind us, but I thought I would just worry about my horse," Bailey continued. "About the three-sixteenths pole I let her loose."

Happyanunoit's jockey, Brice Blanc, saw what was happening and thought it would be foolhardy to take his mount six-wide, so he bided his time waiting for a hole in the wall of horses ahead of him. The opening came at the top of the stretch.

"I was following the winner when the hole opened up," Blanc said. "My mare finished strong the last sixteenth, but it was too late-she just doesn't have the type of acceleration the winner had."

Nakatani, aboard Country Garden, said Wild Heart Dancing's slow pace-:24.25 for the quarter and :49.68 for the half-worked to the winner's advantage. Snow Polina's time of 1:55.87 on yielding turf was the second-slowest in the ten years the Beverly D. has been a 13Ú16-mile race. The trip to the winner's circle by the 4.50-to-1 second betting choice was her fourth in nine starts since owner Gary Tanaka bought her and brought her to the U.S. from France in the fall of 1998.

In France, Snow Polina won 6-of-9 races and never was worse than third. But she competed mostly at provincial tracks in listed races. Her biggest French race in terms of prestige was the Prix Fille de l'Air (Fr-G3) at Toulese, an about 1 5/16-mile race that she lost by a nose. In the U.S. under trainer Bill Mott, she has been a steady stakes performer, getting her first graded stakes triumph in the Black Helen Handicap (G2) at Gulfstream Park in April.

Ciro's Secretariat

Irish invader Ciro put the International back in Arlington's International Festival of Racing by scoring a one-length victory over 3-to-5 favorite King Cugat in the Secretariat.

Secretariat S. (G1)
Arlington International, August 19, $400,000, 11/4 miles, turf, yielding, 2:01.64
1-CIRO, c. 3, Woodman-Gioconda, by Nijinsky II.
2-King Cugat, c. 3, Kingmambo-Tricky Game, by Majestic Light.
3-Guillamou City (Fr), c. 3, Lesotho-=Star Emily (GB), by Tasso.

It was the first time in 24 runnings that a foreign horse visited the winner's circle in this 1 1/4-mile grass race for three-year-olds. And it ended a string of seven straight victories by horses based in the U.S. in the Million, Beverly D., and Secretariat.

Ridden by 11-time Irish jockey champion Michael Kinane, the Kentucky-bred son of Woodman and the Nijinsky II mare Gioconda started from the outside post position in the field of eight horses from the U.S., Canada, England, France, and Ireland. The North Americans were outnumbered 5-to-3. But with an eighth-mile to run, it appeared that America's King Cugat was going to reign. He had circled the field to take the lead and Bailey seemed to be sitting pretty in his attempt to sweep the three biggest races in Illinois.

Then, Ciro made his powerful stretch attack on the outside and King Cugat was not equal to the challenge.

"He took a while to get going," Kinane said. "As soon as the pace slackened up a little bit, I was able to work my way home."

According to Bailey, King Cugat did not care for the yielding surface. "Down the backside, I was where I wanted him to be but he wasn't getting across the ground as well as he usually does," Bailey said.

The defeat ended a four-race winning streak for King Cugat that was climaxed by a victory in an earlier visit for the Arlington Classic Stakes (G2) on July 1.

King Cugat was easily second best, finishing 41Ú2 lengths in front of third-place Guillamou City (Fr), a colt owned by Tanaka and trained by Jean-Claude Rouget.

The winner was bred and is owned by Richard Santulli's Jayeff B Stables and in Ireland he was trained by Aidan O'Brien, who sent head lad Patrick Keating to saddle him for the Secretariat.

"We always thought he needed a good fast mile and a quarter," Keating said. "It really suited him."

Dispatched as the 4.80-to-1 second betting choice, Ciro completed his journey in 2:01.64, a time that compared very favorably with Chester House's 2:01.37 in the Million. The triumph was the chestnut colt's fourth in eight starts. In May, he won the Prix Lupin (Fr-G1) at Longchamp.

Plans call for the Kentucky-bred colt to stay in this country to continue his racing career, but his new trainer and racing residence have not been disclosed.