NEWS
Lewis Michael earns first graded win at Arlington
Posted: Saturday, July 28, 2007 9:01 PM
LEWIS MICHAEL
Four Footed Fotos
by Ron Parker
Frank Calabrese’s homebred Lewis Michael justified his 9-to-10 odds Saturday as he pulled away from the field in the stretch to win the $300,000 Washington Park Handicap (G2) at Arlington Park.
With jockey E. T. Baird in the irons for the first time, the Wayne Catalano trainee settled into second in the 1 3/16-mile contest over Arlington’s new Polytrack, just to the inside of pacesetter Throng, with Mustanfar tracking those two.
Turning for home, Baird gave Lewis Michael his cue and he put away Throng, drawing off down the stretch for a 4 ¾-length victory while finishing in 1:55.17.
Mustanfar comfortably held second, two lengths clear of third place finisher A. P. Arrow.
“We broke out of the gate really well with the other speed [Throng],” Baird said. “We went around the first turn pretty comfortably. I figured it was better if I held my ground and stayed in there instead of getting into a jam. Turning for home, I asked him and he accelerated. I knew he was a nice horse, but I didn’t know he was that nice.”
The four-year-old Rahy colt, whose Triple Crown aspirations last year were derailed after a disappointing fourth in the Illinois Derby (G2), is a revitalized colt this year since a four-month respite after closing out last year finishing 11th in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1).
He has finished first or second in all five starts this year, four of them on all-weather surfaces, including a second in the Commonwealth Breeders’ Cup Stakes (G2) at Keeneland Race Course on April 14 and a third in Arlington’s Hanshin Cup Handicap (G3) on May 26.
The full brother to last year’s champion two-year-old filly Dreaming of Anna has won six of eight career starts and earned $568,014.
The two siblings are the only foals to race to date out of the Broad Brush mare Justenuffheart.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Ron Parker is a Thoroughbred Times contributing writer
