by K. T. Donovan
Known affectionately around trainer Mike de Kock’s barn as “Archie”, Archipenko invades Chicago from England, via Dubai and Hong Kong, as the formidable favorite for the Arlington Million Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Arlington Park.
The globetrotting four-year-old Kingmambo colt will face his former stablemate Mount Nelson (GB), who left the Ballydoyle yard last fall after his three-year-old season after being purchased by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum, and five other challengers in the 1 ¼-mile turf test.
Mount Nelson was a glamorous Group 1-winning juvenile while Archipenko’s early role for the very deep Irish team often was as a pacesetter. It took six months to fully learn that his job was not finished when horses came to him at the top of the stretch, and any residual timidity still in him when he lost the Dubai Duty Free (UAE-G1) this spring after refusing to drive through an opening is now a memory.
“It was my fault, I should have pulled him around and he would have won instead of finishing third,” jockey Kevin Shea said of the Duty Free. “It was only his third time with us and he had all the time in the world, but he didn’t go through the hole.
“Then in Hong Kong [when he won the Audemars Piquet Queen Elizabeth II Cup (HK-G1)], he had a clear run in the straight. In England, he was a bit underdone, not quite fit enough.”
Shea, despite his fitness, guided him to another victory in the Plymouth Gin Summer Mile Stakes (Eng-G2) in his previous start on July 12 at Ascot.
Archipenko has been known to get worked up and sweat before he gets to the gate and has battled quarter cracks during his career. Shea said he also pulls so much in the mornings that that nearly every day is like race day, complete with lather between his legs and a fierce competitive spirit.
“He feels good,” Shea said. “He’s such a fighter now. He’s been on both sides of the fence and he likes this one. He wants to win.
“He’s such a character. I know he’s happy and ready to go because he’s bitten me all over!”
K. T. Donovan is a Lexington-based Thoroughbred Times contributing writer
The field, in post-position order, with (sire), jockey, weight, and trainer:
1. Archipenko (Kingmambo), Kevin Shea, 126, Michael de Kock;
2. Stream Cat (Black Minnaloushe), Julien Leparoux, 126, George Arnold II;
3. Spirit One [Fr] (Anabaa Blue [GB]), Ioritz Mendizabal, 126, Philippe Demercastel;
4. Sudan [IRE] SCRATCHED
5. Cloudy's Knight (Lord Avie), Ramsey Zimmerman, 126, Frank Kirby;
6. Einstein [Brz] (Spend a Buck), Robby Albarado, 126, Helen Pitts;
7. Mount Nelson [GB] (Rock of Gibraltar [Ire]), John Murtagh, 126, Aidan O'Brien; and
8. Silverfoot (With Approval), Rene Douglas, 126, Dallas Stewart.