NEWS
Cosmonaut seeks Arlington Handicap three-peat
Posted: Thursday, July 10, 2008 12:40 PM
COSMONAUT
Four Footed Fotos
by Jeff Apel
Multiple Grade 3 winner Cosmonaut will try to become the first three-time winner of the Arlington Handicap (G3) on Saturday at Arlington Park.
The $200,000 Arlington Handicap is a prep for the $1-million Arlington Million Stakes (G1) on August 9 and is one of three graded turf stakes that will be contested during Arlington Million preview day. The Arlington Handicap and Arlington Million are 1 1/4-mile races for three-year-olds and older.
Cosmonaut equaled a feat previously accomplished by Round Table in 1958-’59 by winning the previous two editions of the Arlington Handicap for owner Carl Lizza’s Flying Zee Stable and trainer Patrick Biancone, who is currently serving a suspension. Cosmonaut enters Saturday’s race off a runner-up finish in the Scottish Monk Stakes on June 14 at Belmont Park for trainer Carlos Martin.
“I know about the history because the owner keeps reminding me of it. I know it’s something he’s looking forward to accomplishing,” Martin said. “I think the horse has an excellent chance to do it. He’s in great condition. He’s ready to run.”
Cosmonaut made his first two starts of the year for trainer Philip Serpe and won the Tampa Bay Stakes in his six-year-old debut on February 23 at Tampa Bay Downs. The Lemon Drop Kid horse posted a fourth-place finish in the Maker’s Mark Mile Stakes (G1) on April 11 at Keeneland Race Course prior to running in the Scottish Monk.
A career earner of $1,253,413, Cosmonaut won two of his eight starts last year and finished third in the ’07 NetJets Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1).
“He just is a remarkable horse,” Martin said. “Sometimes after their four or five-year-old seasons you start to see them tail off a little bit. It just doesn’t seem like he’s lost any enthusiasm for the business. He seems like he loves his training. He loves what he does.
“He’s run with so many good horses over his career, I think he might have a little bit of a class edge.”
Cosmonaut will face a compact field of five that also includes Grade 3 winner Stream Cat and Grade 3-placed multiple stakes winner Distorted Reality.
Biancone also previously trained Stream Cat. The Black Minnaloushe gelding has not started since concluding his previous season with a runner-up finish in the Fayette Stakes (G3) on October 27 at Keeneland Race Course.
Distorted Reality enters off a win in the Academy Award Stakes on June 19 at Belmont Park for trainer Todd Pletcher.
Martin said a big effort in the Arlington Handicap could land Cosmonaut a starting spot in the Arlington Million, a race that the gray or roan horse posted a fifth-place finish in during the ’06 season. Cosmonaut did not run in last year’s Arlington Million.
“The Million is a whole different animal. It’s a race with an international flavor. You get the best horses from all over the world,” Martin said. “You would like to see a great effort--hopefully a winning effort--before you would think about the Arlington Million.”
Saturday’s card also includes two additional grades stakes that will serve as preps for Arlington’s International Festival of Racing--the $250,000 American Derby (G2) for three-year-olds and the $150,000 Modesty Handicap (G3) for fillies and mares. Both races will be contested at 1 3/16-miles.
The American Derby is a prep for the $400,000 Secretariat Stakes (G1), a 1 1/14-mile race on August 9. Horses running in the Modesty could make their next start in the $750,000 Beverly D. Stakes (G1), which will also be run at 1 3/16-miles.
Jeff Apel is a Thoroughbred Times assistant daily news editor
The field, in post-position order, with (sire), jockey, weight, trainer, and morning-line odds:
1. Stream Cat (Black Minnaloushe), James Graham, 117, George R. Arnold, II, 5-to-2;
2. Distorted Reality (Distorted Humor), Jose A. Velez, Jr., 114, Todd A. Pletcher, 9-to-2;
3. Corrupt (Belong to Me), Shaun Bridgmohan, 115, Neil J. Howard, 4-to-1;
4. Tiger Woodman (Woodman), Jesse M. Campbell, 113, George R. Arnold, II, 20-to-1;
5. Cosmonaut (Lemon Drop Kid), Rene R. Douglas, 118, Carlos F. Martin, 7-to-5; and
6. Yate's Black Cat (Black Minnaloushe), Miguel Mena, 114, Dale L. Romans, 6-to-1.
