NEWS

Giant Oak set for Secretariat

Posted: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 6:48 PM

GIANT OAK

FourFootedFotos.com

by Tim Nichols

After finishing off the board in his most recent start, Giant Oak will try to rebound in the $400,000 Secretariat Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Arlington Park.

The Virginia H. Tarra Trust homebred, trained by Chris Block, was made the 3-to-1 morning-line favorite in a field of ten three-year-olds in the 1 ¼-mile turf race.

The three-year-old Giant’s Causeway colt finished fifth and was placed fourth via disqualification behind Reb in the American Derby (G2) on July 11 at the Arlington Heights, Illinois, track in his most recent start (video). Giant Oak was bumped and steadied in the stretch, which Block believes led to the unplaced finish.

“It was all over after he got knocked around like that,” Block said after the race. “Once that all happened, he was just spinning his wheels out there.”

Prior to the American Derby, Giant Oak scored a one-length victory in the Arlington Classic Stakes in his first turf test in more than seven months (video).

Among those facing Giant Oak in the Secretariat is red-hot Reb, a three-year-old Stormy Atlantic colt trained by Rusty Arnold. Reb’s head victory in the American Derby extended his win streak to three. He previously won a turf allowance race at Churchill Downs on May 29 and a maiden special weight race on the synthetic Polytrack surface at Keeneland Race Course on April 17.

Coolmore’s Black Bear Island will make his North American debut on Saturday for trainer Aidan O’Brien.

By Sadler’s Wells, Black Bear Island won the Totesport.com Dante Stakes (Eng-G2) on May 14 at York. He finished third in the King Edward VII Stakes (Eng-G2) at Royal Ascot and was unplaced in the Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris (Fr-G1) on July 14 in his most recent start.

Cinema Handicap (G3) winner Oil Man (Ire) will stretch out to 1¼ miles for the first time on Saturday. Oil Man was placed fifth in the American Derby after finishing third in the race, his first start outside of California, for trainer John Sadler.

Multiple stakes winner Hoosier Kingdom will step up in class in the Secretariat after winning his last four starts by a combined margin of 20¼ lengths, all at Hoosier Park.

“It’s been fun, having a horse good enough to get a chance to run in a race like this and we’ve all had a good time,” trainer Ron Herrell said. “Hoosier Kingdom has always trained well and always had good numbers, but even I’ve been surprised by some of his margins of victory.”

Stakes winners Cliffy’s Future, Proceed Bee, Driving Snow (GB), and Laureate Conductor as well as Virginia Derby (G2) runner-up Take the Points and stakes-placed winner Quite a Handful round out the field.

Tim Nichols is internet content editor for THOROUGHBRED TIMES

Secretariat S.

For Equibase entries of Saturday's Arlington card, click here.