Arlington International Racecourse Barn Notes: Friday, May 12

By Bailey Gallison —-

• Trace Creek Looks to Make It a Double
• Surgical Strike Takes Aim on Hanshin Cup
• Hootenanny Starts Season on Synthetic

TRACE CREEK LOOKS TO MAKE IT A DOUBLE

Trainer William Van Meter will look to repeat his victory in the Grade III Hanshin Cup with Trace Creek this weekend at Arlington International Racecourse. Trace Creek lit up the tote board last year when finishing first in the synthetic stake at odds of 44-1. It was the first win at the Chicagoland oval for Kentucky-based Van Meter, who will run three horses over the holiday weekend at Arlington.

The 2016 win was Trace Creek’s first race on a synthetic course, but that didn’t slow him down, as the Arkansas-bred motored home from the back of the pack to win by a length. Prior to that, the gelding’s best race came when second in the 2015 Grade III John B. Connally Turf Cup Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park when going a mile and an eighth on the turf.

Following his Grade III win last year, the Shortleaf Stables homebred raced again on the turf, this time at Churchill Downs, before trying the Tapeta in the Grade III Seagram Cup at Woodbine.

“We ran him over at Churchill Downs, and apparently he didn’t like the ground that day,” said Van Meter. “He surprisingly ran very well in Canada, better than his form suggested, and the horse that won – Breaking Lucky – went on to really be a nice horse.”

The son of Harperstown was not training to Van Meter’s liking after shipping back from Toronto, and the decision was made to give Trace Creek a break over the winter before bringing him back into training.

“Just like in older horses, nothing was particularly wrong with him, but he wasn’t training as well as he was in the spring so we just decided to kick him out,” explained Van Meter. “He’s been training great and looks fantastic; he carries good flesh. We breeze on the dirt, but he has some gallop days on the Polytrack. We do a little bit of both.

Trace Creek will look to become only the fourth horse to win the Hanshin Cup twice. Best Seller (1942-43), Swoon’s Song (1957-58), and Bright Valour (2000-01) all managed the feat in back-to-back fashion.

“Traditionally, he races better as a fresh horse if you look back at his form,” said Van Meter. “We know that he likes the surface, we know that he likes the layout, so we figured we’ll take a shot.”

SURGICAL STRIKE TAKES AIM ON HANSHIN CUP

Surgical Strike, winner of the 2016 Grade III Arlington Classic, will try to secure his first graded stakes win on a synthetic surface Saturday when he faces 10 rivals in the Grade III Hanshin Cup at Arlington International Racecourse. The 4-year-old colt trained by Ben Colebrook was successful on the Polytrack at Turfway Park last spring, but has raced exclusively on the turf since then, including his seasonal debut last month at Keeneland when he steadied late in the stretch due to traffic and finished out of the money.

“We got a race under our belt, but it was an awful trip,” said Colebrook. “He came out of the race super though.”

Bred and raced by Edward A. Seltzer and Beverly S. Anderson, the son of Red Giant competed in seven graded stakes in 2016, including the Grade III Spiral Stakes over the Polytrack where he finished third a half-length behind the winner. Surgical Strike was given the winter off after finishing last in the Grade III Commonwealth Turf Cup at Churchill Downs in November before being brought back to training in January. Surgical Strike’s best races have arguably come in his second start after a layoff, which bodes well for the colt as he makes his second start off his freshening.

“He ran a bunch as a 3-year-old, so we wanted to let him catch up before racing against older horses this year,” said Colebrook. “Those were very good horses he ran against last year, and we wanted to give him a rest.”

HOOTENANNY STARTS SEASON ON SYNTHETIC

2014 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Hootenanny will make his seasonal debut in the Grade III Hanshin Cup at Arlington International Racecourse on Saturday for trainer Wesley Ward. Owned by Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier and Michael B. Tabor, the 5-year-old son of Quality Road hasn’t raced since finishing fifth in the Grade II City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita Park last October. A Grade I-winner at two, as a 3-year-old he returned from Ascot in need of some time off.

“He’s a fickle horse,” said Ward. “He has a big shoulder, and when he came back from England he was really jammed up. Now he’s at a farm right by Keeneland and gets turned out every day in a paddock so he can walk around, gets brought in at night, and it’s helped with that. He trains on the Polytrack every day.”

After a stable 4-year-old season, Hootenanny was given a break before returning to the worktab in January with a steady four-furlong drill on the Polytrack at Turfway Park. He posted two recent works on the turf, but it was the one-mile Hanshin Cup that Ward chose as the seasonal starting point for his runner.

“He’s doing great,” said Ward. “He was originally scheduled for a race at Churchill Downs, but with all the rain the turf was very soft. He’s ran two great races on the synthetic so I decided to run him [at Arlington].”