Arlington International Racecourse Barn Notes: Thursday, May 17, 2018

By Bailey Gallison —-

EIGHT ASSEMBLE IN RETURN OF GRADE III ARLINGTON MATRON

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (May 17, 2018) – A field of eight will be chasing after their first graded-stakes victory in the 81st running of the Grade III $100,000 Arlington Matron, a mile-and-an-eighth event contested by fillies and mares 3-years-old and upward over the main track. The 2017 edition of the Matron was held at Churchill Downs before returning to the Arlington International Racecourse for its renewal.

Hat Creek Racing’s Con Te Partiro is slated as the 5-2 morning line favorite for the Arlington Matron. Trained by Wesley Ward, the 4-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy is in search of her first victory since an international stakes win at Royal Ascot last summer in the Sandringham Handicap, which she won at 20-1 odds. Upon returning to the United States, Con Te Partiro was a late-closing fourth in the Grade I Del Mar Oaks, finishing only 1¾ lengths behind winner Dream Dancing. She was then a well-beaten ninth in Keeneland’s Grade I Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup last fall but returned in April to finish third beaten 2¼ lengths in her season debut. Con Te Partiro will be making her first start over a synthetic surface but holds wins on dirt as well as turf. As a 2-year-old the filly won her career debut over the main track at Keeneland.

“We had her training at Turfway Park all winter,” Ward said of Con Te Partiro. “I realize that no two artificial surfaces are the same, but hopefully she takes to [the Polytrack] the way she did at Turfway. [Royal Ascot] is what we’re hoping for.”

Jockey Corey Nakatani will be in the irons as the pair starts from gate four.

The morning line second-choice at odds of 3-1 is Daddy’s Boo, a 7-year-old daughter of Sweet Return (GB) who boasts the highest career bankroll of the field with $366,842 in lifetime earnings. Owned by Patricia’s Hope and trained by Larry Rivelli, Daddy’s Boo has won 15 of her 27 career starts. Two of these wins came against stakes company when taking the Mary Todd Stakes at Gulfstream Park in 2016 as well as last year’s Steve Morgan Memorial Stakes over the local turf. Navigating Daddy’s Boo from post seven is Chris Emigh, who will be going for his third victory in the Arlington Matron. Emigh won previous editions with Lakenheath (2002) and Flipcup (2016).

Mrs. Paul Shanahan’s multiple graded-stakes-placed Apologynotaccepted, a 7-year-old daughter of Fusaichi Pegasus, was a recent second in the Grade III Doubledogdare Stakes at Keeneland and will break from post two as the third betting choice on the morning line at 7-2. She will be making her fourth start for trainer Brendan Walsh after previously racing for Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott. Apologynotaccepted did not begin racing until age five when she won at first asking over the Gulfstream Park main track back in March 2016. She did not win again until the following year, capturing three allowance optional claiming races in a row – two at Gulfstream and another at Churchill Downs. Apologynotaccepted went on to finish second behind eventual Eclipse Champion Older Mare Forever Unbridled in the Grade II Fleur De Lis Handicap at Churchill Downs and was a distant third in the Grade III Shuvee Handicap at Saratoga.

Babybluesbdancing (post one, Julio Felix, 6-1), Felt In Pocket (post three, Jermaine Bridgmohan, 15-1), Kyllachy Queen (IRE) (post five, Edgar Perez, 6-1), Princess La Quinta (post six, Carlos Marquez, Jr., 10-1) and Moonlit Garden (post eight, Mitchell Murrill, 15-1) complete the entries.

WARD SENDS CON TE PARTIRO TO GRADE III ARLINGTON MATRON WITH ROYAL ASCOT IN MIND

Trainer Wesley Ward is widely known for his pursuit of victory during the prestigious Royal Ascot meet and hopes that a start in Saturday’s Grade III $100,000 Arlington Matron will gear up Con Te Partiro for a return across the pond.

Named after a song by Italian singer and songwriter Andrea Bocelli, the 4-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy is no stranger to Royal Ascot success. Her last victory took place when she made the transatlantic journey last summer and won the Sandringham Stakes on day two of the Royal meeting Though winless in her three races since, Con Te Partiro made a good showing in her most recent start at Keeneland on April 13 when she was a late closing third going 1 1/16 miles over the firm turf.

“When I gave (jockey Joel Rosario) instructions, I told him to take her back,” Ward said of the filly’s most recent effort. “The pace was slow up front and she may have needed the race.”

Con Te Partiro owns victories on both dirt and turf from just 10 career starts. She debuted with a maiden win over the Keeneland main track in April of her juvenile season. Although the Arlington Matron will be her first start over a synthetic surface, she has spent all winter long getting acclimated to the Polytrack at Turfway Park, where Ward keeps a string of horses during the winter. Jockey Corey Nakatani will ship from his Southern California base on Saturday for the mount.

FELIX NEARS MILESTONE WIN

Veteran rider Julio Felix is only three wins away from earning his 3,000th victory in North America and could reach his milestone this weekend with six mounts on Friday and another half-dozen the following day.

Felix, 51, began his riding career against some of the best company in the game when riding in South Florida alongside Hall of Fame jockeys such as Jerry Bailey, Jacinto Vasquez, and Angel Cordero, Jr.

“I started in Miami and it was pretty tough,” Felix recalled. “I was just a kid from the Virgin Islands and there was no jocks school there. So when I told them where I was from they said, ‘From where?’ It was tough but it was good because it made me work harder. I rode against the best of the best, a lot of Hall of Famers. I wouldn’t trade it for the word, it made me a better and smarter rider. When I started winning – I just kept on winning. I built up.”

Felix did just that. After spending some time on the Florida circuit, he relocated to Thistledown in Cleveland, Ohio and earned six riding titles during 14 seasons there. When Felix reaches his 3000th career victory however, he will be doing so in dedication to his late brother Anibal Felix, who was fatally injured in a riding accident in the Virgin Islands about 25 years ago.

“Every milestone is very important to me, but what’s motivated me a lot is my younger brother. I’m kind of doing it for him, for me too, but just keeping this milestone dedicated to him. He was seventeen when it happened back in the Virgin Islands. It was bad, and it took a toll on me for a year. When I get my 3,000 wins, I want to dedicate them to Anibal.”

Represented by agent Tom Morgan, Felix’s mounts for the weekend are as follows:

Friday, May 18
Race 1: Zimmerman (5-2), Race 2: Diamonds At Dawn (7-2), Race 3: It’s Springtime (6-1), Race 4: Only Liquor (5-2), Race 7: Sark Lady (15-1), Race 8: Blue Sky Kowboy (7-2)

Saturday, May 19
Race 2: Back At The Ranch (3-1), Race 4: Close Behind (5-1), Race 5: Mongolian Time (9-2), Race 6: Orcus (10-1), Race 7 (Grade III Arlington Matron): Babybluesbdancing (6-1), Race 9: Upstage (9-2)

DEVILEYE COULD BE BACK IN STAKES COMPANY NEXT OUT

S.D. Brillie Ltd. Partnership’s homebred stakes winner Devileye will likely see stakes action next time out after a successful return to the races on opening weekend.

Trained by Michele Boyce, the 4-year-old son of Indygo Shiner was victorious over Arlington’s Polytrack on Saturday, May 5. The win was his first start since a runner-up effort behind Goneghost in Hawthorne’s Lightning Jet Stakes on November 25.

“It was a good spot for him, I was very pleased with that,” Boyce said of Devileye’s victory. “I think he’s better than he was last year, I really do. I don’t know if he’s ready for the top of his class yet but we’ll have the opportunity to find out in the stake in June. He’s more mature. He hasn’t grown a lot, but he’s been a big horse since he was a two-year-old. He’s just filled out and developed.”

His most recent start was not the first time Devileye successfully fired off the bench. After capturing the Jim Edgar Illinois Futurity at Hawthorne Racecourse in December of 2016, the colt returned eight months later to defeat winners over the local going last August. He remains undefeated in his four starts at Arlington, all of which came at one turn, including the Arlington Heights Stakes last September. Devileye is likely to target the $75,000 Addison Cammack Memorial Handicap on June 2 for Illinois-bred horses 3-years-old and up.