One of Canada’s foremost thoroughbred trainers will have mixed emotions when he revisits Chicago this weekend.
Jim Day feels good about Honor Glide’s chances in Sunday’s Grade III $200,000 Hawthorne Derby, but he feels bad about Dick Duchossois’ decision to close Arlington International Racecourse following Friday’s card.
“This is a very, very sad chapter in racing history,” Day said. “Arlington is one of the finest racing facilities in North America, probably the finest. Mr. Duchossois is a hands-on manager. He runs Arlington like he really cares about how the game is played.”
This summer, for the first time, Day split his stable between Arlington and Woodbine, his normal base in Toronto.
“I’m playing next year by ear,” Day said. “I’m not sure I’ll be back (when Hawthorne has Chicago’s summer dates). Kentucky is a possibility, and so is the East Coast.”
Honor Glide made Arlington history last summer, becoming the third horse to sweep the track’s Mid-America Triple series for 3-year-olds.
Owned by Robert Schaedle of Franklin, Tenn., Honor Glide went into the series a relatively inexperienced runner with three wins in four non-stakes races at the Fair Grounds, Keeneland, Churchill Downs and Arlington.
He graduated to stakes competition by capturing the Grade II Arlington Classic, then annexed the Grade II American Derby and the Grade I Secretariat to win the Mid-America Triple Crown.
For his next and last start, Day chose a Grade II Canadian race against older horses, Woodbine’s Sky Classic Handicap. Honor Glide finished a non-threatening second behind an accomplished older horse, Chief Bearhart, in the 1 3/8-mile race.
“The pace was superslow, and Honor Glide doesn’t rate (temper his natural speed) very kindly,” Day explained. “Regardless, Chief Bearhart’s forte is 1 3/8 miles, and he wasn’t going to be beaten by anybody that day.”
The Hawthorne Derby distance is 1 1/8 miles. In 1991, when Day’s Dance Smartly became the only filly to capture the Canadian Triple Crown, he sent his second-stringer, Rainbows For Life, and the colt won the Derby in 1:44 3/5, setting a Hawthorne turf-course record that still stands.
Following Sunday’s race, Honor Glide’s itinerary calls for a trip to Hollywood Park. Day is mulling over his options: “We’ve backed off the 1 1/2-mile Breeders’ Cup race (the $2 million Turf), and we’re leaning toward the other (Nov. 8) grass race (the $1 million Mile). The ($4 million) Classic is tempting. Even though Honor Glide never has run on the dirt, he trains extremely well on the dirt. Currently, we have a lot of gray areas concerning the field for the Classic, so we’ll wait and see.”
Day said another possibility is skipping the Breeders’ Cup, and instead running Honor Glide on Nov. 30 in the Grade I $500,000 Hollywood Derby.
