The largest European delegation in the Arlington Million’s history is coming for Saturday’s 21st running of the historically multinational race.
Four horses from England, three from France and one from Germany were pre-entered before Friday’s midnight deadline. They are scheduled to join a horse from Canada and four from the U.S. in the 13-horse starting lineup for the 1 1/4-mile grass race.
The largest previous European contingents were six horses in 1982 and 1992.
Arlington Park Chairman Dick Duchossois attributed the influx of Europeans to a ripple effect from being the host track for last year’s Breeders’ Cup.
“People went back to Europe and they told people over there, `You’ve got to go to Arlington,'” he said.
Foremost among the foreign runners is Sulamani, possibly the best horse to come from Europe for the Million. Five Europeans have won the race: Tolomeo (1983) and Teleprompter (1985) of England, Mill Native (1988) and Dear Doctor (1992) of France, and Silvano (2001) of Germany.
Sulamani, a 4-year-old, is owned by the royal family of Dubai’s Godolphin Stable, an international all-star team assembled by Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum.
The horse most likely to vie with Sulamani for the role of favorite is Storming Home, a California-based colt owned by Sheikh Mohammed’s brother, Sheikh Maktoum al Maktoum. The 5-year-old horse has won both of his races in the U.S. this year after spending the first two years of his career competing in his native England.
Silvano’s trainer, Andreas Wohler, is bringing back Paolini, who finished sixth in last year’s Million after being trapped between horses for most of the stretch run.
The other Europeans are England’s Beauchamp Pilot, Kaieteur and Olden Times, and France’s Touch of Land, Tripat and Vangelis. Perfect Soul will represent Canada.
Joining Storming Home in the U.S. delegation are Perfect Drift, decisive winner of Arlington’s Grade II Washington Park Handicap; Honor In War, who won the Grade III Arlington Handicap by a neck; and The Tin Man, a Grade I winner last fall at Santa Anita, who is coming off a strong second in Monmouth Park’s Grade I United Nations Handicap.
The undercard: The probable lists for Arlington’s two other turf races on Million Day–the Grade I $700,000 Beverly D. for fillies and mares and the Grade I $400,000 Secretariat for 3-year-olds–also were released.
Evolving Tactics, the Irish invader who won last month’s Grade II American Derby at Arlington, is one of four Europeans for the Secretariat. Germany’s Walzerkoenigin is the only European scheduled to run in the Beverly D.
Saturday special: Sue’s Good News made amends for the only loss of her six-race career, a sixth-place finish in the Grade III Delaware Oaks, by scoring a compelling come-from-behind victory in Saturday’s Grade III $100,000 Singapore Plate at Arlington Park. Sue’s Good News was 1 3/4 lengths better than Keeping the Gold, the Illinois-bred runner-up, in the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies. She went the route in 1:50.53 and paid $6.80, $3.60 and $3.20 as the 2.40-1 favorite in the field of nine.
