For most people Arlington Park is a nice place to take the family on a Sunday afternoon or to find the wise old gentlemen who has followed horse racing for the past 62 years. This Saturday however is the running of the 26th Arlington Million. A race that will have national coverage on ESPN and be viewed by thousands who come out to the race track.

What would have made this an even more attractive race was the thought that Curlin, the horse of the year, would make his appearance at the track in Arlington Heights. In the end though Curlin will not be there, but that still leaves an exciting group of horses who will be running for the prize!

To start, a lot of foreign horses will be making the trip out the Chicago to run in this race. European stars in Archipenko and Mount Nelson will be ready to go. Archipenko who is the favorite to win this race, now that Curlin has taken a backseat. At 2-1 he will be odds on favorite till we hear those famous words “and their off!.” Archipenko has won 3 of his last 4 races and is looking for another set of flowers to be put upon him after this race. He will race some competition though in Mount Nelson and Einstein. Mount Nelson is at 5-2 odds and Einstein comes in at 7-2.

Einstein could bring some energy to this race and give Archipenko a run for the million. He is coming off a victory in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on Derby Day at Churchill Downs. He would then finish second to Curlin 6 weeks later in a race down in Louisville. This horse will challenge for the prize.

There are also two other big money races that will take place that day. The Beverly D which has a $750,000 prize at stake and the Secretariat Stakes. Now being a pretty big follower of the sport, I was happy to see one of my favorite horse owners having two horses in these races.
In the Beverly D, owner Frank Calabrese will be putting Dreaming of Anna out for a shot at the win. This 4 year old filly will have to gut it out with others such as Precious Kitten and Mauralakana. A little interesting fact is that jockey Kent Desormeaux, who was aboard this years horse racing story Big Brown will saddle up on Mauralakana. Dreaming of Anna will be riden by Garrett Gomez, who was aboard her in their victory in Mint Julep Handicap at Churchill Downs.

Calabrese, will also run a horse by the name of Prime Realestate in the Secretariat. Coming in at 10-1 morning line odds, jockey Julien Leparoux will have some work to do but you can never count out a Calabrese horse from what I have learned in my experiences! So now your asking ok Bill, so what are you picks in these races. Well good question and here ya go. In the Secretariat I would go with Tizdejavu for the win. If your looking to play the trifecta take Tizdejavu with Your Round and Prime Realestate to finish third. Thats the 6-7-1 trifecta.

In the Beverly D, I'm gonna go with Dreaming of Anna. I like him to show up big here and knock down the favorite Precious Kitten and the other strong horse Mauralakana. However to play it safe I would box all three of those horses in a trifecta. I think these are the strongest horses in the race. Don't look for a big upset to come along in this race. Take the six dollar bet and take your shot at hitting the tri! Thats a 1-3-4, trifecta if your scoring at home.

Now the big race, Archipenko should control this race and walk away the winner. Einstein will come along but fall just short and I'm not gonna give Mount Nelson my bid for the money. I'm gonna take a sneaky horse in Spirit One to come in and make the trifecta worth alittle bit of money.

Play the 1-6-3.

Good luck and have a great day if you go out to one of the Chicagoland's hidden gems in Arlington Park.

To hear more sports talk, tune in Tuesday nights to Bizzy on Sports on WJJG 1530 AM from 6-7 PM. Email me your questions and comments at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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