30 Years of the Arlington Million Part 2
Popular victories by former Secretariat winners, Awad and Marlin, were followed by an unfortunate two-year hiatus as Arlington Park battled for survival to close the 20th century. The Arlington Million would, as it had done all along, persevere. In fact, it came back with gusto. The powerful trio of Juddmonte Farm, Bobby Frankel, and Jerry Bailey won two of the first three editions of the the 21st century, with talented imports Chester House and Beat Hollow. Gusto would soon be replaced by oddity, though, as two consecutive winners would be disqualified from first place money.
Who can ever forget the 2003 running of the Million when Storming Home and Gary Stevens appeared to be home free nearing the finish line. Instead, the horse spooked and started running sideways. Stevens fell off as Storming Home bothered several horses. Stevens went from a sure winner to badly injured, while Godolphin's Sulamani was placed first.
One year later, it was the talented European, Powerscourt, who powerfully roared by the field early in the stretch on the way to an easy victory. The only problem being, his wide run on the turn became a rail skimming trip late. In between, the Irish horse cut right across on his closest competition. The stewards would give this Million to Kicken Kris...
Powerscourt redeemed himself with another strong, and this time, uneventful victory in the 2005 Arlington Million. With the consecutive disqualifications in the rearview mirror, fan favorites began to flourish. When the speedy eight-year-old gelding, The Tin Man, kicked home down the Arlington Park turf course, more than a few, in the large Suburban Chicago crowd, went home a winner. While The Tin Man's score was a popular one, it probably could not match that of the two-time Eclipse Award winner, Gio Ponti.
Three times, the consistent son of Tale of the Cat would take his talents to Arlington for the turfy ten furlongs of the Million. While he fell just short in both 2010 and 2011, his first try, in Chicago's champion making event, was all about Gio Ponti...
It was a pair of Europeans, Debussy and Cape Blanco, who denied Gio Ponti in his quest for multiple Millions. Last year, however, an American trained horse would once again allow his connections to hoist the trophy for the home side. The gutsy gelding, Little Mike, never had anything handed to him. Respect for him came slowly. In 2012, he needed to win big race, after big race, to finally gain a nation's respect. One of his biggest wins came when he led a slew of Euros on a merry chase...
Little Mike will be back to try again on Saturday, and I could not think of a better way for the next thirty years of the Arlington Million to begin.