Arlington Park: Grade III Hanshin Cup closes with 23 nominations

The Grade III Hanshin Cup, the first stakes race of the 2017 season at Arlington International Racecourse, closed Thursday with 23 nominations, including last year’s 44-1 winner Trace Creek from the barn of William Van Meter. This will be the 23rd year that the one-mile event on the main track has been run as an exchange race between Arlington and the Japan Racing Association. Wesley Ward’s 2014 Royal Ascot winner Hootenanny, who won his debut on the Polytrack at Keeneland, has been training steadily towards his first start of the year.

The 5-year-old son of Quality Road was last seen in the winner’s circle in an allowance event at Belterra Park, but his class would still put him at the top of the field should he enter.

 

Illinois-bred Recount, winner of the Robert S. Molaro Handicap at Hawthorne Racecourse on April 22, would look to improve on his fourth-place finish in last year’s edition for trainer Jimmy DiVito. The speedy 5-year-old son of Limehouse could have another meeting with 2016 third-place finisher Valiant City, who is also coming off a win after taking an allowance event at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots on March 17.

Trained by Joshua Sepulveda, the 7-year-old gelding by City Zip has already won two of his three starts this year and has been training sharply at Evangaline Downs.

 

Chicago-based Dee Poulos added recent stakes winner Crewman to the list of nominees. The 6-year-old son of Candy Ride won the Forego Stakes at Turfway Park on Jan. 21 when running on the Polytrack.

Despite running seventh in this stakes race last year, the gelding has performed well running on all-weather surfaces, with four of his five lifetime wins coming on the synthetic. If entered, he may have to contend with popular-claimer Speightsong, currently in the barn of Jon Cowan, and Dac, a William Brumley trainee who finished a length behind Crewman in the Forego. Speightsong, a 6-year-old horse by Speightstown, has changed barns five times since September. Dac, who finished behind Crewman in the Forego, was able to pick up a win in his most recent start on April 1 at Turfway going a mile. The 6-year-old son of Distorted Humor has won all four of his starts on the synthetic at a mile or longer.

 

Entries for the $100,000 Grade III Hanshin Cup will be drawn on Wednesday, May 10.