Ghost Hunter holds off Oak Brook in Arlington Handicap

The 82nd running of the Grade III $100,000 Arlington Handicap ended with an exciting upset as Triple K Stables’ Jamie Ness-trained Ghost Hunter held off Virginia H. Tarra Trust’s Oak Brook down the stretch at Arlington International Racecourse, with Wimborne Farm’s late-running Ignacio Correas-trainee Kasaqui (Arg) settling for third in the final stages. The Arlington Handicap was one of four Grade III stakes offered on Saturday’s Ride to the Million card presented by Miller Lite.

 

Trainer Brian Williamson’s Oak Brook sat second under Santo Sanjur behind the pace-setting Crewman as the winner of the Grade III Hanshin Cup set fraction of 23.71, 48.61, and 1:14.43 in the opening stages. Edwin Gonzalez waited another length back in third aboard Ghost Hunter, keeping the son of Ghostzapper in a ground-saving position along the rail as they turned for home. Oak Brook took the lead as the field hit the stretch in 1:38.86 and continued on strongly, but Ghost Hunter found an opening inside and headed the Black Tie Affair Handicap winner late, gaining the advantage by three-quarters of a length at the wire. The final time for the 1 3/16 miles turf stake was 1:55.86.

 

“I think my decision to go inside was the right one,” said Gonzalez. “I was trying to decide – if I went outside it would use too much – and then the door opened and I took it.”

 

“He’s very versatile,” said Ness about his new graded-stakes winner. “His best surface is probably Polytrack, and he’s a horse who tends to find trouble, but today we found the rail and got through and got the ‘W.’”

 

“My horse broke pretty good, so I stayed second behind [Crewman],” said Sanjur. “In the last part my horse floored it. He’s a comfortable horse, you can do whatever you want and he’ll give you everything he’s got.”

 

Defending winner Kasaqui was second-to-last for much of the early running under James Graham, made up ground on the turn heading for home, but came up a head short of Oak Brook at the wire in third.

 

“Today wasn’t his best race but he finished fine,” said Graham. “I probably waited a little longer than I wanted to, but I would rather save and wait a little bit more because they were running so slow I knew they were going to sprint the rest of the way.”

 

Securing his 18th win in 46 career starts, Ghost Hunter boosted his lifetime earnings to $633,523 with the winner’s share of $58,200. Ghost Hunter returned $26, $10 and $4.80 to his backers. Oak Brook paid $32 and $11.20, while betting favorite Kasaqui paid $2.60. The all-longshot Exacta returned $326.30 for a $1 wager.