A decided international flavor returns to the Arlington Million Stakes (G1T) Aug. 11 at Colonial Downs with half of the six entries boasting experience in multiple countries.
Originally scheduled for Aug. 10 as part of Colonial's Festival of Racing stakes program, the card was moved to Sunday after heavy rain was forecast to fall Aug. 8-9 as a result of Tropical Storm Debby.
The Million, first run in 1981, offered the world's first seven-figure Thoroughbred purse and quickly elevated the image of American turf racing, particularly in Europe, in the run-up to the first Breeders' Cup World Championships races in 1984.
That impact was magnified quickly when Tolomeo edged John Henry to win the 1983 edition for trainer Luca Cumani with Pat Eddery riding and Teleprompter won the "Miracle Million" for the 18th Earl of Derby in 1985 a month after the Arlington Park grandstand was destroyed by fire.
Through the decades, the race has been won by some of the world's notable connections including Lord Derby, whose family name is world renowned, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum's Godolphin, the Coolmore "lads" from Ireland, Princess Haya of Jordan, and hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.
Since Churchill Downs Inc. shuttered Arlington International Racecourse after the 2021 season, the race has been virtually devoid of global competition. But it doesn't get more international than this year's 8-5 morning-line favorite, Nations Pride.
The 5-year-old Godolphin homebred son of Teofilo, fifth in the 2022 Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) at Keeneland, has more stamps on his passport than some diplomats. He's run in England, Dubai, Germany, Canada, Bahrain, and the United States. Along the way, he has won the 2022 Saratoga Derby Invitational (G1T), the 2023 Canadian International Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine and the Grosser Dallmayr-Preis-Bayerisches Zuchtrennen (G1) in Munich.
This year, after a winter break, trainer Charlie Appleby decided against sending Nations Pride to Dubai and instead rested him up for a U.S. campaign that started with a third in the Man o' War Stakes (G2T) at the Belmont at the Big A meeting at Aqueduct Racetrack and a second in the 1 3/16-mile Manhattan Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course | BloodHorse.com Track Profile">Saratoga Race Course behind Godolphin stablemate Measured Time. He gets another sixteenth of a mile in the 1 1/4-mile Million.
"The only negative to him is the (turf) conditions and how they are fairing," Appleby said. "He is definitely a happier horse on a sound surface. If it is on the slow side, that would be a negative for him."
Ancient Rome provides more international flavor. He is a Kentucky-bred son of War Front but trains in England from Charlie Hills' yard after being switched from France and the care of Andre Fabre in the summer of 2023. He won his first start for Hills and new owner Mrs. Fitriani Hay at Goodwood that August, then shipped across the Atlantic for the first time to win the $1,994,285 million Mint Millions Stakes (G3T) at Kentucky Downs.
From that, he went to France to finish fourth in the Prix Dollar (G2). After a break of nearly nine months, he showed little in the Wolferton Stakes at Royal Ascot this June, finishing 12th, but then rebounded to report second in the Anne Cowley Memorial Summer Mile Stakes (G2) at Ascot July 13, beaten only by the undefeated Kingman colt Quddwah.
Seven-year-old Highland Chief, also owned by Hay, adds another dash of international spice. After racing in top company in England and France early in his career, he won the 2022 Man o' War Stakes in his second American start and has remained on this side of the Atlantic. Trained by Graham Motion, he prepped for the Million with a second-place finish in the Prince George's County Stakes July 14.
Domestic Challengers
The home team includes an arguable horse for the course in Integration. The 4-year-old Quality Road colt is perfect in three starts over Colonial's Secretariat Turf Course including the 2023 Virginia Derby (G3T) and a 6 1/2-length drubbing of just two rivals over a soft course in the Million Preview Stakes July 13. Kendrick Carmouche retains the mount for trainer Shug McGaughey.
Talk of the Nation, another 4-year-old Quality Road colt, has finished worse than third only once in 11 starts but still seeks his first graded stakes win. The Todd Pletcher charge exits a runner-up finish in the Kelso Stakes (G3T) at Saratoga July 13.
Sugoi, a 7-year-old gelding by Karakontie , has found new life back on the turf after toiling on dirt and all-weather tracks. He was claimed for $50,000 at Keeneland April 25 by trainer Mike Maker for Paradise Farms and David Staudacher and promptly posted a front-running victory in the Louisville Stakes (G3T) at Churchill Downs. He backed that up with a second behind Webslinger in the Chorleywood Overnight Stakes June 15 over the same course.
Colonial Downs, Sunday, August 11, 2024, Race 11Entries: Arlington Million S. (G1T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Integration (KY) Kendrick Carmouche 124 Claude R. McGaughey III 5/2 2 2Ancient Rome (KY) Jamie P. Spencer 124 Charlie Hills 3/1 3 3Sugoi (KY) Julien R. Leparoux 124 Michael J. Maker 8/1 4 4Nations Pride (IRE) William Buick 124 Charles Appleby 8/5 5 5Highland Chief (IRE) John R. Velazquez 124 H. Graham Motion 12/1 6 6Talk of the Nation (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 124 Todd A. Pletcher 6/1
