LEXINGTON, Ky. – The final three-day stand of this Keeneland spring meeting will include the usual races to be leading trainer and jockey, but also a battle to be the track’s leading trainer of all time.
George “Rusty” Arnold II, a mainstay at this track for decades, won a pair of races Saturday, including the Grade 3 Ben Ali Stakes, to tie Hall of Famer Bill Mott for the all-time title with 307 victories each. Both have entries throughout this three-day run, with Arnold’s first chance to break the record coming with a live longshot in a maiden special weight on Wednesday.
A third-generation horseman, Arnold, 70, has earned three trainer titles at Keeneland – in spring 1985, spring 1986, and fall 1987. He is based throughout the year with other locals in Keeneland’s Rice Road stable area.
“I have done this a long time and we have been very lucky here,” Arnold said last fall, when Keeneland recognized him in a ceremony for securing his 300th career win at the track. “We train here [all year], and that makes it even better. The only number I had in my head was one. I just wanted to win one.”
:: DRF Kentucky Derby Package: Save on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more.
Arnold is known for taking his time developing horses, who then maintain their form for quite some time. Examples include the likes of Divine Warning, who won at least one race during five consecutive Keeneland meets from the spring of 1991 through the spring of 1993. It’s appropriate that his record-tying win last Saturday came with the late-blooming Calumet Farm homebred Tennessee Lamb, who took eight tries to win a maiden race but has now won three of his last four starts. Assistant trainer Lyndsay Delello described the horse as “a big, rangy baby” who “needed time to mature, mentally and physically.”
Arnold’s lone entrant Wednesday, Glamorama, is trying to win a maiden race in her second career start. The day’s eighth race is a $110,000 maiden special weight for fillies and mares going a mile on the turf course. As the last race of the day, it is not only key in wagering strategies for Keeneland’s popular Turf Pick 3, but also provides the chance to chase a $10,587 carryover in the Super High Five.
With the exception of two first-time starters, Mildred Pierce and Swift Tease, Glamorama, who will have Florent Geroux in the irons, is the least-experienced runner in the field. In her lone start, she finished fifth on March 22 at Gulfstream. However, she is making a key change for her second start that makes her a live longshot based on pedigree handicapping, moving from seven furlongs on dirt to a two-turn mile on turf. Glamorama has a turf-suited pedigree, by Triple Crown winner and versatile young sire Justify and out of the Group 3-placed Galileo mare Queen Nefertiti, a full sister to Group 1 winner The Gurkha. This family also gives the filly the capability for added distance.
Just So Pretty, another Justify filly, is the morning-line favorite. She has made six starts for Danny Gargan, finishing third in her most recent outing at Gulfstream.
Mott’s only entrant Wednesday, Capitol Hill, is the first also-eligible in the fourth race, one of three allowance-level events that serve as nominal features on the card.
On Thursday, Arnold and Mott each have two entrants. On Friday, Arnold has a pair of entrants and Mott has three, including Immensitude in the closing-day feature, the Grade 3 Bewitch.
Neither Arnold nor Mott is likely to factor in the fight for the spring meet training title. Brad Cox and Wesley Ward come into the final three days with nine wins each, while Brendan Walsh has saddled eight winners.
In the rider standings, Irad Ortiz Jr., Jose Ortiz, and Luis Saez each have 15 wins, while Flavien Prat has 14. Saez’s contention for the title is even more impressive considering he missed several stakes mounts on the April 8 card and then two additional full cards, following a spill.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.