SPIRIT ONE WINS THE 2008 ARLINGTON MILLION
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Spirit One (Anabaa Blue--Lavayssiere (dam) by Sicyos) won the Arlington Million this year at Arlington Park. The horse is from France, and was ridden by jockey Ioritz Mendizabal.
The colt started out in the lead, taking it quite easy and going a quarter in 24.66. The pacesetter, Sudan, was scratched.
The jockey aboard Spirit One was a young, inexperienced lad. However, he made it around the two turns of the one and a quarter mile turf race, and charged down the homestretch, still clutching the lead. He had been given instructions to simply ride his race.
Jockey John Murtagh on Mount Nelson edged his horse up, encouraging him to increase in speed and win. The horse quickly tired and gave out. The 6-5 favorite, Archipenko, ridden by Kevin Shea, was trapped in between the rail and Mount Nelson. When Mount Nelson finally tired and slowed, he opened a gap for Archipenko to go through for a win. Unfortunately, there was not enough ground left, and Spirit One was too far ahead. Spirit One finished 3/4 of a length ahead of Archipenko. The fractions were 24.66 for the quarter, 48.57 for the half, 1:12.40 for the three quarter, and 1:37.40 for the mile. The final time for the mile and a quarter was 2:02.17, rather slow time even on turf.
When asked if he would race his colt in the Breeder's Cup Turf, Philippe Demercastel, Spirit One's trainer, replied, "Why not? We'll take him home, give him time off and definitely come back to the U.S. for racing. I've been tempted for awhile, especially with this horse, to try American racing." He said that, in winning this race, they were getting their revenge on Mount Nelson, who had beat them in the Criterium International at Saint-Cloud, 2006.
Jockey Kevin Shea, riding Archipenko, was angered at John Murtagh for blocking him on the rail. Murtagh had seen he could not win, but would not let them through. If they had gotten through earlier, they might have won. Shea also said that he would've been alright with Murtagh winning if he knew the jockey and horse could.
Murtagh simply repsonded that "You can't win them all." ~Cassidy Deardorff
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