by George
Jockey Robert Reeves Jr. (left) won the 2012 Frank Arnason Sire Stakes, seen here with agent Tim Gardiner
The Frank Arnason Sire Stakes probably wasn’t as close as it looked and the Pick-4 still paid decent despite being weighed down by favourites on a beautiful Saturday afternoon of racing at ASD.
Heavily favoured Danger Rules went to the lead early in the $30,000 Frank Arnason Sire Stakes and set all the pace before holding off a Spirited Kola Kat to win by 1 1/4-lengths. Charlie Waffles, who showed only half-hearted speed this time, paid for it with a third place finish, three-quarters of a length behind Kola Kat.
In the absence of any serious pace pressure from Charlie Waffles, Danger Rules got away with a leisurely first quarter of 24 and the race was basically over. After a half in 47.40 he took a 1 ½-length lead into the stretch, got the five-eighths in a slow 1:01.60 and had something left to hold off Kola Kat, who was giving his best along the rail in the drive to the wire. The final time for the six furlongs was 1:13.60.
Trained by Chad Torevell and ridden to victory by Robert Reeves Jr. for the partnership of Arnason, Daley, Sundsbak and Ziprick, Danger Rules earned $15,300 for winning the Arnanson, improving his lifetime record to 3-2-1 from eight starts and increasing his lifetime earnings to $58,385. Not a bad chunk of change for the Manitoba-bred son of Going Commando-Danger Pay by Circulation. The Arnason was the second stakes win for Danger Rules, who also won the $40,000 CTHS Sales Stakes last year.
Danger Rules paid a paltry $2.70 to win, dashing all hopes for a big Pick-4 payoff courtesy of the $4,364 carryover from Friday, but the Pick-4 still paid a decent $218.30 for a $2 ticket. The only leg of the Pick-4 that wasn’t won by a favorite was the first, when second choice Restless Saint won the fourth race and paid $5.10. Halo’s Ring won the fifth race and paid $5.60 and Sir Sherman won the sixth at $6.10. Considering all the short-priced horses in the Pick-4 there were probably quite a few bettors happy with the payoff.
The Arnason win gave trainer Chad Torevell his third victory of the day. Torevell also won the first race with Caught Lion and the third with Not Opposed to make up some ground on leading trainer Blair Miller, who won with the aforementioned Halo’s Ring. Miller now leads Torevell 18-15 and a good battle for leading trainer appears to be shaping up.
Among jockeys, Rohan Singh and Tyrone Nelson both scored doubles. Nelson won the third and fourth races aboard Not Opposed and Restless Saint and Singh won the first and fifth races aboard Caught Lion and Halo’s Ring. Single victories went to Larry Munoz, Trevor Simpson, Robert Reeves Jr. and Chris Husbands. Singh’s pair of wins moved him into a tie atop the standings with Paul Nolan. Each now have 28 wins, 10 more than Tim Moccasin and Tyrone Nelson.
Next Post Time for Live Racing: 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 27, 2012