Arlington Park Notebook

ARLINGTON NOTEBOOK

JULY 7, 2010

Shane Sellers back in the saddle at Arlington

Jockey Shane Sellers, whose Arlington single-season record of 219 wins still stands, has made a triumphant return to

Arlington Park after ending a 4 1/2-year retirement last summer.

When he first returned to the saddle last summer, it was in his native

Louisiana with successful stints at Louisiana Downs, and then at Fair Grounds

for this past winter in New Orleans.

Following the meet at the Crescent City oval, many thought Sellers would

follow his old route back to Arlington, but there was a detour along the way as the rider decided to go to Delaware Park.

"I wanted to come back to Chicago but I wanted to come back with the right

agent," Sellers explained shortly after arriving in Chicago. "Things

didn't line-up right for me to come back at the start of the meet but I always

had in the back of my mind that I was going to get back to Arlington.

"I'm very grateful for the opportunities I've been given since I came out of

retirement, and also for this opportunity to get with Pat Cuccurullo as my agent

and come back to Chicago," he added. "He's been a trainer at Arlington

in recent years and we have a lot of the same old acquaintances from the old

days."

Sellers won 21 races (16 percent win clip) at Delaware Park this year.

"I have a long way to go," Sellers told Arlington Park notes writer Graham

Ross, "and I have a lot of amends to make, but I'm making progress. When I

first got to Delaware, I went by the barn of Larry and Cindy Jones to say hello,

and basically they let me know I could say hello but they weren't going to use

me on any of their horses.

"Then, Larry and Cindy and I kept running into each other after Bible

classes at Delaware and eventually we got to talking. Then one

day, I looked on the overnight and they had put me on one of their horses.

"One thing that made me feel real good was something that Larry said to me

the other day," Sellers said. "He said, 'I like the Shane Sellers I'm

seeing today.'

"I like the 'me' I'm seeing today, too," Sellers concluded. "When Larry

says something to me like that, and (trainer) Frank (Bobby) Springer said

something very much like that, it makes me feel like I'm doing something right. If I can continue in that pattern, and combine that with all the abilities I

have as a rider, I see no reason I can't get back to where I once was."

It took Sellers no time at all to pick up seemingly right where he left off

as he scored with his first mount back at Arlington -- Talons Racing's Laguna

Moon (Malibu Moon) for trainer Wayne Catalano in the 1ST race on Thursday, July 1.

"It's like it was meant to be," an emotional Sellers said immediately after

the race. "Everybody here has greeted me with open arms since I got here. I needed that win in my life right now, but I still have a lot of amends to make

to a lot of people. That's how I feel."

HORSES TO WATCH

Thursday (7/1)

9TH -- MISS POLLIPOP (Pollard's Vision), a first-time starter, raced greenly. She

bore in at the start, ran a bit erratic and lugged in late yet showed some

promise in the mid-stages of the race. Could graduate next time with a

clean trip.

Saturday (7/3)

1ST -- BREZING RAIN (Whywhywhy) was held up between rivals early before being

eased back to wait for a hole to open. Blocked briefly in the stretch

while waiting but finally found a seam to close through but was too late to

seriously menace. Look for better next out.

4TH -- SUNLACED (Mingun) broke in the air and then raced wide throughout

before mounting a challenge late, but ultimately fading from the overland route.

9TH -- SNOW TOP MOUNTAIN (Najran) is probably on everyone's horses to watch

list. The talented filly was wide into the first turn in the Arlington Oaks (G3) from her outside post in the

nine-furlong race and was floated

wide into the stretch by eventual winner Upperline (Maria's Mon). While no match for that

rival, Snow Top Mountain still offered a good rally for second and fits nicely in the Grade

3 ranks in the sophomore division.