Current Arlington jockeys to square off against riding legends

Current Arlington jockeys to square off against riding

legends

Once again in 2011 as part of the festivities leading up to the Arlington

Million (G1), five retired jockey greats will return to the saddle for one race

and square off against five of the top riders in the Arlington Park standings in

the "Arlington Fab 5" vs. "Legends" turf race complete with pari-mutuel wagering

to be held on August 12, one day before the 29th running of the Arlington

Million.

Slated to take a one-day break from retirement are Hall-of-Fame jockeys

Earlie Fires and Chris McCarron; two-time Arlington Park champion Mark Guidry;

Patti Cooksey, who has been participating in similar Legends races the last two

seasons; and 1977 Triple Crown-winning jockey Jean Cruguet.

In addition to regular win, place, show, exacta, trifecta and superfecta

betting available on the race, Arlington Park will offer a wager pitting the

"Arlington Fab 5" against the "Legends" in a Head-to-Head format based on a

point structure. Last year, a victory by Inez Karlsson gave a group of Arlington

Park riders the edge over five retired jockeys in the inaugural jockey

challenge.

The top five jockeys in the Arlington Park standings at the conclusion of

racing on August 6 will represent the current jockey colony. Riding assignments

for the race will be pulled by lot when entries are drawn for the Friday card on

August 7.

As of the conclusion of racing last Sunday, the top five riders in the

Arlington standings were Jozbin Santana, James Graham, Eduardo Perez, E.T. Baird

and Junior Alvarado. Julio Felix, Seth Martinez and Tim Thornton are just

outside the top five and could sneak in to race depending how they perform the

next three days.

The five former riders will be at Arlington as part of the day's third annual

"Dining with the Dynasty" fund raiser, a charity event that brings legendary

jockeys from all over the country to raise funds to benefit the Permanently

Disabled Jockeys Fund and the Racetrack Chaplaincy of America.

This year's event will provide ticket purchasers with a unique chance to dine

and share stories with legendary jockeys. In addition to the five listed above,

scheduled to appear are Walter Blum, Bill Boland, Angel Cordero, Pat Day, David

Erb, Jackie Fires, Sandy Hawley, Laffit Pincay Jr., Randy Romero, John Rotz, Ray

Sibille, Ron Turcotte and Bobby Ussery.

Ticketholders will spend an afternoon in Arlington's popular Mr. D.'s Sports

Bar with the legendary and Hall of Fame jockeys who will share stories,

reminisce about racing experiences and autograph racing memorabilia. Tickets are

on sale now at

arlingtonpark.com and the Arlington Park box office.

In addition to "Dining with the Dynasty", many of the riders will appear at

Breakfast at Arlington from 8 to 9:30 a.m. (CDT) on August 12 and will

participate in a public autograph session from 10:30 a.m. until noon on

Arlington Million Day, August 13.