International Festival of Racing highlights Arlington stakes schedule

International Festival of Racing highlights Arlington

stakes schedule

Arlington Park will offer 27 stakes worth $5.525 million in purses during

2007, it was announced Tuesday following the approval of the Illinois Racing

Board. The 94-day meet will feature such staples as the Prairie State Festival

for Illinois-breds, Million Preview Day and the International Festival of

Racing, which is the highlight of the season.

The International Festival of Racing is scheduled for August 11 and includes

Illinois' only three Grade 1 events -- the $1 million Arlington Million at 1 1/4

miles for three-year-olds and up, the $750,000 Beverly D. S. sending distaffers

1 3/16 miles and the $400,000 Secretariat S. for sophomores going 10 furlongs.

All three races take place on the turf and are part of the new "Breeders' Cup

Challenge," which guarantees entry into the Breeders' Cup to the winner of each

race. The Secretariat also completes Mid-America Triple, which also includes the

$150,000 Arlington Classic (G3) on June 23 and the $250,000 American Derby (G2)

on July 21.

Those hoping to compete in the International Festival of Racing will get a

chance to prep for those events on July 21, Million Preview Day. The $200,000

Arlington H. (G3) serves as the final local prep for the Million, while the

American Derby leads to the Secretariat and the $150,000 Modesty H. (G3) is a

springboard to the Beverly D.

The first stakes race to be run over Arlington's new state-of-the-art,

all-weather racing surface will be the $100,000 Hanshin Cup (G3) on May 26.

On July 7, Arlington will play host to the seventh annual Prairie State

Festival, which features six $75,000 stakes events for Illinois-bred runners.

Illinois owners will get their day with two $100,000 stakes set at each end of

the four-month season. The races, which will be named later, will be run on Kentucky Derby Day, May 6, and the meet's final

Saturday, September 15.

The track will also debut a new event, Ladies Day, in 2007 on September 8.

The day will showcase three stakes races for distaffers -- the $150,000

Arlington-Washington Breeders' Cup Lassie (G3) for juveniles, the $200,00 Pucker

Up S. (G3) for turf sophomores and the $150,000 Arlington Matron H. (G3) for

three-year-olds and up.

Other major events during the meet include the $300,000 Washington Park H.

(G2) on July 28, the richest main track race of the season; the $200,000 Stars &

Stripes Breeders' Cup Turf (G3) for older horses on July 4, Independence Day;

and the $200,000 Arlington-Washington Breeders' Cup Futurity (G3) for juveniles

on September 9.

Arlington's meet will run from May 4 through September 16.