Little Mike restores American fortunes in Arlington Million

Little Mike galloped with gusto into the stretch and delivered the coup de

grace. Quickening impressively off his slow early tempo, he opened up by 4 1/2

lengths in midstretch. Afsare picked up strongly himself and soon emerged as the

only challenger.

But Little Mike was well and truly gone. Although Afsare cut into his margin,

Little Mike was never seriously threatened as he completed 1 1/4 miles on the

good turf in 2:02 2/5 and paid $9.80, $5.60 and $4.40.

The winner's circle ceremony involved another Mike -- the legendary Mike

Ditka.

"If anyone asks, we can go a mile and a half," owner/breeder Carlo Vaccarezza

enthused. "To be honest I was on pins and needles. Nobody believed in this

horse. You know the horse better than anyone else. This horse ran tremendously.

Dale Romans did a fantastic job."

"I felt good about him," Romans said. "He's training so well, and his two

best races were a mile and an eighth, and nobody thought he could go a mile and

an eighth. So a little different pace scenario, when you go three-quarters in

1:15, he's going to be hard to catch."

"He was running very comfortable," Dominguez recapped. "Turning for home when

I decided to let him run, he beautifully started opening up. I wasn't sure how

slow we were going. I got to the three-eighths pole and he started to open it

up. I tried to slow him down to this point (before), but from now on I'm going

to let him spring home. He galloped home like a freight train."

"Was I third again?" Buick asked. "He gave a good run.  He probably ran

the race of his life. We're certainly happy. You'd like to win every time you go

out there, but I'll settle for what I got today. I couldn't be happier with what

an honest race he ran."

Beaten favorite Crackerjack King might not have been at his best with give in

the ground, according to rider Colm O'Donoghue.

"He traveled very well," O'Donoghue noted. "He really needed firmer ground,

but he ran a very solid race. He handled the ground good and traveled well, but

he really needs more firm going to fire his best shot."

Jockey Jamie Spencer said that Treasure Beach's race ended before it really

began.

"He got squeezed out at the start," Spencer said. "The race was over after

that."

Trainer Mike Stidham reported that Willcox Inn failed to stay the distance.

"We answered the question about a mile and a quarter -- I think it's a little

far for him," Stidham said. "He can go a mile, a mile and an eighth. Plenty of

spots for that."

Little Mike is now a millionaire with a bankroll of $1,436,412 from a record

of 19-11-2-1. The Florida homebred was branded as a Gulfstream Park specialist

for some time, in light of his scores in the Grade 3 Ft. Lauderdale, Grade 3

Canadian Turf and Grade 3 Appleton in 2011.

Sidelined for more than eight months by a condylar fracture, Little Mike

picked up right where he left off with an allowance win last December, and

extended his winning streak to four in the January 28 Florida Sunshine Millions

Turf. Little Mike's skein ended with a fourth in the March 3 renewal of the

Canadian Turf, surrendering to the victorious Doubles Partner and third Data

Link, but he turned the tables on both in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic. He

shipped to Hollywood Park for the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on June 30, where he

was embroiled in a speed duel and tired to third.

Sired by Spanish Steps, the five-year-old bay gelding is out of the winning

Wavering Monarch mare Hay Jude. He is a half-brother to Grade 3-placed multiple

stakes hero Little Nick, who was also in the news Saturday, albeit for all the

wrong reasons. Little Nick is the errant horse who collided with Jackson Bend

during training hours at Saratoga.

The only other prominent family members in recent years are multiple Grade

3-placed stakes scorer Linear and Gold Pleasure, a Group 1 victor in his native

Brazil.

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