Marketing Mix takes a second stab at Beverly D.

Denied of victory by a short head to a European raider in last year's renewal

of the Grade 1, $750,000

Beverly D.

at Arlington, Marketing Mix will try to avoid the same fate Saturday in the 1

3/16-mile test for fillies and mares.

Easily one of the division's best over the past two seasons, Marketing Mix

also endured a narrow loss in last year's Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, a

victory in which would have likely secured an Eclipse Award as the nation's

champion turf mare. The daughter of Medaglia d'Oro is off to a good start this

year, entering the Beverly D. off a pair of victories at Hollywood Park in the

Gamely and the Sunset Handicap.

That latter victory, over males, has given the five-year-old's connections

thoughts of pursuing an international campaign with her pending the results of

the Beverly D. The grandson of owner and Chicago native Leonard Lavin, Craig

Bernick, said this week that Marketing Mix could be pointed for the Breeders'

Cup Turf and Hong Kong Cup with a successful jaunt on Saturday.

The European contingent, however, are no pushovers. Duntle has won or placed

in five consecutive Group stakes throughout Europe, most recently finishing

second to the star Elusive Kate in the Prix Rothschild at Deauville. Duntle, who

has won five of nine starts overall, will step up in distance for the first time

having not competed beyond a mile.

Dank, a close third to Duntle two back in the Duke of Cambridge at Royal

Ascot, is a three-time Group winner, two of which were over nine furlongs in the

May 5 Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket and the July 21 Kilboy Estate Stakes at The

Curragh. The only other overseas invader in the field, Gifted Girl, steps up in

class off a minor stakes win at Pontrefract in England last time.

Coming in from Canada is Solid Appeal, a sharp winner of the Nassau and the

Dance Smartly at Woodbine for trainer Reade Baker. The four-year-old's most

recent venture south of the border resulted in a fourth-place finish in last

November's Mrs. Revere at Churchill Downs and an allowance victory at Keeneland

this past April.

Besides Marketing Mix, the domestic contingent includes Starformer, a

multiple graded stakes winner for Bill Mott. The Juddmonte homebred recently

rebounded from a career low to take the 1 1/4-mile New York Stakes at Belmont at

an overlaid 15-1 price.

The remainder of the field -- Ausus, Artemus Kitten, and La Tia -- took down

the top three prizes, in that order, in the July 13 Modesty Handicap, the

course-and-distance prep for the Beverly D.

His Highness the Aga Khan will seek to win the Grade 1, $500,000

Secretariat for a second consecutive year on Saturday. Victorious last year

in the 1 1/4-mile grass test for three-year-olds with Bayrir, the famous green

and red silks will be sported this time by Visiyani, who twice placed in Group 3

company in France last year.

Also invading from overseas, but representing the American-based Team Valor

International, is First Cornerstone, who captured the Futurity at The Curragh as

a juvenile. The Hurricane Run colt adds Lasix for his U.S. debut after modest

efforts in the Irish Two Thousand Guineas and French Derby.

The American defense is led by Rydilluc, winner of the Palm Beach and the

Penn Mile earlier this season. The Gary Contessa trainee did not fare as well

last time in the Virginia Derby, suffering his first career defeat on the grass,

but connections have blamed his effort on the wet condition of the Colonial

Downs course.

Exiting a tough beat in the Virginia Derby is Jack Milton, fell a neck short

in third at Colonial. The Todd Pletcher pupil occupied the same position in the

Penn Mile, but lost to Rydilluc by only three parts of a length. The War Front

colt earned his signature victory in the Transylvania at Keeneland back in

April.

Hoping to end a case of seconditis is Admiral Kitten, the runner-up in the

American Derby, Arlington Classic and the American Turf in his last three.

Others of note are Stormy Len, third by a head in the American Derby; Draw Two,

a rallying fourth in the Virginia Derby; and Tattenham, a Juddmonte homebred who

finished a sharp second against older allowance foes at Belmont in his most

recent start.

My Option, a three-time stakes winner including the Arlington Oaks, headlines

the first

division of the $75,000 Hatoof for three-year-old fillies at about 1 1/16

miles on the turf. The

second division is headlined by Frivolous, a neck second to My Option in the

Arlington Oaks last time.

The $65,000

Straight

Line, a one-mile Polytrack test for three-year-olds, features impressive

Arlington maiden and allowance winner Cameo Appearance and Illinois Derby

runner-up Fordubai.

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