Treasure Beach ekes out Secretariat score

Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier and Michael Tabor's TREASURE BEACH (GB) (Galileo [Ire]) made his U.S. debut a winning one when posting

a neck victory in Saturday's $400,000

Secretariat S. (G1) at Arlington Park. With Colm O'Donoghue flying in for

the ride, the Irish Derby (Ire-G1) conqueror was exiting a fourth-place run in the Grand Prix de Paris (Fr-G1)

at Longchamp in France, and completed 10 furlongs on Arlington's yielding turf in 2:03 4/5.

Fellow European shipper Ziyarid (Ire) (Desert Style) took command of the

Secretariat and proceeded to set reasonable splits of :25 2/5, :50 and 1:14 4/5 while closely tracked by Treasure Beach just in behind. Suntracer (Kitten's Joy) and Banned (Kitten's Joy) were racing in tandem behind those two, and Willcox Inn (Harlan's Holiday) was drafting in

fifth.

As the field rounded the turn, Willcox Inn moved up to challenge on

the outside as Treasure Beach slipped through on the rail to put in his

bid. Willcox Inn's run was short lived, though, as he fell back, but

Treasure Beach was just getting wound up. The Aidan O'Brien trainee kept

motoring in the lane to gut out the neck score over a game Ziyarid, who

held for second.

"He was beaten by a Derby winner and that's not too bad, is it?" jockey

Christophe Lemaire affirmed about Ziyarid. "He gave a great performance."

Arlington Classic and American Derby (G2) hero Willcox Inn was forced to settled for fourth in his bid to complete the Mid-American Triple.

"I thought I got him pretty much in a good spot. But then at the last part of

it he wasn't making up any ground. But then again, those were some pretty good

horses that finished in front of me," jockey Robby Albarado said of Willcox Inn.

"I can't make any excuses. I thought he was getting over the ground all right."

Casino Host (Dynaformer) followed in fifth, with Newsdad (Arch), Derby Kitten (Kitten's Joy)

and Suntracer completing the order under the wire. L'Aiglon (Montjeu [Ire]) was

pulled up midway through the backstretch and vanned off the course while Crimson China (Giant's Causeway) was withdrawn.

Treasure Beach's fourth in the Grand Prix de Paris was the first

off-the-board run of his career but he quickly got back on the winning track

here. The sophomore further enhanced his resume with this triumph, adding it to

a score in the Chester Vase S. (Eng-G3). Following that May 5 contest, Treasure

Beach just missed by a head in the Epsom Derby (Eng-G1) before recording his

Irish Derby victory. He also placed in the Royal Lodge S. (Eng-G2) as a

juvenile.