Crackerjack King declared favourite for Arlington Million Stakes
A consensus among the bookmakers was seen on Friday, when they, without any hesitation, declared Crackerjack King the most likely winner of the Grade 1 Arlington Million Stakes, scheduled to be held at Arlington Park on Saturday, August 18th.
Crackerjack King’s connections suffered a huge setback last month, when the 4-year-old made his first outing under the care of Marco Botti. The spectators at Sandown saw him facing a terrible defeat in the Group 1 Coral-Eclipse (British Champions Series), which was won by Nathaniel.
In the hands of Ryan Moore, the 11-2 chance took a fine start, but was shaken up a few furlongs before the finishing line. He soon got weakened and as a result, could only seize the fifth place on the chart.
His track record is exceptionally impressive though, and winning seven of nine starts shows how dangerous runner he is. The son of Shamardal is due to face a star-studded line-up in Saturday’s big meeting, including the fellow Newmarket raider, Afsare.
Owned by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, Luca Cumani’s charge impressed everyone with his consistent work earlier this season. Yet, most of the bookies favoured the Marco Botti-trained colt, who will be aiming for his second triumph at the highest level of the sport.
The handler is also pleased with Crackerjack King’s progress, saying that he is in very good form at the moment. He said ahead of the race:
"We've been pleased with Crackerjack King, he is in good form. The ground was definitely too soft at Sandown so I think he's there with a good shout."
On the other hand, Cumani is pretty confident about his charge’s chances. He, however, admitted that a slice of luck is required in order to do well in tough American conditions.
"Afsare has got to find a few lengths with Crackerjack King on their Italian running. In American racing you need a bit of luck in running because they are very tight tracks, but if he gets that I'm sure he'll run a very good race."
Afsare made his last trip at York, where he narrowly missed the gold medal in the Group 2 Sky Bet York Stakes last month.
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