Bet on the Secretariat Stakes
The origins of the Secretariat Stakes begin with the Arlington Invitational, a competition created to show off the considerable talents of Secretariat. In 1974, a year after Secretariat won the invitational, the event was renamed to honor the amazing horse. The Secretariat Stakes is a Grade I race for three-year-old thoroughbreds at a distance of 1 1/4 miles on the turf track at Illinois' Arlington Park during Arlington's International Festival of Racing. Along with the Colonial Turf Cup, the Breeders' Cup Turf and the Virginia Derby, the Secretariat Stakes is part of the Grand Slam of Grass.
Secretariat Stakes Racebooks
When you can't make it to the track for events like the Secretariat Stakes, online racebooks provide a great way to enjoy the excitement of wagering on these signature races. Online racebooks have evolved over the past couple of decades to offer impeccable betting services and a variety of promotions that can lead to better odds than you get at the track.
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* REMINDER! - you must be of legal age in your state or province to legally wager on the Arlington Million or any other horse race. Please bet responsibly!
Secretariat Stakes Betting Odds
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2016 Secretariat Stakes Contenders
An interesting and wide open field of nine three-year-old colts and geldings will come together for the Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park. The Grade 1 boasts a purse of $450,000 and will be contested at a mile and a quarter on the turf.
Beach Patrol tops the field as the 2-1 morning line favorite for trainer Chad Brown who has become one of the top trainers of turf horses in the United States. The dark bay colt rebounded after an uncharacteristically poor effort in the Penn Mile (G2) to finish a game third in the Belmont Derby Invitational (G1) and will be trying to break through and earn his first graded stakes victory.
Trainer Aiden O’Brien has won this race four times and will be trying to saddle his third consecutive winner. Long Island Sound, odds of 5-2 on the morning line, was bred in the United States but began his career in Europe after fetching $800,000 as a yearling. He returned stateside for the Belmont Derby Invitational (G1) and finished sixth as the heavy favorite after a troubled trip.
There are also some familiar names from the Triple Crown trail including Cherry Wine, the runner-up in the Preakness Stakes (G1) who will be trying to show improvement with a switch from dirt to turf after two dismal performances. Oscar Nominated, seventeenth in the Kentucky Derby (G1), is also rounding back into form after returning to turf and was second in the American Derby (G2) at Arlington last time.
Here is the field for the Secretariat Stakes along with morning line odds.
1. Cherry Wine, 12-1
2. American Patriot, 5-1
3. Scissors and Tape, 30-1
4. One Mean Man, 12-1
5. Cordon, 30-1
6. Oscar Nominated, 12-1
7. Surgical Strike, 9-2
8. Long Island Sound, 5-2
9. Beach Patrol, 2-1
Did you know?
The Secretariat Stakes attracts many of the strongest three-year-old thoroughbred racers because of the stakes' status as a Grade I race with a purse of $500,000, making it one of the premiere turf events in the United States. As part of the Grand Slam of Grass, the winner of this race and the other three legs of the series receive a generous bonus prize, further increasing the prestige of this event.
Secretariat was one of the top horses of the twentieth century, winning the US Triple Crown of thoroughbred racing while dominating most competitors with unprecedented ease, earning a place in horse racing folklore that includes this eponymous-named race. This competition fluctuated between distances of 1 1/16, 1 1/8 and 1 1/2 mile before changing to 1 1/4 mile in 1984. The race record at this distance is 1:59.65, set by Kitten's Joy in 2004, the only horse to finish under two minutes. The most successful jockeys at the Secretariat Stakes are Pat Day and Kent Desormeaux, both of whom have won three times.