THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2017 POULOS EARNS THE GRADE 2017 BREEDERS= CUP RACE DISTANCES ANNOUNCED The official distances of the 13 races comprising the 2017 Breeders= Cup World Championships, which will be held for the first time at Del Mar Nov. 3-4, were announced Wednesday. There are two races which will be run at a different distance this year due to Del Mar track configurations. The GI Breeders= Cup Turf Sprint will be run at five furlongs (6 1/2 furlongs in 2016) and the GI Breeders= Cup Filly & Mare Turf will be run at 1 1/8 miles (1 1/4 miles in 2016). The distances of the other 11 races will remain unchanged. The first stage of running in a Breeders= Cup World Championships race is the pre-entry closing on Monday, Oct. 23. Poulos & Arlington Park=s Brian Spencer | Four Footed Fotos by Michael Adolphson IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Walk onto the Arlington International Racecourse=s apron GODOLPHIN’S SOBETSU JOINS OAKS PARTY during training hours any morning during the iconic Chicago After significant rainfall in Epsom this week, Godolphin’s G1 landmark=s summer meet and you will see her. Often adorned Prix Saint-Alary winner Sobetsu (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) has with a smile, sun hat and her trademark sunglasses, trainer Dee entered the mix for Friday’s G1 Investec Oaks. Poulos is the first to take a moment from carefully observing her Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. horses to greet you if you are new and the quickest to wave at even the most tangential of acquaintances. She is the First Lady of Illinois racing, the widow of renowned Midwestern trainer Ernie Poulos and now--20 years after taking over the Poulos operation as head trainer (at the age of none-of-your-business)-- a graded stakes-winning conditioner, thanks to a little bay gelding Crewman (Candy Ride {Arg}). Dundalk 5 LLC=s Crewman, like Poulos, is honest, hard-knocking and comes from great stock. After two races for WinStar Farm and Shannon Ritter, Poulos claimed the compact charge for $25,000 at Hawthorne Race Course on Halloween 2014. Since then, the patient conditioner has taken her time developing the sometimes difficult athlete, racing 29 times over three different surfaces and receiving ample time off when needed. Consistency has been his game, as Crewman has hit the board in 20 of 31 starts, including two stakes victories in the last six months. His gritty neck tally at 25-1 in Arlington=s GIII Hanshin Cup May 13 gave the former high school teacher an overdue graduation into the graded stakes ranks. Cont. p3 PRESIDENT & CO-PUBLISHER Barry Weisbord @barryweisbord [email protected] SR. V.P. & CO-PUBLISHER Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] Thursday, June 1, 2017 EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Assistant Editor Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Expecting to fly. Two-time champion and "TDN Rising Star" Songbird (pictured on May Michelle Benson 11) worked seven furlongs in 1:25.40 at Santa Anita Wednesday morning. The Fox Hill Photo Editor/Dir. of Distribution Farms runner is on target to make her next start at Belmont Park in the GI Ogden Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew Phipps S. on June 10. | Horsephotos [email protected] Social Media Strategist SENIOR INVESTMENT BREEZES FOR BELMONT 4 Justina Severni Fern Circle Stable's GIII Lexington S. winner and GI Preakness S. third Senior Investment (Discreetly Mine) posted a half-mile breeze early Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes Wednesday morning in preparation for his expected bid in the [email protected] GI Belmont S. "Kenny [McPeek] wanted him to go an easy :48 4/5 or :49, and let him do it on his own," assistant Jeff Odintz said. "And Director of Information Technology that's exactly what he did.” Ray Villa [email protected] WORLDWIDE INFORMATION DELTA JACKPOT SET FOR NOV. 18 RR International Editor The $1-million GIII Delta Downs Jackpot for 2-year-olds will be held Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN at Delta Downs Racetrack Casino & Hotel Saturday afternoon, Nov. 18, [email protected] it was announced. European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 5 • THETDN.COM THURSDAY • JUNE 1, 2017 POULOS EARNS THE GRADE cont from p1 Crewman | Four Footed Fotos AIt was extremely rewarding,@ Poulos said. AWe weren=t cocky about it, but we did feel very good about him going into the race. He really trained for it properly and things were falling into place. I knew he was going to give a tremendous effort. I feel like, as trainers, we rarely know if they=re going to win, we just know if they=re ready and I knew he was going to give everything he had. He came out of this race super and mentally he=s very good right now. AIt certainly is nice to attain a graded stakes,@ Poulos continued. AI was so focused on the race and hoping he would run his very best, that I honestly didn=t even think about trying to win a graded stakes for the first time. (Jockey C. H.) Marquez did a heck of a job with the horse and I always tell the riders to not make the horse mad and he listened. He=s a horse who really interacts with you and you can tell when he looks at you, that he=s thinking. He=s a very smart horse and nothing went right for him at Oaklawn this winter. After that, I turned him out, freshened him up and brought him back. That really helped. AIt was wonderful to win it at Arlington. It=s wonderful to win a race anywhere, and we were so happy when he won the [$50,000 Forego S. Jan. 21] at Turfway, too, but there=s something about being home. Mr. D. (Arlington Park chairman Richard Duchossois), who was a good friend of my husband=s, came up to me after the race and the first thing he said was that Ernie must be smiling.@ As patient as she is eloquent, the former Forest View High School (of Arlington Heights, Il.) teacher of 18 years approaches the racing game with new eyes every day, while balancing that with an almost palpable wisdom in her delivery. She enjoys talking about the best horses she has been around, but just as quickly waxes poetic about the nickel claimers whose unique personalities made her job that much more interesting. TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 5 • THETDN.COM THURSDAY • JUNE 1, 2017 As an assistant to her husband, the pair developed Horse of SENIOR INVESTMENT BREEZES FOR the Year and GI Breeders= Cup Classic winner Black Tie Affair (Ire) (Miswaki). Since her husband=s 1997 passing, Poulos has BELMONT had her fair share of ups and downs, but always seems to find Fern Circle Stable's GIII Lexington S. winner and GI Preakness her own sense of equilibrium. S. third Senior Investment (Discreetly Mine) posted a half-mile AWe got off to a rough start this year, but I always tell people breeze early Wednesday morning in preparation for his that you have to wait your turn when it comes to luck and expected bid in the racing,@ Poulos said. ASometimes the stars just don=t line up for GI Belmont S. Ridden you, even if you have fresh horses ready to run, and it can be by jockey Dylan Davis very tough on everybody involved. Then a horse like Crewman and overseen at jumps up and does something like this and it picks everybody=s Belmont by Kenny heads up. We needed that adrenaline fix and I was so happy to McPeek's assistant win it for Mr. (Tim) Kindlon, the owner. I can=t say enough good trainer Jeff Odintz, things about him. He allowed us to take the path we have and the chestnut let this horse develop. He=s one of those dream owners for a completed the trainer.@ distance in :49.13 Senior Investment | Horsephotos Racing luck could be swinging back her way and such would be (24/58) shortly karmically appropriate for Poulos. Conscious that she is before 6 a.m. on the main track, going in splits of :12 2/5 and respected by her peers for her many aforementioned qualities, :24. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:02 2/5. the long-time Chicagoland resident and winner of 336 races "Kenny wanted him to go an easy :48 4/5 or :49, and let him enjoys being a solid role model for horsemen and--women-- do it on his own," said Odintz. "And that's exactly what he did, alike. Dylan did a very good job. He came back fine, like he didn't do AI never thought of myself as a woman trainer or a female anything. The track was nice and quiet, he was relaxed." teacher, I always believe that you just do the job--trainer or Odintz continued, "I was around the horse when he ran at teacher--and that=s who you are,@ Poulos concluded.