AP Million (Grade 1)- $1,000.000 Purse
CD- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
August 13, 2022

Saturday was a special day of racing at CD, as the historic track opened up for a special day of graded stake action, hosting races that were formerly held at AP. It would be highlighted by the Arlington Million, the most famous race that the former race track used to offer. To make it work, the distance would need to be cut by a furlong, but the $1,000.000 purse level would be restored. A total of nine horses would find their way to the starting as trainers looked to end John Henry’s winning streak in the race. Getting it done would be a trainer who’s been known as the king of the turf, and today he would remind everyone that he is still one of the best on the grass. Last Way To The Beac would prevail at the wire, getting the first Arlington Million victory for Maxmillion Farm. It’s also the first such win for jockey P Lopez. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:45.46. Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :46.60)- Four horses vie to be the race leader out of the starting gate and down the frontstretch. Of those, the early advantage would go to Starship Candlestick, who was running in the outside lane for TwinTowersRacing. He’d hold the lead into turn over the three by about half a length, but by the time they reached the backstretch, Raj The Magician would claim the top spot for Wood Duck Stables. To their inside, Mb Stables-trained Immoral would hold the rail, and be within half a length of the leaders. Also with this group was our eventual winner, Maxmillion Farm’s Last Way To The Beac. He was content to simply race with this group, but was not interested in being the leader of the front back, running within a length while in the second lane. It would be about two lengths to most of the others, with The Godfather (Smokey Stover) and Cold Weather Rider (Night Rider Stables) running side by side with Spoonz (Gdp Inc) nearby. Mr Scratch (Nakamura Stables) was a length behind them. Burning (Lanfranco Stable) was another two to three lengths back.

(3/4 Mile- 1:09.70)- Raj The Magician would hold the lead down the backstretch by a length over the other three frontrunners, who were all lined up beside one another. Moving into the turn, P Lopez would ask Last Way To The Beac to begin to make his run, and he would get the response he wanted as he pulled up alongside Raj The Magician at this point. Immoral was still right there close by, but had not made the same push as of yet. On the outside, Starship Candlestick was hoping to hang on with these. A little further back, The Godfather began to emerge as the quickest of the next group, still being within two lengths of the leaders, and Cold Weather Rider was able to keep in touch of them. The same could not be said for Mr Scratch and Spoonz, who lost a little ground. Burning had yet to get involved.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- It would not take long for Last Way To The Beac to take over the lead, moving around Raj The Magician quickly into the turn, and outkicking him as they made their way around it. At the top of the stretch, he had put that one away, and with no challenge coming from Immoral, he would have a clear lead by a length into the stretch. Raj The Magician and Immoral, for now, were still second and third, but the biggest challenge to the leader seemed to be coming from both The Godfather and Cold Weather Rider, and they each had been gaining ground and had clear lanes to make a push in the stretch. Starship Candlestick was still hanging around with this pack, but dealing with a four wide trip again around a turn. Mr Scratch was looking to a little more in the mood now, but had some good horses he still needed to get by before he could even think about Last Way To The Beac. Spoonz was dropping out of it, and Burning still had not done much.

(Finish- 1:45.46)- Last Way To The Beac had plenty left in the tank for the stretch run, continuing to be in good form and he would need to be. While it looked like he might coast to win by a length, Cold Weather Rider had a great late burst as they got very close to the wire but would run out of time. Last Way To The Beac prevails, winning by a length. The Godfather was third best, but did not present a challenge to the top two. Mr Scratch moved through taffic to get the final piece of the purse over pace-setting Raj The Magician. Immoral lacked stretch response and is sixth, topping Burning, Starship Candestick, and Spoonz.

About The Winner- Last Way To The Beac, trained by Maxmillion Farm and ridden to victory by P Lopez, is a four year old gelding by Britslastbutnotleast, and is out of One Way To The Beach. He was bred in the great breeding state of Pennsylvania by Lemax Farms as a second year two year old, and acquired by Maxmillion Farm in private sales for $275.000 in January 2021. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his seventh in 19 starts, his fifth stake win, and fourth graded win. His career earnings are now $2.027.080.

Track: Firm
Time: :46³  1:09³  1:33¹  1:45²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 4 – 1 Paid 87.10
$1 Trifecta: 4 – 1 – 7 Paid 221.20

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES